Anna Kendrick recounts a cringe-worthy episode where a director publicly shamed her amidst a crowd of 100 extras after urging her to improvise a scene. The 39-year-old director of "Woman of the Hour" addressed this incident during a recent live taping of Josh Horowitz's podcast, "Happy Sad Confused." When prompted to share the worst feedback she had ever received on set, Kendrick disclosed an encounter with an anonymous director who prompted her to deviate from the script and subsequently belittled her in front of everyone.
"I vividly recall a director, in a room filled with around 100 extras, saying, 'Hey, for this next take, just try something new. Make something up. Improvise!'" Kendrick recounted, noting that it hadn't gone as smoothly as anticipated. "I did as instructed, and then the director called 'cut' and approached me. Again, in front of all those extras, he said, 'Ugh, let's stick to the script!'" she reminisced.
The actress of the "Pitch Perfect" franchise attributed this experience to a power play, which she didn't appreciate one bit. "It felt like a deliberate power move to embarrass me and assert dominance," Kendrick declared. "It was incredibly uncomfortable."
Ironically, the moment of her improvisation eventually found its way into the film's trailer. "And guess what? The thing I improvised ended up in the trailer," the star exclaimed during the podcast. "So, screw you!"
Kendrick, who has starred in over 40 films, including "Twilight," "A Simple Favor," "Up in the Air," and the "Pitch Perfect" series, refrained from naming the director, making it challenging to pinpoint the culprit. However, her story was sufficiently shocking to elicit audible gasps from the live audience as she narrated it on the podcast, according to the Daily Mail.
Kendrick recently ventured into directing with the Netflix crime thriller "Woman of the Hour," where she also stars in the flick penned by Ian McDonald. The movie is inspired by the true tale of serial killer Rodney Alcala and his appearance on the televised show "The Dating Game" in 1978, amidst his murder spree.
Kendrick portrays Cheryl Bradshaw, who relocated to Los Angeles with dreams of stardom but ended up being cast as the unfortunate game show contestant who ultimately chose Alcala (played by Daniel Zovatto) as her date winner. Alcala, nicknamed the Dating Game Killer, had already committed murders before his TV appearance. He was arrested in 1979 and linked to at least seven women's deaths, but law enforcement believes the number could be as high as 130.
