Anna Kendrick for The Independent
Anna Kendrick interview: ‘I was being forced into a place of dishonesty in my private life’ https://t.co/d8NHfWttkh
- Independent Film (@TheIndyFilm) October 19, 2024
While promoting her directorial debut, Woman of the Hour, with The Independent Anna Kendrick spoke about the traumatic relationship that's influenced her latest work.
"In the parlance of the internet, I think I was known as sort of quirky and relatable. But in that, there’s not a lot of room for sadness and fear. Unfortunately, I do know that moment where you’re in a room with someone and wondering: ‘How is it that 10 seconds ago I thought everything was going fine, and now I’m not safe?’ And I think that’s something a lot of people know really well. Especially women.”
On having to talk about her personal life while promoting Woman of the Hour
“For a second, I did think that interviews for this film would just involve me being asked about every member of the cast and the crew, and I’d just gush about them and... But so far, no one’s asked me about the sound team. It does feel like the most revealing piece of work I’ve ever done. It created a window into my mind.
On the parallels between Kendrick and her characters in Woman of the Hour and Alice, Darling (2022)
"Sometimes the most torturous thing isn’t just the disrespect or mistreatment, but the fact that everyone’s acting like it’s not happening. Which then convinces you that something’s not happening. It makes you question whether you’re making all of it up, or if you’re being paranoid or too sensitive. You sound crazy. You’re dismissed. ‘He brushed your hair off your shoulder - that’s nothing.’ And yet when you’re there, you can feel the threat that’s hanging in the room.”
On not reading for comedy scripts after her previously abusive relationship ended
“I think I’d hit a point of critical mass, where it felt like... I think what was happening at that time was I was being forced into a place of performance and dishonesty in my private life. I just couldn’t spend another second breathing dishonest air. It’s a literal true story that, in the aftermath of this really traumatic relationship, my plumber came over and asked how I’d been, and I just told him everything. I physically couldn’t continue performing.”
On if these last two movies have been cathartic for her
“Ooh, I think catharsis is dangerous. For me, anyway. It brings me very welcome relief, but so far it’s always been a bit temporary. I was about to say that I need to forgive myself for ever feeling doubt or sadness, but that implies that I’m doing something wrong. When those feelings do creep back in, the worst thing I can do is go, ‘Goddammit, Anna! I thought we were over this,’ you know? I need to just experience it more as a neutral thing that’s happening. That it’s something out of my control. I certainly don’t enjoy it, but it’s not a character failing either.”
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