Kat Dennings recently reflected on her early years in the entertainment industry, recalling a significant role she played as a young actress.
At just 14 years old, she appeared in Sex and the City, a show that would later become a pop culture phenomenon. However, at the time, Dennings had no idea how big it was. During an interview on The View while promoting her new Hulu sitcom, Shifting Gears, she shared how surreal that experience was for her.
Growing up, Dennings’ family didn’t have cable, so she wasn’t familiar with Sex and the City. When she auditioned, she remembers thinking the title sounded odd, but she went along with it. It wasn’t until she was heading home that the reality of the show’s popularity hit her. “I was on the train, and we passed this gigantic billboard covering an entire building,” she recalled. “That’s when I realized, ‘Oh, this is a real thing.’”
Dennings played Jenny Brier, a wealthy and precocious teen in Season 3’s Hot Child in the City episode. At the time, she didn’t expect the role to get much attention, but after the episode aired, she was surprised by how many people recognized her—even in her hometown of Pennsylvania. “I remember walking into places and people would say, ‘Hey, it’s Jenny Brier!’ and sometimes I’d even get little discounts,” she laughed.
Now, years later, Dennings is back in the spotlight with her latest project, Shifting Gears, a heartfelt comedy about a father-daughter duo navigating life together.