American actress Kat Dennings, born Katherine Litwack in Bryn Mawr near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is probably most famous for portraying the semi-sarcastic indie-music-loving Norah Silverberg in the 2008 nocturnal teen romance film Nick & Norah Infinite Playlist. The youngest among five home-schooled siblings, Kat knew at an early age that all she wanted was to become an actress. Although she was not allowed to watch television as a kid, she got fixated on Marilyn Monroe and the movies from the moment she: More could talk. Not to be swayed by discouraging remarks from an acting cla$s teacher and initially, even her own parents, Dennings persevered and pursued her passion for acting.
At 14, she finished her schooling, skipped acting training altogether, and made her television debut in an episode of HBO hit comedy Sex and the City (2000). She followed that up with a series regular role as Bob Saget daughter Sarah Stewart in WB short-lived comedy Raising Dad (2001-2002). In 2002, her family moved to Los Angeles, California to help get her acting career in full swing. Kat would soon appear in made-for-TV movies and television series such as Without a Trace, Less Than Perfect, and CSI. She showed off her acting chops in more notable film roles playing the shy outsider Sloane in Raise Your Voice (2004), Catherine Keener daughter in The 40-Year-Old Virgin, and a rebellious teen in Big Momma House 2.
From 2005 to 2006, she appeared as Zoe Butler, a recurring character, in the long-running NBC medical drama ER. In 2007, she would play daughter to Robert Downey, Jr. and love interest of Anton Yelchin in the indie drama Charlie Bartlett. Her breakout role came in 2008 when she was cast as the atypical female lead opposite Michael Cera in the romantic comedy Nick & Norah Infinite Playlist, where she portrayed the daughter of a famous record producer. In her young and rapidly-rising career, Kat Dennings has already been tagged everything from the new Ellen Page to a young Kate Winslet to the indie Angelina Jolie and yet, she has impressibly defied Hollywood conventions and humbly bucked the trends of her contemporaries.
