Dude, what’s my line reading?
In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE ahead of the Wednesday, March 18 season 1 finale of Shifting Gears, Kat Dennings and Seann William Scott shared the story behind the episode’s shoutout to Scott’s 2000 comedy film Dude, Where’s My Car? — and the hilarious lengths Dennings, 38, went to in order to nail the line.
Moments before her dad, Matt (Tim Allen), revealed that he had completed the restoration on his daughter’s beloved vintage ride, Riley (Dennings) entered his garage and asked Gabriel (Scott) and Stitch (Daryl “Chill” Mitchell) where her car was by referencing the 2000 movie. It was a fun wink to the audience, and one that Dennings was determined to get right.
“I felt a lot of pressure about performing it correctly,” Dennings shared. “I even asked Seann if there was a way that he thought I should say it, which is really unnecessary of me, but apparently I’m a really deep and complicated actor when it comes to ‘Dude, where’s my car?’ lines.”
Scott, 48, confirmed that his costar was indeed stressed about nailing the line reading. “I remember you asked me, and I was like, ‘I think that we said it every possible way in the movie like a million times, you can’t say it wrong,’ ” he said.
“I know, but the pressure, the pressure of doing it justice though,” Dennings told her costar.
Scott went on to joke, “That’s true because you know a lot of people do consider that movie kind of up there with The Godfather.”
The 2 Broke Girls alum ultimately nailed her line reading, much to the delight of the studio audience, cast and crew. “It really gave everyone a real thrill when I said that,” she recalled.
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The pair’s offscreen banter is every bit as dynamic as their onscreen chemistry. In the finale, Riley and Gabriel danced around moving from friends to something more, but both Dennings and Scott hope the show takes its time when it comes to getting their characters together if it returns for season 2.
“I think our relationship is so sweet because there is a friendship between the two and it’s not just so obvious,” Scott told PEOPLE. “I think there’s a lot of different, I don’t know if I’d say layers to it, but it’s not so obvious, so I think you wouldn’t want to lose that.”
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Shifting Gears airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and streams the next day on Hulu.
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