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Tim Allen candidly weighed in on his age gap romance with Jenna Elfman on Shifting Gears — and recalled what concerns he initially had about the fictional relationship.
“The age difference is not much different than my wife and I,” Allen, 72, who has been married to wife Jane Hajduk since 2006, exclusively shared in Us Weekly‘s latest cover story.
Allen noted that his response to the age gap varies, adding, “It depends on the pictures. It gets creepy for me at a certain age [and] we’re right at that border. If Jenna didn’t look so damn nice than our age gap is not that much. I just let my hair go natural and she just looks — especially on camera — quite young.”
The actor noticed the difference when watching Matt and Eve’s scenes.
“They say when you’re lit better and I go, ‘When I’m lit better, I look probably 68,’” he quipped. “I just don’t want to be creepy about it — and that’s kind of the borderline image these days.”
Allen continued, “It hasn’t really come out — except when they joke about, ‘Well, a guy your age.’ When they have her making jokes about it, it’s not my preference. But I said, ‘It’s admitting what is there.’ There’s times — and I’ll give it to them — that they lit right and in the right clothing so it doesn’t look creepy.”
Shifting Gears introduced fans to Matt and Eve’s romance in season 1. The pair dated throughout the second season before calling it quits due to long distance. Matt and Eve — who have an age gap — found their way back to each other before season 2 concluded.
“Our showrunner [Michelle Nader] put this thing together and they really like the romance. I wanted a car show about a widower to deal with grief. That’s what I wanted,” Allen told Us. “I loved Kat Dennings [as my daughter] because she’s the perfect choice. That old dynamic is really where I was at.”
Allen chose to go with the flow when Elfman’s character was introduced, saying, “They threw this romance in there and I know Jenna so I said, ‘That’s not the problem. It’s just that I’m feeling way too old for her.’ Sometimes they say, ‘Visually it doesn’t look like you think it does.’”
After seeing the reception to the relationship, Allen is interested to see where the show takes the characters next.
“She’s so fun to be around and it’s brought out a whole different part of that show and brought a different audience to that show,” he continued. “I’m really out there for the car guys and I make sure the car stuff is fun and exciting. Then the office is cool and now you’ve got romance for the people that want that. Because it turns out the flirting and the actual activity between these two characters is working and I said, ‘All right, I’ll go there.’ [Jenna is] really good at this and the romance is kind of generated quite by accident.”
Allen promised that season 3 will continue to center around Matt and Eve.
“My question is — and we haven’t talked about it yet because we’ll start in late July to do our new season — is Jenna going to move in with me or am I going to move in with her [on the show]? I don’t know,” he noted. “I’d like to stretch it out where we’re just dating a little bit.”
He continued, “I said I don’t foresee it coming but [showrunner] Michelle [Nader] and her team surprised me again. I’m uncomfortable with it — because I’m a comedian — so I don’t know where this goes. It doesn’t matter, it’s working. It makes a dynamic sitcom move a little bit wider, definitely.”
Allen’s return to set will come after he wraps up promoting his return as the voice of Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story 5.
“It’s an amazing part of my life,” Allen said about the role, which he originated three decades prior. “Buzz has become such a part of me, and vice versa.”
Allen teased what fans can expect from the next chapter, which premieres in theaters on June 19, “When we did Toy Story 4, I said, ‘We need a little more Buzz in this.’ I was kidding, so it was very startling when I saw the storyboards. I said, ‘OK, you took that seriously.’”
He concluded, “It was very challenging to be that many Buzzes [in a toy cargo container], and then it got very confusing [as to] who’s talking to who, and I’m not sure exactly how they smoothed it out, but it was very funny to be part of that. … Essentially, it’s a story about a wonderful friendship. Kids recognize it, and adults recognize it, and they’ve added a whole color palette with the other toys, so it’s like a little community. I think [if it were with] stick figures, it would still be very popular.”
Shifting Gears is currently streaming on Hulu. Toy Story 5 premieres in theaters on June 19.
