Anna Kendrick has said she felt “lightheaded” after she was made to watch an old video of herself performing on Broadway when she was 12 years old.
The actor, who’s currently promoting her Netflix film Women’s Hour, appeared on the Happy Sad Confused podcast hosted by journalist Josh Horowitz.
The episode, titled “Anna Kendrick, Vol. IV,” was a live taping at the 92nd Street Y, in New York, where the duo discussed Kendrick’s journey from Broadway to films such as Pitch Perfect and A Simple Favor.
Her first starring role was in the musical High Society, for which she earned a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.
“Should we make this really fun and awkward and look at a clip of you in High Society?” Horowitz asked, to which Kendrick responded: “Oh, I f****** hate you.”
After the crowd applauded the actor, she added: “I wouldn’t have even shown up! No. I’ll just drink a lot tonight, it’s fine.”
Newsweek emailed a spokesperson for Kendrick for comment on Wednesday.
Anna Kendrick at 92NY on October 22, 2024, in New York City. Kendrick said she felt “lightheaded” after she was made to watch an old video of herself performing on Broadway.
Jason Mendez/Getty Images
Horowitz then played the clip, in which a young Kendrick can be heard singing “I Love Paris Performed By Dinah” with a French accent and speaking a few of her lines.
Once the clip ended and the applause subsided, Kendrick said: “You know that dream you have where you’re naked in a grocery store? Except it’s real life and it’s the 92Y and it’s actually happening to you in front of—I, I’m never going to speak to you again.”
Horowitz said it was “worth it,” to which Kendrick said: “I’m like, legit [sic] lightheaded right now.”
When the host asked if the clip took her back, she confirmed it did.
“Yeah, yeah. As soon as the blood comes back in my brain I’m going to talk about what just happened,” the star explained. “I’m doing a weird French accent because we’re supposed to be acting crazy in that scene. Whatever, it doesn’t matter you guys.”
As Horowitz continued to ask questions, Kendrick said: “I’m not going to be able to move on from that. Does someone want to bring me a shot? What the f***.”
Kendrick is the director and one of the stars of the recently released Woman’s Hour, which centers on the serial killer Rodney Alcala’s time on the Dating Game TV show. Alcala, also known as The Dating Game Killer, won the reality TV game show as Bachelor Number One in 1978.
Show contestant Cheryl Bradshaw was wooed by Alcala, and the couple’s prize was a date for the two. However, Bradshaw refused to meet up with him after he made her feel uncomfortable. Kendrick plays Bradshaw in the Netflix film.
Since the movie’s release, one of Alcala’s survivors has slammed the streaming giant, accusing it of revising history. Morgan Rowan, who spoke to the U.K. newspaper The Sun, was attacked by the serial killer and convicted sex offender when she was a teenager.
Newsweek previously emailed Netflix but did not receive a response.
During an interview with The Sun, Rowan said the storyline of the film isn’t factual. She highlighted the fact that the real-life Bradshaw refused to go on a date with Alcala, but in the Netflix film, she did. While the date in the movie wasn’t the official date organized by the game show, the real-life Bradshaw never spent one-on-one time with the killer.
“They just took the basic premise that he’s a murderer and went on a game show, and that’s about the only thing that’s fact. They made up the rest of it,” Rowan said.
“[Bradshaw] met him for a few minutes backstage and then she told the producer she didn’t want to go because she thought he was creepy.
“I don’t like the revision of history and I don’t like the fact they are giving him more fame and attention,” Rowan added.
“It’s difficult to see the whole thing portrayed so differently. As bad as he was, they should get the story right, because if you’re changing his history, then you are changing mine too.”
In press materials for the film, per the BBC, Kendrick explained why she was drawn to the project, saying: “I think the story itself is so compelling because of the idea that this dangerous and violent man went on a show like The Dating Game, where the goal is to choose a good guy, and won. It’s just comically perverse.”
