Kat Dennings says casting directors called her “fat” at age 12
Since she started out on the WB sitcom “Raising Dad” 24 years ago, Kat Dennings has seen it all.
In a recent conversation with People, Dennings discussed casting directors who were “very cruel” to her even at a young age.
“The time I auditioned and started acting, it was a very different environment than it is today. There wasn’t much inclusivity at all,” Dennings said. “It was very intense. There was a lot of extremely negative feedback and people didn’t want to hold back.”
She continued, “It was pretty crazy to think about it. I’m like, ‘How can anyone say that about a little kid? This is insane.’ For example, I was twelve. I went to audition and did it, and my manager called me and asked, “How did it go?” And then they said, ‘Well, they thought you weren’t pretty enough and that you were fat.’
Despite the negativity, Dennings said she had a “very strong” outlook despite it all and was encouraged by her family to ignore such comments.
“That was my attitude,” Dennings explained. “For some reason it didn’t break my spirit. I thought, ‘I’ll show them.’ I think they’re props to my parents because they were like, ‘They’re idiots. Don’t listen to them.’ And I thought, ‘They’re idiots, I’m not.’”
The ‘Shifting Gears’ star said Hollywood has become ‘much softer’ and ‘kinder’ since the era she grew up in, which she described as ‘completely insane’.
“There’s body positivity, there’s inclusivity, there’s representation, and that wasn’t there before,” Dennings said. “It was really dirty.”
