Kaitlyn Dever’s Real Feelings About Starring In Last Man Standing With Tim Allen

Via: TheThings

Summary

Kaitlyn Dever played Tim Allen’s daughter on Last Man Standing.
Dever and Allen shared many light-hearted moments on set.
Tim Allen has expressed that Last Man Standing meant a lot to him.

While Last Man Standing was such a popular sitcom that it ran for nine seasons, some cast members left the show before it ended, including Kaitlyn Dever. The now 26-year-old actress has taken on darker, more dramatic projects like Dopesick and Unbelievable in recent years. But her career started on the sometimes corny show starring Tim Allen as Mike Baxter, a husband and dad of three daughters.

Kaitlyn Dever’s career benefited from Booksmart, but fans will always love watching her play Eve Baxter on Last Man Standing. Since Eve has such a great bond with her dad Mike, fans wonder if Dever liked being on set with Tim Allen. Did the co-stars actually get along?

How Did Kaitlyn Dever Feel About Her Last Man Standing Co-Star Tim Allen?

Throughout his career, Tim Allen has played some of the most popular TV and movie characters. From Tim Taylor on Home Improvement to Mike Baxter on Last Man Standing, he has seen a lot of success in the sitcom world. No one can ever forget his time as Scott Calvin/Santa Claus in the franchise The Santa Clause, either.

A closeup of Tim Allen along with a throwback of Allen on Home Improvement with Zachery Ty Bryan.The Things

It doesn’t get more heartwarming than a character like Santa Claus… but some stars have said some negative things about Allen. For example, Pamela Anderson starred in Home Improvement and said that Tim Allen “flashed” her.

This makes fans curious about what Kaitlyn Dever has said about starring in Last Man Standing. When she began starring in the sitcom in 2011, the 26-year-old actress was in her early teen years. Also in 2011, the actress played Loretta McCready in Justified. However, there’s no question that playing Eve Baxter cemented her place in Hollywood.

Several of Eve’s Last Man Standing storylines are about her getting used to being a teenager. In the season 1 episode “House Rules,” she gets her period. A few episodes later, she is devastated about her crush rejecting her before an important dance. Over the next few seasons, Eve’s romantic life becomes more dramatic as she enters serious relationships.

A screenshot from Last Man Standing of Kaitlyn Dever as Eve Baxter talking to Tim Allen as Mike Baxtervia ABC/Fox

Whenever she talks about her time on the popular sitcom, Dever makes positive comments about working with Allen. She has explained that they had a good working relationship and it sounds like things were always light-hearted between them. Dever has never said anything negative about her Last Man Standing co-star, and she has never shared a story like Pamela Anderson’s.

In 2013, Kaitlyn Dever talked about Last Man Standing in an interview with She Said Media Said. She explained that she thought that Allen was hilarious. She said, “We have so many moments on set. It’s really hard to keep track of each one, because every time we go to shoot or any time we go to rehearsals, I’m constantly laughing. Tim [Allen] is constantly making me laugh.”

A screenshot from Last Man Standing of Tim Allen as Mike Baxter standing with Kaitlyn Dever as Eve Baxtervia ABC/Fox

Dever continued that her castmates had thrown her a 16th birthday party, which meant a lot to her.

In 2016, the actress mentioned Allen in an interview with Assignment X and said once again that she laughed a lot while working with him. She explained, “Me and Tim, I feel like we’re always laughing at each other. I feel like it’s always when we mess up. We can tell when we’re just about to mess up, but we haven’t messed up our line yet, and he just makes me laugh.”

Kaitlyn Dever smiles over her shouldervia Instar

Kaitlyn Dever also talked about Tim Allen in a 2012 interview with My Take On TV. It sounds like he was a mentor figure of sorts for her since they would discuss the art of delivering a hilarious line.

She explained, “From Tim, he’s always giving me how to say a comedic line. When we have a short, quick rewrite on a tape night, he’ll help me out with how to say the line and then have the audience laugh. Comedic pausing and stuff. He’s really good about helping me out with that.”

Tim Allen and the cast of Last Man Standing Via: TheThings

Overall, Dever seems to have loved working with Allen, and she continues to say nice things about him. In 2017, she told W Magazine that she appreciated the lessons about comedy. She said, “I was 13 when I started the show, so I grew up there. Over time he taught me a lot about comedic timing and not being afraid to ad-lib and make up your own thing.”

What Has Tim Allen Said About His Last Man Standing Co-Star Kaitlyn Dever?

Since Kaitlyn Dever has shared how well she and Tim Allen got along on the Last Man Standing set, it’s interesting to hear how Allen felt about the actress who played one of his character’s daughters.

While Eve Baxter was a main character from seasons 1 through 7, she became more of a minor player. In an April 2020 interview with Fox News, Allen explained that watching Eve begin attending school far away from her family was emotional for him. He explained that he could relate to this experience.

A screenshot from Last Man Standing of Tim Allen as Mike Baxter talking to Kaitlyn Dever as Eve Baxtervia ABC/Fox

Allen said, “We had an episode…where we had to change Eve’s [Kaitlyn Dever] room and it reminded me of real life. You know, your kid’s not coming back. They’ll visit, they’re not going anywhere, but they’re not coming back to the bedroom they grew up in. It was really a hard one for me to do based on my oldest daughter, when she left.”

Allen was referring to his daughter Katherine Allen, who is 34 years old.

Whenever Tim Allen talks about Last Man Standing, it’s clear that the series meant a lot to him. He seems to have cherished his time with the cast.

Kaitlyn Dever looking serious at the 50th Anniversary Of Knott’s Scary Farmvia Instar

In May 2021, Allen and Nancy Travis, who played Mike Baxter’s wife Vanessa Baxter, talked to Entertainment Tonight about wrapping up the sitcom.

Allen explained that he really wanted to keep making Last Man Standing. It sounds like he felt emotional about the entire experience.

He said, “Kaitlyn Dever was 12 when the show started. When we had that year off, I called Nancy and told her I talked to the girls and we were talking about what they were doing and if we could get all of them to come back because Dana Walden at Fox had shown some interest [in bringing back the show]. And at the end of our conversation, Nancy said, ‘Just to be clear, they’re not our girls. And I am not actually your wife.’ And I went, ‘Oh right. Let me call you back.'”