Tim Allen Says He Became a Good Dad Due to a ‘Long History of Learning How to Listen’

Funnyman Tim Allen has played a lot of dads over his long career — from Home Improvement’s Tim Taylor and Last Man Standing’s Mike Baxter to Scott Calvin of The Santa Clauses. This month, Tim returned to TV on Shifting Gears as Matt, a widower who takes in his estranged adult daughter and her children. It airs on ABC and is available to stream on Hulu.

Tim, 71, sees Matt, who restores cars for a living, as an “evolution” from his previous TV dads.

“He’s a creative guy who’s in grief over the loss of his wife,” he exclusively tells Closer. “It’s still a comedy, though.”

One of the main sources of laughter is Matt’s frayed relationship with daughter Riley, played by Kat Dennings.

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“She’s a brilliant actress — and we share the same birthday,” says Tim. “[Her character] got pregnant in high school, and then all her plans changed. She went off to be a musician, had two kids and now she crawls back home,” he says. “[My character] doesn’t like her. But she decides to ask for help and I cannot say no to her, even though I think it’s a bad idea.”

Tim feels grateful that his relationship with his real-life daughters, Katherine, 35, from his first marriage, and Elizabeth, 15, whose mom is Tim’s current wife, Jane Hajduk, are much easier.

“It’s a long history of learning how to listen,” he confides about being a good dad, admitting that it didn’t come easily to him. “We’ve had misunderstandings based on really dumb conversations.”

Recently, he and Elizabeth had a big heart-to-heart.

“She sat at the bottom of the stairs, I sat at the top,” he recalls. “I said, ‘I will just listen.’ And I did. You don’t interrupt. You just sit there and listen.”

Parenting, he confesses, comes a little easier with practice. Elizabeth was born when Tim was 55, already a professional success and sober for over a decade.

“My first daughter, unfortunately, was not around a sober guy. My second daughter was never anywhere near that,” he confides. “So they are very different relationships.”

Now sober for 27 years, Tim is delighted to be returning to television.

“I have nothing but gratitude toward my life’s struggles,” he says. “Somebody said, ‘If you’re going to do something you have to say sorry for tomorrow, don’t do it.’ So I don’t do things like that. Not being able to hide behind drugs and alcohol was difficult for me, but now I deal with stuff, moment by moment.”

He and Jane, an actress whom he wed in 2006, share a desire to be present, responsive and empathetic in their marriage.

“She’s been a part of my sobriety for a long time,” he says. “We both learned and admire listening. And we both learned a very valuable lesson to de-escalate [arguments]. You may not agree, but at least you hear the [other person’s side] without interruption.”

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Tim also maintains a fatherly presence in the lives of his previous costars from Home Improvement and Last Man Standing.

“They’re like family to me,” he says. “I’m there to support them whenever I can. I’ve learned from life. I’m there just to listen, even though I am helpless in many ways. But I have become a very much better brother to my dramatic family.”