There are some new sitcoms that hit the airwaves promising to be the hottest new show, and despite the best efforts of all involved, within minutes you know things aren’t working; the writing tries to fill every line with a joke and the situation just doesn’t ring true. That said it’s rare when comedy really works, the situation is the key and when it’s done right – the characters light up the screen and you know that watching this show is gonna make you feel good about yourself, even though your day might not have been the greatest.
2 Broke girls is a show that succeeds where others fail, while you may not have expected the idea of two girls working in a diner to be all that appealing, their characters resonate almost immediately, as do the comedic situations and the hijinks which follow. CBS has taken note of the big response since the show debuted, and in a vote of confidence has given the series a full season order.
Check out a promo of the show here:
Starring Kat Dennings and Beth Behr, they play two financially troubled waitresses from different sides of the tracks who find common ground to forge a friendship, and possibly a business venture. The show is created by ‘Sex and the City’ guru Michael Patrick King and comedian Whitney Cummings, whose self titled show was also recently renewed.
For 25 year old actress Kat Dennings, her career has been up and down, landing some big movie parts such as Thor, and the indie drama ‘Renee’, though having been in the business for sometime she found that she wasn’t getting the consistent work to show off her talents, and when she was offered this role she realized it was an opportunity to put her abilities to the test on a more frequent basis.
Christina Radish recently spoke to the actress and asked her about the new show and her career.
Q: What led you to make a weekly series commitment?
To be honest, things were actually picking up. I was getting really exciting things, and Thor was just coming out, and I was doing really interesting projects, but I got to a point where I have done so many small films, and I’ve worked really, really hard, and then they just disappear. Four months of your life never get seen, and you start to feel tired. This came at the right time for me because I had just finished the most intense shoot of my life, in a really amazing way. It was an intense, complete physical transformation, and I was really drained.
And then, this literally fell into my lap. I was feeling like, “What do I do now? I can’t do another one of these films for a really long time. I want to do something where people will definitely see it because I’m a hard worker, and I want people to appreciate it. Not because I want people to look at me, but because I’ve been doing this since I was 10 years old.” TV wasn’t something I had intended to do, but when this came, and it was Whitney [Cummings] and Michael [Patrick King], with Michael giving me my first big job, it almost seemed like a gift, at just the right time. I was like, “God, this is exactly the answer to everything I’ve been wanting.” I’m just really lucky that this came along.
Q: With so many films going on, both indie and blockbuster, were you hesitant about doing a TV show?
I’m just in a really lucky place where I’ve gotten to work with amazing film people and amazing directors, like Kenneth Branagh, and amazing casts. This is just something different. It’s something cool and new, that I haven’t gotten to do before. If this goes for eight years, I’ll be thrilled. I love who I’m working with. I love this show because it’s real. It’s more like a half-hour movie than a half-hour sitcom. It’s very fresh. I just love how real Max is. I’m from Pennsylvania, so I was in New York a lot and my brother lives in New York. I’m very familiar with New York girls, and I just love how gutsy and real they are. Max is so hard working. All she has to think about are her jobs and her rent. She’s never really had a moment to relax. It’s nice to watch that journey unfold.
Q: What is your line for when sarcasm becomes too mean?
I think it’s a personality thing. I have friends who are so sarcastic, but I never view it as mean. It’s just an intention thing. Hopefully, as the show goes on, Max’s soul will start to come out and you will know her as a person. What’s so great about a show that’s on every week is that you really get to know these people. As people get to know Max more, if she says something that could seem mean, they’ll know that it’s not because she is a good person.
Q: You’ve got two strong comedic forces behind this show, with Whitney Cummings and Michael Patrick King. Were you familiar with their work before this?
Yes, I was heavily immersed, as a matter of fact. I’ve always been a huge fan of Whitney’s. She’s so funny. And, I was actually on an episode of Sex and the City when I was 14. I played Jenny Brier, the blowjob, Bar Mitzvah girl, in the episode called “Hot Child in the City.” It changed my life. Really, it did. I was a home-schooled kid, living in the forest, and I didn’t even have cable. I’m serious. We had to get cable to watch that episode, and all my little home-schooled friends and their moms saw Kyle MacLachlan’s ass. It was pretty incredible.
Q: Do you have any regrets over having started in the business so young?
No. I asked my parents, from the time I was 4 years old, if I could be an actress and they were like, “Absolutely not! You’re going to college and you’re going to be a normal person.” But, I wouldn’t stop. I wouldn’t let up, and I was very passionate. I was a smart kid. I wasn’t a rebel. I wasn’t difficult. I was just really passionate about this one thing. When I was 10, they were finally like, “Okay, you can try it for a month. If you don’t like it, we’ll stop. If you like it, we’ll go for another month.” To have their support was something that not a lot of actors get to have. I’m so lucky they have been amazing.
Q: What was your life like, growing up?
Part of the reason why I relate to this show so much is because we didn’t have any money when I was growing up, and I used to get all of my films from the library. My mom would get me classic movies. I actually wasn’t allowed to watch TV, as a kid, except for PBS and Sesame Street.
Q: How did you become an actress?
I grew up in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, and my dad is a scientist and my mom is a speech therapist. It came out of nowhere. I would watch these films, and I just took that little kid wanting to be a movie star thing way too far, and actually ended up doing it. My brother’s friend from karate was on Pete & Pete sometimes, and I met his manager. She sent me on auditions in Philly and then in New York, and then I started getting commercials. When I got Sex and the City, it just changed the things I was able to get. And then, I eventually moved out to L.A. and somehow wound up on 2 Broke Girls.
Q: Will you be able to be in Thor 2?
Marvel is so secretive; we never know anything until the last minute. But, one of the things that happened when I signed for this show was to make sure that I could still do films on my hiatus, so they would absolutely work that out. I did Thor before I did this show, so they would find a way to work everything out, if I was in Thor 2.
2 Broke girls currently airs on CBS, with other networks to follow.
via: Collider
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