At the start of her career, Nancy Travis felt she was “more known” for jobs that got away than ones she scored.
“I came so close to many jobs only to lose them in the 11th hour,” Travis, 63, recalled in the newest issue of Us Weekly about her early acting days. “There were always reasons and excuses — and I always just tried to not let it define me in any way. I knew that rejection came with the territory and I always tended to look at it as the person who rejected me [it was] their lack of clarity or judgment rather than my own.”
Travis noted that she doesn’t look back asking what if, telling Us, “I don’t have regrets about the things that I’ve chosen to do because I have enjoyed each project in its own way.” In fact, Travis had enjoyed looking at her career as a “continuous journey” with certain choices paving the way for long-lasting success.
“Every job is a new beginning. It is not like I’m winding down and ready to retire,” she shared. “I don’t ever think I am going to be that person. I will be delivering some Shakespearean monologue and I collapse on the stage. That’s my fantasy of how it all ends.”
Last Man Standing has ended, but the show’s stars including Tim Allen, Nancy Travis and Kaitlyn Dever have remained on our screens. The sitcom started out on ABC and starred Allen as an executive at a sporting goods store chain in Denver, Colorado. Mike Baxter was a married father of three daughters and a grandfather […]
Over the years, Travis found some of her most notable hits on the big screen with Three Men and a Baby and So I Married an Axe Murderer. But there’s also a plethora of TV roles that stayed with Us — like Almost Perfect and Last Man Standing. Travis even made a debut on Broadway in 1985’s I’m Not Rappaport but now she’s excited for opportunities such as playing Patty on NBC’s Grosse Pointe Garden Society.
“I don’t think I’ve ever played a part like this,” she told Us about her character, who is trying to stay on top in a small town. “I am eating it up. I’ve had a career of being the woman who is eye candy for the man, basically. This is a woman on a mission.”
Keep scrolling to see how Travis takes Us back through her career:
Commercial Work (1987)
Nancy Travis in Hostess commercial Hostess
Travis credits past commercials for being a “launching pad” in her career. “They were very lucrative,” she recalled about filming herself eating Hostess cupcakes, wearing Levi’s jeans and more. “I don’t think I’ve had one of the Hostess cupcakes — or anything like that — since then.”
The ads ultimately became a “trendsetter” for its time. “They really wanted real people as they looked in their lives,” Travis shared. “For somebody like me who has this crazy curly hair that is untamable, it was a door that opened for me.”
‘Three Men and a Baby’ (1987)
Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg, Nacy Travis and Ted Danson in Three Men and A Baby Touchstone pictures
Starring opposite Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg and Ted Danson in the biggest American box-office hit of 1987 is still what Travis gets recognized for the most. “At this rate, we’re going to be Three Men and a Lady at the Retirement Home,” Travis, who reunited with Danson on his sitcom Becker in 2002, joked. “It’s interesting that the longer you’re in this business, the smaller your world becomes.”
Everyone loves an on-set couple — and these duos are no exception! Mindy Kaling, B.J. Novak, Hilarie Burton and Sophia Bush are just a few of the stars who went from costars to best friends in real life. Michelle Williams and Busy Philipps, for instance, met while filming Dawson’s Creek. The Oscar nominee starred as Jen […]
‘So I Married an Axe Murderer’ (1993)
Mike Myers and Nancy Travis in So I Married and Axe Murderer Cover Images
Mike Myers’ black comedy holds a special place for Travis, whose now-husband Robert N. Fried produced the film. “We were together before that and it was just a charmed experience. We only worked together one other time on the 2007 short Sally,” she recalled. “It was a charmed experience to be in San Francisco, which was magical.”
‘Almost Perfect’ (1995 to 1996)
clockwise from left: Kevin Kilner, Chip Zien, Matthew Letscher, David Clennon, Nancy Travis in Almost Perfect. Paramount Television / Courtesy Everett Collection
After becoming a household name, Almost Perfect allowed Travis to lead her own series. “It was a lot of fun at a time when sitcoms were really flourishing,” she says about playing a fictional executive producer of a cop show.
The underappreciated sitcom took a hit when Travis’ onscreen love interest Kevin Kilner was written off, she noted, “It definitely changed the dynamic of the show. If you pull out a piece, it doesn’t hold the same form and the same shape. It has to almost be completely redesigned.”
‘Last Man Standing’ (2011 to 2021)
Tim Allen, Kaitlyn Dever, Nancy Travis in Last Man Standing Everett Collection
While balancing an offer for Last Man Standing and a chance to guest star on Hart of Dixie, Travis chose the full-time gig playing Tim Allen‘s TV wife, which she called “a hard decision” at the time.
“We have a great rapport, a nice, relaxed thing,” she said. While Last Man Standing weathered several recastings and network changes, Travis and Allen’s dynamic kept Us coming back for more.
Travis recently reunited with Allen on his new ABC sitcom Shifting Gears, which is staffed by many of the same crew members as Last Man Standing and Home Improvement. “It was a family reunion,” she recalled. “It’s like everybody meeting back in the sandbox.”
These actors have enjoyed working with one another so much that they continued to score roles in the same projects. Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling had perfect onscreen chemistry in projects like Crazy, Stupid, Love, Gangster Squad and La La Land, which inspired a real friendship between the pair. “I can’t even imagine what my […]
‘Ride’ (2023)
Nancy Travis, Tiera Skovbye in Ride Hallmark Channel / Courtesy Everett Collection
Hallmark’s attempt at a Western drama series — shot on a working cattle ranch — didn’t last long, but it felt like a manifestation for Travis. “I love to shop for houses in my imagination. I was fantasizing about having a ranch, maybe 50 dogs and a couple horses. And the next week, I got a call for this job,” she said. “I had to learn how to ride a horse. I really love nature, so any time I get to be in it, I take advantage of that.”
‘Grosse Pointe Garden Society’ (2025)
Nancy Travis in Grosse Pointe Garden Society Daniel Delgado/NBC
“I read Grosse Pointe Garden Society and was so taken with the writing. I think it’s masterful,” Travis told Us. “I’m excited for people to discover what happens because it’s not anything that you think judging by the first episode.”
She continued: “What I love about Patty is that even though people may find her disagreeable or distasteful, she is at heart a dedicated mother and she cares about her son more than anything. She will do whatever it takes to make sure that he is OK and he is happy.”
