What happened to Kat Dennings? She never vanished, but her career moved through several quieter reinventions.
Millions of viewers remember Dennings as Max Black, the sarcastic waitress at the center of 2 Broke Girls. Others know her as Darcy Lewis from Marvel’s Thor movies and WandaVision.
After 2 Broke Girls ended without a planned finale, Dennings did not leave acting. She moved into streaming, returned to Marvel and eventually found another home in network comedy.
Kat Dennings: Then & Now
Remember Her For
Dennings became a network comedy star as Max Black on 2 Broke Girls. She also plays Darcy Lewis in Marvel’s Thor films and WandaVision.
What Changed
CBS canceled 2 Broke Girls in 2017 after six seasons. Dennings remained active, but she no longer appeared in one high-profile network show every week.
Her Next Chapter
She starred in and executive produced Hulu’s Dollface, returned to Marvel and married musician Andrew W.K. in 2023.
Where She Is Now
Dennings stars in and produces ABC’s Shifting Gears. The renewed third season will feature a guest appearance from her former 2 Broke Girls co-star Beth Behrs.
How Kat Dennings became a familiar face
Dennings began acting while she was young. Her first major television appearance came in a 2000 episode of Sex and the City.
Film roles followed in The 40-Year-Old Virgin, The House Bunny, Charlie Bartlett and Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist. She also joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Darcy Lewis in 2011’s Thor.
Her defining role arrived later that year. Dennings began playing Max Black opposite Beth Behrs’ Caroline Channing in 2 Broke Girls.
Max’s dry humor and blunt delivery made Dennings one of network television’s most recognizable comedy stars. The sitcom lasted six seasons, giving her a much larger public profile than any of her earlier projects.
ABC’s official Kat Dennings biography now presents 2 Broke Girls, Marvel and Dollface as the central chapters of her career.
What happened when 2 Broke Girls ended?
CBS canceled 2 Broke Girls in May 2017 after six seasons. The decision came after reported negotiations over a possible shorter season failed to produce an agreement.
That timing explains why the series never received a carefully planned conclusion. Its final episode had not been written as a definitive goodbye.
For Dennings, the cancellation created an unexpected break after years of producing more than 20 sitcom episodes per season. She later acknowledged that she felt unsure about immediately committing to another television show.
Her public visibility became quieter, but this was not a disappearance or retirement. She was deciding what kind of project she wanted to make next.
Dollface gave her more creative control
Dennings returned as the star and an executive producer of Hulu’s Dollface in 2019. She played Jules, a woman trying to rebuild neglected friendships after a breakup.
The role moved her away from Max Black while keeping the sharp comic timing audiences knew. It also gave Dennings more influence behind the camera. She told Glamour that she wanted a greater hand in her next show after 2 Broke Girls.
Dollface ran for two seasons before Hulu canceled it in 2022. During the same period, Dennings returned as Darcy Lewis in Marvel’s WandaVision and appeared in Thor: Love and Thunder.
That combination tells the real story of her quieter years. She remained active, but her work was spread between streaming television, voice roles and Marvel appearances instead of one weekly network hit.
How fame affected her
Dennings has also spoken about the harsher parts of entering Hollywood as a child.
In a 2025 interview, she said adults in the industry criticized her appearance when she was still a teenager. She described those comments as damaging and welcomed the greater body acceptance she sees in entertainment today.
Her experience gives useful context to the confident characters audiences know. Dennings’ career developed despite early pressure to change how she looked, not because Hollywood always treated her kindly.
Her life outside acting also changed
Dennings married musician and performance artist Andrew W.K. on Nov. 27, 2023.
The couple chose a small ceremony at their Los Angeles home. Dennings told Vogue that they planned the event themselves, with about 15 people attending.
The wedding reflected a more private side of her life. It was personal and deliberately different from a large entertainment-industry event.
Dennings has not stopped making public appearances or acting. However, she appears selective about what parts of her private life she shares.
Where is Kat Dennings now?
Dennings is once again leading a network sitcom.
She stars opposite Tim Allen in ABC’s Shifting Gears, which premiered in January 2025. Dennings plays Riley, a mother of two who moves into the home of her estranged father. She is also a producer on the series.
ABC renewed the comedy for a third season in May 2026 after its second season aired from October 2025 through February 2026, Variety reported.
The next season will also connect Dennings’ present career with the role many viewers remember best. Beth Behrs will guest-star in the Season 3 premiere, creating the first on-screen reunion of the two 2 Broke Girls leads since their CBS show ended. The season is planned for ABC’s midseason schedule.
Dennings did not walk away from Hollywood. She moved from one long-running sitcom into projects that gave her different roles and more creative input. Now she is back in the television format that made her famous, with a reunion that neatly links Max Black to the next stage of her career.
Frequently asked questions
She starred in and executive produced Dollface, returned to Marvel in WandaVision and Thor: Love and Thunder, and later joined ABC’s Shifting Gears.
Yes. She currently stars as Riley in Shifting Gears. ABC has renewed the sitcom for a third season.
Yes. Dennings married musician Andrew W.K. in a small home ceremony on Nov. 27, 2023.