Anna Kendrick Recalls Director’s ‘Icky’ Improv Request on Set: It Was a ‘Power Move to Embarrass Me’
Anna Kendrick is detailing an “icky” on-set experience with an unnamed director.
Kendrick said during Josh Horowitz’s “Happy Sad Confused” podcast in the below video that a filmmaker encouraged her to improvise during a production, only to then publicly “embarrass” her by suggesting she just stick to the script after all.
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“I remember a director once in a room full of 100 extras or something being like, ‘Hey, on this next one just try something. Just make something up. Just improv something,’” Kenrick said. “And I did it and then the director called cut and came over and, once again in front of 100 extras, was like, ‘Oof, let’s go back to the script!’ It really felt like a very specific power move thing to embarrass me, to gain dominance. It was very icky.”
Yet Kendrick’s improv, though, ended up making it into the trailer for the film.
“And then the thing that I improv-ed ended up in the trailer,” she said, adding to the director. “So fuck you!”
Kendrick previously appeared in “Twilight,” “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,” and the “Pitch Perfect” film series, and also landed an Oscar nomination for “Up in the Air.” She will return for “A Simple Favor 2,” as well.
In the meantime, Kendrick knew what she didn’t want to do when it came to her own directorial debut “Woman of the Hour.” The true crime film centers on Rodney Alcala (Daniel Zovatto), aka “The Dating Game” serial killer who appeared on the competition show in 1978. Kendrick portrays aspiring actress Cheryl Bradshaw, who crosses paths with him when she’s a contestant on his same episode. “Woman of the Hour” debuted at TIFF.
“I had the time of my life,” Kendrick told IndieWire of making the film in 2023.
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