Actress Kaitlyn Dever, who last month appeared on the big screen in “The Spectacular Now” and “Short Term 12,” recently spoke with “Breakthrough Entertainment” about her role as Eve Baxter alongside Tim Allen on television’s “Last Man Standing.”
In “Last Man Standing,” which returns for its third season Friday, Sept. 20 on ABC, Allen plays a married father of three daughters who tries to maintain his manliness in a world increasingly dominated by women.
Question: What about working on “Last Man Standing” appeals to you as an actress?
Answer: I really do like the show and the fact that I can bring out my sarcastic side. I feel like I have been really blessed because during my last hiatus between seasons one and two I was able to shoot “The Spectacular Now” and “Short Term 12.” And during this [last] hiatus I got to do a big comedy and another drama in North Carolina. But, basically, “Last Man Standing” is overall a lot of comedy. And I love doing that. I love going back and forth from drama to comedy. I love switching it around and showing people that I can do both.
Q: Tell me about Tim Allen. What it is like to work with him and what have you taken away from the experience?
A: It is the best. I have learned so much from him. He is always coming up with funny stuff to say. He has always got something on his mind. And when we about to roll on a scene, I will ask him, “When should I say my line? I really wanted to time it right.” He is really good about comedic timing. That is one of the key things that I have learned from him. I feel like timing is one of the most important things about doing comedy and he has really taught me a lot about that. And also, just being in his presence on the set is just the funnest thing because he is always making laugh. We go in, everybody is sort of tired and the stage lights are down but he is just on all of the time. He makes me laugh every day on the set.
Q: Finally, what does season three have in store for Eve Baxter?
A: She is in high school right now and is still trying to figure out what she wants to do. In season two, she had some girly episodes where she wanted to be a little more girly and she went shopping with her older sister Mandy, the next episode she wanted to join the Junior ROTC and the next episode she was twirling guns. I feel like she is still trying to find herself, which is really fun to do because I get to go back and forth with different personalities. But we don’t know what the next episode is going to be until right after the live taping. That is when we get our script – 8 hours before the next table read. We get the next episode very last minute so we never know what the stories going to be until the night before. It is always a surprise. That is another fun thing about the show. Everything is at a really quick pace. I feel like we get so many episodes done in such is short amount of time. I love it.
