‘Last Man Standing’: Why Kaitlyn Dever Might Be Too Busy to Return

Kaitlyn Dever continues to add new projects to her busy schedule, which could make her future appearances on Last Man Standing few and far between. The Booksmart star signed on to star in another limited series for a streaming platform, this time for Hulu. Dever will star in Dopesick, an adaptation of Beth Macy’s bestselling book. She recently starred in Netflix’s Unbelievable, which earned her the first Golden Globe nomination of her career.

Dopesick will be written by Danny Strong (Empire, Game Change) and directed by Barry Levinson (Rain Man, The Wizard of Lies), and executive produced by Warren Littlefield for Touchstone Television, reports Deadline. Michael Keaton will star as Dr. Finnix in the series, which will explore the impact of opioid addiction, from the DEA offices to a Virginia mining community ravaged by the crisis. Peter Sarsgaard will also star in the series, which will debut in 2021.

Dever is now working on the film version of the Broadway hit Dear Evan Hansen, which is being directed by Stephen Chbosky. Dever stars as Zoe Murphy, the role played by Laura Dreyfuss in the original Broadway production. Ben Platt, Amandla Stenberg, Amy Adams, Danny Pino, and Julianne Moore also star in the film. Before that movie hits theaters, Dever will be seen in HBO’s Coastal Elites, which premieres on Saturday, and Hulu’s Monsterland, which begins on Oct. 2. Her Netflix series Unbelievable is now streaming.

Coastal Elites is a unique special featuring an all-star cast, with actors playing people whose lives have been changed by the coronavirus pandemic. Dever plays Sharynn Tarrows, a Wyoming nurse who volunteers to help in New York. The project is “a very relevant and current piece about five different characters… just saying out loud their frustrations of the current state of the world and sort of getting different perspectives on all of it,” Dever told TVInsider.

Dever was an original star on Last Man Standing, playing Eve, daughter of Tim Allen’s Mike Baxter. Since Fox revived the show for the 2018-2019 TV season, Dever has only made a handful of appearances while working on other projects. She only appeared in two episodes last season, including the impromptu season finale, “How You Like Them Pancakes?” The episode ended just before Kristin (Amanda Fuller) welcomed her second child. The show was renewed for a ninth season, so fans will get to meet the baby when the show returns next year.

“She’s the best and she’s everyone’s favorite, which is completely understandable,” Molly McCook, who plays Dever’s onscreen sister Mandy, told PopCulture.com. “We just love having her around, and we’ve all been talking about her every day and watching her success. And I know that she wants to be back. So if there’s time in her schedule, I know that she’ll make it happen.”