Kaitlyn Dever

Kaitlyn Rochelle Dever (/ˈdiːvər/; born December 21, 1996) is an American actress. She gained recognition for her roles in the FX crime drama series Justified (2011–2015), the ABC/Fox sitcom Last Man Standing (2011–present), and the Netflix drama miniseries Unbelievable (2019), the last of which earned her a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actress – Miniseries.

Dever took on supporting parts in various films, such as Bad Teacher (2011), The Spectacular Now (2013), Short Term 12 (2013), Detroit (2017), and Beautiful Boy (2018). She also had leading roles in the 2019 films Them That Follow and Booksmart.

Early life

Dever was born in Phoenix, Arizona, to Tim and Kathy Dever. She has two younger sisters, Mady and Jane Dever. At the age of five, she developed an interest in the performing arts with her parents sending her to an acting school. She also participated in gymnastics, ballet and skating, until she focused on acting. Her family then moved to Dallas when her father was given the role of the voice of Barney the Purple Dinosaur, and where she enrolled at the Dallas Young Actors Studio in a month-long acting program. Honing her acting skills at the studio, she booked a number of commercials, before moving to Los Angeles.

Career

2009–2012: Career beginnings and work on TV

Dever’s first notable acting role was as Gwen Thompson in the 2009 American Girl film, An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong. In 2011, she garnered an early breakout role as Loretta McCready in the FX series Justified. In the same year, she was cast as a series regular in the ABC (and later Fox) sitcom Last Man Standing, starring with Tim Allen. Starting with the seventh season of the series, Dever began appearing in a recurring role to focus on other film and television projects.

Dever’s other television credits include Make It or Break It, Modern Family, Private Practice, Party Down, The Mentalist, and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Her 2011 film credits include Cinema Verite, Bad Teacher, and the Clint Eastwood–directed film J. Edgar. In 2012, Dever was nominated three times at the 33rd Young Artist Awards: for her supporting roles in Bad Teacher and Last Man Standing, and for her recurring role in Justified.

2013–2018: Independent film

In 2013, she appeared in supporting roles in the critically acclaimed films The Spectacular Now and Short Term 12. Her role in the latter garnered widespread acclaim from critics.

Dever appeared in the 2014 dark comedy film Laggies, directed by Lynn Shelton, alongside Chloë Grace Moretz and Keira Knightley. In the same year, she co-starred in the film Men, Women & Children, directed by Jason Reitman. In 2017 she reunited with Shelton for her drama film Outside In, as supporting cast. 2017 also saw the release of the films We Don’t Belong Here, All Summers End and Detroit, where Dever appeared in supporting roles as well.

In 2018, she performed in minor roles for the political drama The Front Runner and the biographical drama Beautiful Boy, the latter was alongside Timothée Chalamet.

2019–present: Leading roles and breakthrough

In 2019, Dever starred in the drama-thriller film Them That Follow directed by Britt Poulton and Dan Madison Savage. The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 27, 2019, and was released on August 2, 2019, by 1091 Media. That same year, Dever starred in the critically acclaimed teen comedy Booksmart directed by Olivia Wilde, opposite Beanie Feldstein. The film had its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 11, 2019, and was released on May 24, 2019, by Annapurna Pictures. She also starred in Unbelievable a Netflix miniseries which premiered in September 2019. Dever’s performance was praised by critics, receiving a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film. She also received nominations for the Critics’ Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Movie/Miniseries, the BAFTA Rising Star Award, and the TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Drama.

In 2020, Dever appeared in the Quibi comedy series Home Movie: The Princess Bride, directed by Jason Reitman, to raise money for World Central Kitchen. Later that year, she co-starred in the Audible audio drama When You Finish Saving the World, written and directed by Jesse Eisenberg. The story is told from the perspective of three family members, at different stages of their lives. Dever voices Rachel, an 18 year old girl recording tapes for her boyfriend stationed in Afghanistan.

In 2020, she will also star in the television special Coastal Elites, directed by Jay Roach for HBO. Dever will appear in episodes of two anthology series: Platform for FX and Monsterland for Hulu.

