Emerging with a role in an episode of the HBO dramedy series Sex and the City, Dennings has since appeared in the films The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Big Momma’s House 2, Charlie Bartlett, Raise Your Voice, The House Bunny, Defendor, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, and Thor. Dennings was home schooled; her only enrollment at a traditional school was for a half-day at Friends’ Central School. According to Dennings, as stated in Interview magazine in 2007, her parents initially considered her idea of pursuing an acting career to be “the worst idea ever”. Dennings played Norah Silverberg, the daughter of a famous record producer, and was nominated for the International Press Academy’s Satellite Award for Best Actress for the performance. Actors Sam Rockwell and Josh Hartnett were involved, but the project was not greenlit because of its controversial subject matter of nuclear war. She played the protagonist Toe (Jimmy Bennett)’s teenage older sister, Stacey Thompson.
