Kaitlyn Dever

Kaitlyn Rochelle Dever (/ˈdiːvər/;^[1] born December 21, 1996) is an American actress. She is known for her roles in the television series Justified (2011–2015), Last Man Standing (2011–2021), Unbelievable (2019), Dopesick (2021), Apple Cider Vinegar, and The Last of Us (both 2025). She earned Golden Globe Award nominations for Unbelievable and Dopesick, in addition to a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for the latter.

Kaitlyn Dever
Dever at South by Southwest in 2025
Born	(1996-12-21) December 21, 1996 (age 28) Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2009–present
Signature

Dever has had supporting roles in the films Short Term 12 (2013), Detroit (2017), Beautiful Boy (2018), Dear Evan Hansen (2021), and Ticket to Paradise (2022). Her leading film roles include Booksmart (2019), Rosaline (2022), and No One Will Save You (2023).

Early life

Kaitlyn Rochelle Dever^{[citation needed]} was born in Phoenix, Arizona, on December 21, 1996, the daughter of ice skating coaches Kathy and Tim Dever, the latter of whom briefly voiced the title character of the PBS children's show Barney & Friends.^[2][3] She has two younger sisters.^[2][4] At the age of five, her parents put her in an acting school after she developed an interest in the performing arts. She also participated in ballet, gymnastics, and ice skating, but decided to focus on acting after seeing Toni Collette's performance in The Sixth Sense (1999).^[1]

Her family moved to Dallas, where she filmed a number of commercials, then settled in Los Angeles.^[2]

Career

Dever in March 2012

Dever's first notable acting role was as Gwen Thompson in the 2009 film An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong. In 2011, she garnered an early breakout role^[5] 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 as her father.^[6] Starting with the seventh season of the series, Dever transitioned to a recurring role, allowing her to focus on other film and television projects.^[7]

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.^[8]

In 2013, Dever appeared in supporting roles in the films The Spectacular Now and Short Term 12. Dever appeared in the 2014 dark comedy film Laggies, directed by Lynn Shelton, alongside Chloë Grace Moretz and Keira Knightley.^[9] In the same year, she co-starred in the film Men, Women & Children, directed by Jason Reitman.^[10] In 2017, she reunited with Shelton for her drama film Outside In, as a supporting cast member. That same year, she had supporting roles in the films We Don't Belong Here, All Summers End and Detroit.

In 2018, she performed in minor roles for the political drama The Front Runner and the biographical drama Beautiful Boy, the latter alongside Timothée Chalamet.^[11]

Dever in March 2019

In early 2019, Dever appeared in the drama-thriller film Them That Follow directed by Britt Poulton and Dan Madison Savage.^[12] 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.^[13][14] In mid 2019, Dever starred in the critically acclaimed teen comedy Booksmart directed by Olivia Wilde, opposite Beanie Feldstein.^[15] The film had its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 11, 2019, and was released on May 24, 2019, by Annapurna Pictures.^[16][17] She also starred in Unbelievable, a Netflix miniseries which premiered in September 2019.^[18] Dever's performance was praised by critics, receiving a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film.^[19] She also received nominations for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Movie/Miniseries,^[20] the BAFTA Rising Star Award,^[21] and the TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Drama.^[22]

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.^[23] 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 woman recording tapes for her boyfriend stationed in Afghanistan.^[24]

In 2020, she starred in the television special Coastal Elites, directed by Jay Roach for HBO.^[25] On August 17, 2020, she was cast as Zoe Murphy in Stephen Chbosky's 2021 film adaptation of the Broadway musical Dear Evan Hansen.^[26][27]

Dever appeared in an episode of the anthology series Monsterland for Hulu.^[28] In 2021, she starred as Abbi Miller in episode 3 of B.J. Novak's FX anthology series The Premise.^[29] Dever also starred in the title role of the film Rosaline.^[30] She played Betsy Mallum in the 2021 Hulu miniseries Dopesick, for which she received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination.

