Facing overwhelming nerves at the prospect of sitting in the directors’ chair for the first time, Anna Kendrick sought out a pep talk of sorts from Pitch Perfect costar Brittany Snow to take on her feature film debut, the TIFF-acclaimed Woman of the Hour.
“I spoke to Brittany Snow on the phone, and she, in a very role-reversal way of our relationship, gave me the most casual pep talk, which was literally in a very flat voice: ‘You’ll get on set, and you’ll know what to do,’” she told Entertainment Weekly in a recent interview. “And it was just like, ‘Yeah, OK.’ That’s usually how I find myself talking to her, and I think I was expecting this flowery, long pep talk, and she so cut to the chase that I was like, ‘OK, damn girl. I’ll just figure it out, I guess.’”
The Oscar-nominated actress revealed some context around how she became the (somewhat accidental) helmer of the film, based on a true story of aspiring ’70s era actress Cheryl Bradshaw (Kendrick), who finds herself courted by a serial killer (Daniel Zovatto) when they cross paths as contestants on popular game show The Dating Game.
While the Up in the Air actress was attached to star and produce the Netflix-acquired movie for two years, Kendrick said “it was just taking forever, and the pieces weren’t coming together.” However, “out of nowhere” she said the team was given a start date with no director attached.
“We spent maybe 48 hours trying to find somebody to jump on board quickly,” she explained. “And we were certainly not looking at first-time directors. The idea would be to find someone experienced enough to get $2 and a roll of duct tape and make a movie.”
That’s when it hit Kendrick: “I just found myself having this absolutely terrifying thought — it was physically bubbling up, and I kept trying to shove it back down — which was like, ‘Well, what if I pitched myself to direct the movie?’”
She concluded, “I think there was something about the movie overall that I found compelling. I was aware that while I liked the character, I was way more interested in the movie as a whole. And of course, the whole two years, I’m sitting there going, ‘Well, if it were my movie, this is how I’d do it. But it’s not, so it’s not my call.’ I just got so excited about the idea of taking this script that I loved so much and shaping it in the way that I saw it.”
Ultimately, a “very haphazard” pitch of herself landed her in the role. “And then suddenly, I was interviewing casting directors and production designers and feeling as terrified as I’ve ever been about, frankly, anything.”
With an upcoming release next month and the backing of critics from the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival, it seems Kendrick has very much so proven herself synonymous with the title of her debut.
Woman of the Hour will premiere on Netflix Oct. 18. Watch a trailer here.
