Dennings plays the astrophysicist in Wandavision, returning to a franchise role after a long absence and treating the intervening years as material. Her comic register is dry and thoroughly unimpressed, which functions as a counterweight in scenes otherwise designed to convey wonder or dread.
She came from American television and independent film as a teenager, drawing attention in a romantic comedy set across a single night in New York before moving into a long running network sitcom. She has also produced her own projects, and she works across comedy and voice performance in animation.
Recurring subjects: deadpan, young women who refuse to be impressed by anything, and comedy built on flat delivery rather than on energy. She plays sarcasm without any cruelty in it, and her timing depends on delay: she takes a beat longer than expected before responding, which is where the joke actually sits.
Her network sitcom ran for six seasons and made her widely recognised, and her franchise role has now appeared across more than a decade of films and television. Her early independent film work retains a following among audiences who came to it years after its original release.
For viewers who want comic delivery built on refusing to react. Suited to anyone approaching the sitcom pastiche series, and to those who should follow it with the early independent romantic comedy.