In 2023, Dever starred in the sci-fi thriller film No One Will Save You, which premiered on Hulu. She was particularly praised for her ability to tell the story almost entirely through facial expressions, as there is virtually no dialogue in the entire film.

In January 2024, it was announced that Dever would join the cast of the second season of The Last of Us as Abby.^[31]

In January 2025, it was announced that Dever would join the cast of the next film in the Monsterverse franchise, currently set for release on March 26, 2027.^[32]

Dever played the lead role of disgraced wellness influencer and convicted con artist Belle Gibson in the biographical Australian miniseries Apple Cider Vinegar. It was released on Netflix in February 2025.^[33]

Music

From an early age, Dever's parents inspired her musically. Her mother played the Alanis Morissette album Jagged Little Pill on car trips in Dallas, and her father taught all of his children to harmonize. Dever and her sister Mady learned piano in their early childhood, but Dever switched to guitar after getting one as a Christmas gift at the age of eight. Dever cites artists such as ABBA and The Cure as inspirations.^[3]

Dever and Mady performed in elementary school talent shows together under the name Hot Pink, performing covers from artists such as Avril Lavigne and Kelly Clarkson. They later changed their name to Anime Pearl, performing various gigs in small clubs across Los Angeles. Jason Reitman, who started sending songs back and forth with Dever during the making of Men, Women & Children, attended one of these gigs.^[3]

At one point, Reitman sent Dever the Nancy Sinatra song "You Only Live Twice" and suggested that she and Mady perform it together. The two sisters changed their group name to Beulahbelle in 2016 after an ancestor of theirs who had died as an infant. In 2018, they released music for the first time under this name, contributing two cover versions of "You Only Live Twice" and an original track titled "Let You Go" to Reitman's 2018 film Tully at his request.^[3][34]

Beulahbelle released their official debut single "Raleigh" on February 15, 2020, with both members directing, producing, and starring in the official music video.^[3][35] They released their second official single, "Being You" on September 10, 2020, amidst plans to release an EP produced by Tony Berg.^[36][3] However, "Being You" became the final single release of Beulahbelle, with their overall final release being a feature on a Neil Young and Crazy Horse cover, "Round & Round (It Won't Be Long)", by Berg's daughter Z Berg (simply titled "It Won't Be Long") in 2021.^{[citation needed]}

Also in 2021, as the character Zoe Murphy, Dever contributed vocals to four songs for the soundtrack of the Dear Evan Hansen film adaptation.^{[citation needed]}

In August 2024, the duo announced that they would change their name from Beulahbelle to Devers and the debut single under the new name, titled "Poison", would be released on September 4.^[37][38][39]

Filmography

Film

Kaitlyn Dever at Men, Women & Children premiere in 2014

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2011	Bad Teacher	Sasha Abernathy
	J. Edgar	Palmer's Daughter
2013	The Spectacular Now	Krystal
	Short Term 12	Jayden Cole
2014	Laggies	Misty
	Men, Women & Children	Brandy Beltmeyer
2017	All Summers End	Grace Turner
	We Don't Belong Here	Lily Green
	Detroit	Karen Malloy
	Outside In	Hildy Beasley
2018	The Front Runner	Andrea Hart
	Beautiful Boy	Lauren
2019	Them That Follow	Dilly Picket
	Booksmart	Amy Antsler
2021	Dear Evan Hansen	Zoe Murphy
2022	Ticket to Paradise	Lily Cotton
	Rosaline	Rosaline	Also executive producer
2023	Next Goal Wins	Nicole Megaloudis	Cameo
	No One Will Save You	Brynn Adams	Also executive producer
	Good Grief	Lily Kayne	Cameo
2025	See You When I See You †	TBA	Post-production
2027	Untitled Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire sequel †	TBA	Filming

