Anna Kendrick says that making movies has turned her away from movies as entertainment, as she watches them with the production always on her mind.
By Jennifer Asensio | Published
Knowing how a magician does his tricks spoils the trick for the audience who want to suspend their disbelief in the show’s magic. The same is true of insiders in any industry, and acting is no exception, as Anna Kendrick discussed in a recent interview on the First We Feast YouTube podcast. She told host Sean Evans: “I think when you start making films, there’s a period where they’re kind of ruined for you because you’re just thinking behind the scenes and how the sausage is made out of it all…”
While eating the hottest spicy wings, Anna Kendrick went on to explain that as she watches each movie, she has dialogue running through her head that criticizes how the movie was made. She continued by saying, “So when a movie is really bad, it’s that much worse because I see like, ‘Why this choice? It would have been so easy to do that or whatever. And when it’s good, the current scenario isn’t just like, ‘I’m immersed and it’s great.'”
While that means Anna Kendrick knows a lot of the behind-the-scenes tricks that movie-making wizards use, it also gives her an appreciation for the hard work that goes into making one. Moviegoers may have to be bribed with post-credits scenes to watch the credits for a movie, but anyone who looks at the 5-10 minute list of names knows that there are hundreds of people involved in various aspects of making a movie , from the director and stars to the person who brings the coffee to the people on set. The high-profile jobs of director, producer, screenwriter and lead actors may be the face of the film, but without all the other names in the credits, there wouldn’t be a film, especially in today’s climate of fancy special effects and CGI rendering.
However, this does not mean that Anna Kendrick no longer finds movies fun or that she will not be in the business. It just means she knows the ins and outs of how to do it, knowledge she’s using to make her directorial debut with The dating gamefilm about the appearance of serial killer Rodney Alcala in the show of the same name in 1978. Alcala died in 2021 and was nicknamed “The Dating Game Killer” because of this sinister appearance before he was caught for his crimes.
Anna Kendrick also stars in the recent edition Alice, honey, about a woman in a psychologically abusive relationship whose friends stage a subtle intervention to give her the courage to leave. She also executive produced the project, which was particularly poignant for her because of her personal life experiences. She commented that films show specific types of abuse, so it was difficult for her to recognize her own situation, which was similar to Alice’s in her film, because it did not resemble common depictions of abuse.
Anna Kendrick’s breakthrough role was as Jessica Stanley in Dusk in 2008, but since then she has acted or voiced roles in many popular or offbeat films. She’s into comic book chic Scott Pilgrim vs. the Worldthe Broadway musical adaptation In the forestand the bawdy madcap comedy Mike and Dave need dates for a wedding. She is best known for two other franchises in addition to the Twilight saga, voicing Princess Poppy in the Trolls movies and singing her heart out in the Perfect Sound franchise.
Alice, honey is currently in theaters and a third part of trolls will be released sometime in 2023. The dating game is in post-production, which means it shouldn’t be long before we see what Anna Kendrick can do behind the camera, now that we know how amazing she is in front of it.