On August 17, 2020, she was cast as Zoe Murphy in Stephen Chbosky’s film adaptation of broadway musical Dear Evan Hansen.

Dever and her sister Mady make up the musical duo group Beulahbelle. In February 2020, they released their first single, “Raleigh”.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2011	Bad Teacher	Sasha Abernathy
2011	J. Edgar	Palmer’s Daughter
2013	The Spectacular Now	Krystal
2013	Short Term 12	Jayden Cole
2014	Laggies	Misty
2014	Men, Women & Children	Brandy Beltmeyer
2017	All Summers End	Grace Turner
2017	We Don’t Belong Here	Lily Green
2017	Detroit	Karen Malloy
2017	Outside In	Hildy Beasley
2018	The Front Runner	Andrea Hart
2018	Beautiful Boy	Lauren
2019	Them That Follow	Dilly Picket
2019	Booksmart	Amy Antsler
2021	Dear Evan Hansen	Zoe Murphy	Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2009	An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong	Gwen Thompson	Television film
2009	Make It or Break It	Adorable Girl	Episode: “Pilot”
2009	Modern Family	Bianca Douglas	Episode: “Fizbo”
2010	Private Practice	Paige	Episode: “Love Bites”
2010	Party Down	Escapade Dunfree	Episode: “Party Down Company Picnic”
2011	Cinema Verite	Michelle Loud	Television film
2011	The Mentalist	Trina	Episode: “Blood for Blood”
2011–2015	Justified	Loretta McCready	17 episodes
2011	Curb Your Enthusiasm	Kyra O’Donnell	Episode: “The Divorce”
2011–present	Last Man Standing	Eve Baxter	Main role (seasons 1–6); recurring role (season 7–present)
2019	Unbelievable	Marie Adler	Main role
2020	Home Movie: The Princess Bride	Westley	Episode: “Battle of the Wits”
2020	Coastal Elites	Sharynn Tarrows	Television film for HBO
2020	Monsterland	Toni	Episodes: “Port Fourchon, LA”, “New Orleans, LA”, “Newark, NJ”
2021	Dopesick	Betsy	Upcoming miniseries
2021	Platform	TBA	Episode: “Valedictorian”

Video game

Year	Title	Voice role	Notes
2016	Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End	Cassie Drake	Also motion capture
2021	Open Roads	Tess Devine

Music video

Year	Title	Artist	Role	Notes
2019	“Graduation”	Benny Blanco & Juice Wrld	Decker
2020	“Raleigh”	Beulahbelle	Herself	Also director and producer

Audiobooks

Year	Title	Role	Author	Notes	Refs
2020	When You Finish Saving the World	Rachel Katz	Jesse Eisenberg	An Audible Original

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
2011	Young Artist Award	Best Performance in a Television Series – Guest Starring Young Actress	Private Practice	Nominated
2012	Young Artist Award	Best Performance in a Feature Film – Supporting Young Actress	Bad Teacher	Nominated
		Best Performance in a Television Series – Supporting Young Actress	Last Man Standing	Nominated
		Best Performance in a Television Series – Recurring Young Actress	Justified	Nominated
2013	Phoenix Film Critics Society Award	Best Youth Performance in a Leading or Supporting Role – Female	Short Term 12	Nominated
2017	Behind the Voice Actors Award	Best Vocal Ensemble in a Video Game	Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End	Nominated
2019	Newport Beach Film Festival Award	Ensemble Cast	Them That Follow	Won
	Detroit Film Critics Society Award	Best Breakthrough Performance	Booksmart & Them That Follow	Nominated
	CinemaCon Award	Female Stars of Tomorrow (shared with Beanie Feldstein)	Booksmart	Won
2020	Hollywood Critics Association Award	Best Performance by an Actress 23 and Under		Won
		Next Generation of Hollywood		Won
	Dorian Award	Rising Star of the Year	Herself	Nominated
	Golden Globe Award	Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film	Unbelievable	Nominated
	Critics’ Choice Television Award	Best Actress in a Movie/Miniseries		Nominated
	British Academy Film Award	Rising Star Award	Herself	Nominated
	TCA Award	Individual Achievement in Drama	Unbelievable	Nominated