Who is Dee Reynolds in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia?

Show

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Played by

Kaitlin Olson

First episode

“The Gang Gets Racist”Season 1, Episode 1, aired August 4, 2005

Role

Main cast

Network

FX

Occupation

Bartender at Paddy's Pub, aspiring actress

Show run

2005 to presentMoved from FX to FXX in 2013.

Also known as

Sweet Dee, Deandra Reynolds, Dee, Deandra

Dee Reynolds, known to the gang as Sweet Dee, tends bar at Paddy's Pub and dreams of being a star despite a total lack of talent and crippling stage fright. Played by Kaitlin Olson, she began the show as its voice of reason and quickly became one of its most fearless sources of chaos.

On It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Dee Reynolds's story runs through Dennis Reynolds (Twin Brother), Frank Reynolds (Legal Father), Charlie Kelly (Friend), Mac (Coworker), and The Waitress (High School Classmate).

Who is Dee Reynolds?

Deandra Reynolds is Dennis's twin sister and the gang's only woman. She grew up in the same comfortable household as her brother, and as a teenager she wore a back brace for scoliosis that earned her the cruel nickname the Aluminum Monster. Her mother, Barbara, clearly favored Dennis, and that hunger for approval follows Dee everywhere.

At Paddy's she works the bar, though the guys treat her less like a partner and more like an employee they can ignore. They call her a bird, gang up on her in every argument, and leave her out of their plans. Dee keeps coming back anyway, usually with a scheme of her own that is somehow worse than theirs.

Personality and comedy

Dee is vain, petty, and convinced she is a gifted performer. Her acting attempts lean on offensive characters, and when she tries stand-up she dry heaves before she can reach the punchline. She also cannot cry on cue, which becomes a problem more than once. The joke is that she is exactly as bad as the people who bully her, and just as determined.

The writers originally pictured Dee as the sane one who would react to the guys' antics. Within a few episodes the show abandoned that idea and let her be as depraved as everyone else. That decision gave Kaitlin Olson room to do some of the series' boldest physical comedy, from pratfalls to full-body meltdowns.

Key storylines

In season two Dee and Dennis learn that their real father is not Frank but a kindly philanthropist named Bruce Mathis, and a season later their mother dies, leaving her money to Bruce Mathis, the house to Dennis, and Dee nothing at all. In season six Dee announces she is pregnant and lets the guys panic over which of them might be the father. Only in "Dee Gives Birth" does the truth come out: she was a surrogate all along, and the baby goes to Mac's ex Carmen and her husband, Nick.

Dee's showbiz dreams take some brutal turns. In "The Gang Broke Dee" she sinks into a deep depression, then becomes a surprise hit doing crude, self-loathing stand-up. Later seasons give her a day of her own in "Dee Day," an embarrassing softcore film role in "Dee Made a Smut Film," and a muddy fight for survival in "Dee Sinks in a Bog" during the gang's trip to Ireland.

Behind the scenes and legacy

Dee was played by Jordan Reid in the original homemade pilot. When FX picked up the series, Kaitlin Olson took over the role, and she accepted after talking with Rob McElhenney about letting the character get funnier as the show went on. Kristen Wiig also auditioned. Olson and McElhenney married in real life a few years into the show's run, and the writers folded Olson's real pregnancy into Dee's sixth-season storyline.

Critics regularly single out Olson's timing and physical comedy as a high point of the series, and many fans argue that Dee is the most underrated member of the gang. Episodes in which she wears blackface for her characters have drawn criticism over the years.

Dee Reynolds: frequently asked questions

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