Marvel and 'Shifting Gears' Star Kat Dennings Comes From Really Impressive Parents

Beloved for her role as Darcy Lewis in several Marvel Cinematic Universe films and series, Kat Dennings has become one of America's most recognizable actors. In addition to her role as Marvel academic and Thor side hero, Kat has racked up an impressive acting portfolio that includes 2 Broke Girls, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Big Momma's House, and more.

But before she was a big-time actor, Kat came from family beginnings that you might not expect. Here's what we know about her impressive parents and decently-sized family. With a veritable pack of siblings and parents whose careers are anything but Hollywood, Kat's background lends itself to her variable and diverse acting portfolio and skillset.

Kat was born June 13, 1986, in Bryn Mawr, Penn. Her parents are Ellen Judith Litwack and Gerald J. Litwack.

Ellen worked as a poet and speech therapist. Gerald, on the other hand, was a molecular pharmacologist and college professor. With such an extensive and impressive history in health and sciences, you might expect Kat to follow in her parents' footsteps.

However, as the youngest of five children, Kat opted to strike out in her own direction. By the age of 9, Kat was already appearing in commercials, including a commercial for a potato chip brand that allegedly contained a poisonous ingredient, so the ad never made it to the screen.

The family lived in historic Penn Cottage, which Kat has claimed is haunted.

She graduated high school at 14, and her parents moved the family to Los Angeles so she could pursue her acting career. With parents supportive enough to go to those lengths, it's no wonder Kat makes mention of them on social media frequently, including posting occasionally in memory of her late father, who passed in 2023.

While Kat's non-Hollywood background may seem surprising, her keen way of acting and easy portrayal of academics isn't surprising when considering the environment she grew up in.

And when it comes to new projects, the relationship Kat had with her real father Gerald couldn't seem any more different from the father/daughter relationship that she is portraying in a new series she stars in alongside Tim Allen.

Shifting Gears is about a curmudgeonly conservative father who has to deal with the imposition of his liberal daughter moving back home to live.

The series focuses on the tension between their ideologies and the way they brush up against each other's raw nerves. It's a timely commentary on the state of division in America as families come to grips with the differences in generational ideologies and family members who can't seem to get on the same page with politics.

While the role is a departure from Kat's nerdy and academically-focused roles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it's one she has taken to naturally as she and Tim play off one another on screen.

ABC's tagline for the series reads, "A stubborn man's estranged daughter and her kids move into his house."

Of course, it's more complicated than that. But the interplay between boomer rants and millennial-esque comebacks promises to be engaging and apropos.