Generation next
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Kaitlyn Dever
She was the scene-stealing talent in Booksmart and Unbelievable, who has graduated from Hollywood wunderkind to multifaceted storyteller. Here, KAITLYN DEVER talks masterclasses with Amy Adams, duets with Ben Platt and psyching herself up to co-star with George Clooney and Julia Roberts – and tells KATIE BERRINGTON why now, more than ever, the world needs narratives with nuance
It’s Kaitlyn Dever’s first time in Italy and, while she’s squeezed in some sightseeing in Rome with her younger sister, the purpose of the trip is to prepare for her next movie. She’s set to star as the titular role in Rosaline – a comedic new twist on Romeo and Juliet, told through the oft-overlooked eyes of Juliet’s cousin and Romeo’s ex-lover. Despite jet lag, Dever appears full of energy over Zoom this morning, which is lucky, given that she’s about to spend the day horseriding. Then, it’s back home to LA for her other sister’s graduation, before returning to Italy to start shooting.
It’s fair to say that Dever has become accustomed to the variations in pace that her career demands though, particularly during the past year. “I’ve learned that this job can be different every single day and that everything changes all the time,” she tells me. “I go from work, work, work, and everything is crazy. Then, literally, nothing, and then it’s up again.” There have been quite a few ‘ups’ recently: the 24-year-old has filmed two major projects during the pandemic – the first being the much anticipated big-screen adaptation of Dear Evan Hansen.
Stephen Chbosky's adaptation of the critically acclaimed musical has been years in the making, but the story, which centers on a high-school student who suffers from social anxiety, has taken on even greater resonance following the events of the past 18 months. “It’s a really important story to tell now more than ever… it’s about isolation and feeling alone and helping others to realize that they don’t have to be alone,” considers Dever, who plays Zoe Murphy, a student struggling in the aftermath of her brother’s suicide.
A standout moment on set was watching Ben Platt in the title role, performing the heart-wrenching number You Will Be Found. “The phrase ‘you will be found’ is so powerful and the fact I was able to watch that go down live was crazy… I was sitting in the school auditorium where we were shooting and realizing that we were some of the first people to see a live performance [during the pandemic] safely,” she recalls.
“I couldn’t believe I was WORKING with Amy Adams! I can’t EVEN tell you how MUCH I love her”
That wasn’t her only moment of incredulity on the job. “I couldn’t believe I was working with Amy Adams! I can’t even tell you how much I love her,” she says effusively of co-starring with Adams, who plays Murphy’s mom. “We really bonded over our music taste. And doing a dialogue scene with Amy Adams is the biggest masterclass you can have as an actor. Then [there was] Julianne Moore on top of that…”
Born in Phoenix, Arizona, Dever has been performing from the age of five (acting runs in the family – her dad worked as a voice actor when Dever was younger, performing a stint as Barney the purple dinosaur), so she hasn’t been short of eminent co-stars to gain experience from. “What I’ve always loved about my job is that I’ve been able to learn from so many seasoned actors. I’ve been able to be a sponge on set and soak up the way they present themselves,” she shares. “Yes, I’ve been doing this for a while, but I know I’m just going to continue to learn. I am very conscious of what I can improve in every single job I do.”
Her breakthrough came aged 14, when she was cast in the FX crime drama Justified, and as a series regular in comedy sitcom Last Man Standing – not an average teenage job, but one that she says allowed her to do high school at a reasonable pace and provided a financial foundation for her to have more choice over other projects she went for. In 2019, she captivated global audiences as Amy in Olivia Wilde’s brilliantly clever, subverted coming-of-age comedy, Booksmart, in which she starred alongside her now real-life friend Beanie Feldstein. But it was her harrowing depiction of a teenager who survives a sexual assault in the Netflix drama Unbelievable – a story based on true events – that earned her Bafta and Golden Globe nominations.
Indeed, Dever’s career has been built on multifaceted characters that feel new, and stories that have gone untold. “Ever since Unbelievable, I’ve really learned the impacts that filmmaking can have, [which is] a big reason why I love doing what I do,” she says. “You can move people in so many different ways. I want to continue to be part of projects that start a conversation or move the needle forward. Representation is so important… the more I’m able to be part of stories that have been untold, or stories that have been somewhat buried over time – whenever I can do that, I’m all for it.”
