I’m not sure when I first met Kat Dennings. She played my daughter in “The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” and one day, we were having a read-through of the script and I looked over and there was this lovely girl. I thought, Who is this girl? She was kind of lit up from within. When someone is that beautiful, it’s great when they’re funny too, and from the beginning, Kat had her own rhythm: a way of being funny and emotional at the same time.
A lot of “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” was shot like a controlled improvisation. Anything and everything was welcome, and the director, Judd Apatow, never yelled “cut.” It took me a while to get used to that style of working, but Kat was a natural. In one scene her character, who is anxious to give up her virginity, is battling with me. As her mom, I don’t want her to grow up too fast. Kat’s character is in the bathroom, crying, and I’m outside the door with Steve Carell, who played my boyfriend. Kat was just screaming at me — cursing and yelling and calling me all kinds of names that were not in the script. I was thrown and I turned to Steve and I said, “I don’t know what she’s talking about.” Even though it was improvised, Judd kept that line in the movie — I clearly sounded like a frustrated mom and it was all due to Kat’s rant.
During the shoot, I looked out for Kat. I think we all did. I was protective of her and I stayed in touch with her after the movie was finished. It’s tough on young girls in Hollywood — it’s easy to fall into the tabloid culture. But that’s not what she’s made of. Kat has beauty and youth and talent, but there’s something else that sets her apart: she’s comfortable being different.
Catherine Keener has received two Academy Award nominations for best supporting actress, for “Being John Malkovich” in 2000 and “Capote” in 2006.
Da The New York Times Magazine, 5 Febbraio 2009