Key

†	Denotes film or TV productions that have not yet been released

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2009	An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong	Gwen Thompson	Television film
	Make It or Break It	Adorable Girl	Episode: "Pilot"
	Modern Family	Bianca Douglas	Episode: "Fizbo"
2010	Private Practice	Paige	Episode: "Love Bites"
	Party Down	Escapade Dunfree	Episode: "Party Down Company Picnic"
2011	Cinema Verite	Michelle Loud	Television film
	The Mentalist	Trina	Episode: "Blood for Blood"
2011–2015	Justified	Loretta McCready	17 episodes
2011	Curb Your Enthusiasm	Kyra O'Donnell	Episode: "The Divorce"
2011–2021	Last Man Standing	Eve Baxter	Main role (seasons 1–6); Recurring role (seasons 7–9)
2019	Unbelievable	Marie Adler	Miniseries
2020	Home Movie: The Princess Bride	Westley	Episode: "Chapter Four: Battle of the Wits"
	Coastal Elites	Sharynn Tarrows	Television film
	Monsterland	Toni / Jennifer	3 episodes
2021	The Premise	Abbi Miller	Episode: "The Ballad of Jesse Wheeler"
	Dopesick	Betsy Mallum	Miniseries
2025	Apple Cider Vinegar	Belle Gibson	Miniseries; also executive producer
	The Last of Us	Abby	Main cast (season 2)

Key

†	Denotes TV productions that have not yet been released

Video games

Year	Title	Voice role	Notes
2016	Uncharted 4: A Thief's End	Cassie Drake	Also motion capture
2024	Open Roads	Tess Devine

Music videos

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

Audiobooks

Year	Title	Role	Author	Notes	Refs
2020	When You Finish Saving the World	Rachel Katz	Jesse Eisenberg	An Audible Original	[40]

Awards and nominations

Major Associations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Ref
2020	Critics' Choice Television Awards	Best Actress in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television	Unbelievable	Nominated	[20]
	Golden Globe Awards	Best Actress in a Miniseries or Television Film		Nominated	[19]
2022	Critics' Choice Television Awards	Best Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television	Dopesick	Nominated	[41]
	Golden Globe Awards	Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries or Television Film		Nominated	[42]
	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie		Nominated	[43]
2024	Critics' Choice Television Awards	Best Actress in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television	No One Will Save You	Nominated	[44]

Miscellaneous Awards

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Ref
2011	Young Artist Awards	Best Performance in a Television Series – Guest Starring Young Actress	Private Practice	Nominated	[45]
2012	Young Artist Awards	Best Performance in a Feature Film – Supporting Young Actress	Bad Teacher	Nominated	[8]
		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	Best Youth Performance in a Leading or Supporting Role – Female	Short Term 12	Nominated	[46]
2017	Behind the Voice Actors	Best Vocal Ensemble in a Video Game	Uncharted 4: A Thief's End	Nominated	[47]
2019	Newport Beach Film Festival	Ensemble Cast	Them That Follow	Won	[48]
	Detroit Film Critics Society	Best Breakthrough Performance	Booksmart & Them That Follow	Nominated	[49]
	CinemaCon	Female Stars of Tomorrow (shared with Beanie Feldstein)	Booksmart	Won	[50]
	Indiana Film Journalists Association	Best Actress		Nominated	[51]
2020	Hollywood Film Critics Association	Best Performance by an Actress 23 and Under		Won	[52]
		Next Generation of Hollywood	Herself	Won
	British Academy Film Awards	Rising Star Award		Nominated	[21]
	Dorian Awards	Rising Star of the Year Award		Nominated	[53]
	Online Film & Television Association	Best Actress in a Motion Picture or Limited Series	Unbelievable	Nominated	[54]
	TCA Awards	Individual Achievement in Drama		Nominated	[22]
2022	Hollywood TV Critics Association	Best Supporting Actress in a Streaming Limited or Anthology Series and or Movie	Dopesick	Won	[55]