So, landing the iconic role of Zoe Murphy in Dear Evan Hansen was something of a childhood dream. “I’ve wanted to do a musical literally my entire life,” she says. “I’m always singing around the house.” However, this desire amplified the pressure during her auditions. “The things going through your head are like, ‘Oh my god, this is the moment. I have this one opportunity’. All of these thoughts were running through my head while I was auditioning for this movie and wanting it so terribly.”
“I want to CONTINUE to be part of projects that START a conversation or move the NEEDLE forward”
After she got the part, the challenge was “getting over my own internal nervousness and trusting myself”. Singing live on set was particularly intimidating. “It’s the fear of the unknown, I couldn’t stop thinking about it,” she says.
Dever isn’t a newcomer to the music space, though – she and her sister Mady are in a band together called Beulahbelle and their debut EP is imminent. They recorded it with Tony Berg, the LA producer behind Phoebe Bridgers’ releases. “[Singing] feels different with my sister,” Dever shares. “That music is ours; it’s our personal diaries that we’re putting out at our own time for the love of it.” And music is a big part of how she switches off: “You can find me [listening to music] most hours of the day, discovering new songs that I can start repeating over and over again.”
Recalling her first time singing on set – filming the song Only Us with Platt – Dever reveals it felt surprisingly easy. “I’m doing a dialogue scene with Ben and the music starts in my ear and it’s just like I’m continuing the conversation,” she says. In fact, after long and emotionally draining days, the pair would go back to their shared apartment and binge-watch Love Island, Selling Sunset and Sex and the City before ordering takeout. “Oh my god, we finished so many shows,” she laughs. “It was the best. We had, like, five restaurants that we would circulate, and we didn’t leave the house until we had to go to work.”
“Whenever I’m PLAYING a character in a MOVIE, I’m still dressing like THEM for months after”
Dever also filmed Dopesick during the pandemic – a piercing drama helmed by Danny Strong. Based on the non-fiction book Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors and the Drug Company that Addicted America, the miniseries offers a harrowing and compelling look at the epicenter of America’s struggle with opioid addiction.
“It’s so eye-opening this show… it’s such a powerful story and the cast is insane. I don’t even know how I fit in there,” Dever, who gives a raw and candid performance as a young coal miner, says while shaking her head with sincere and characteristic humility. “Peter Sarsgaard, Will Poulter, Rosario Dawson – she’s everything. And Michael Keaton is truly a bucket-list actor to work with.” After her first meeting with Strong, the actor knew she wanted to be in the show. “I just love the way he writes and tells stories.”
Success, it seems, was always on the cards. “When I was little, I couldn’t have a sleepover with a friend and not come home acting like the friend,” Dever smiles. “I take on so much of what I’m surrounded by. And that includes a wardrobe, so whenever I’m playing a character in a movie, I’m still dressing like them for months after.” A favorite was Amy’s politically inspired style in Booksmart. “I’ll never forget my little bolo tie that said ‘Democrat’ on it – it was the cutest little tie. I obviously still have my patchwork jacket too – every patch was so thought out.”
Dever is chameleonic when it comes to genre – she can make an audience laugh as easily as she moves them. At the end of this year, she will make her first foray into romcom territory in Ticket to Paradise, starring George Clooney and Julia Roberts. “George and Julia feels like its own genre! Oh my god, I almost can’t even talk about it,” she says while jokingly cringing at the prospect of meeting her soon-to-be on-screen parents. “It’s too much for them to be in the same movie together. It’s like A$AP Rocky and Rihanna being together; it’s too much to handle. I need to figure out how I’m going to present myself when I meet them because it’s fast approaching and I seriously need to calm down.”
Looking to the future, she prefers not to set out definitive career aims. “I’ve realized that there doesn’t need to be a specific goal necessarily – I just want to keep doing better every time,” she says. “I’m so grateful to have a job that is so fulfilling and fun that what I do doesn’t actually feel like work most of the time – it’s like a new adventure every time I’m on a different project.”
Dopesick premieres on Hulu on October 13; Dear Evan Hansen is in movie theaters from September 24