Anna Kendrick

Anna Kendrick (born August 9, 1985, Portland, Maine, U.S.) is an American actress known for playing amiable but awkward characters in comedies and musicals such as Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010), Pitch Perfect (2012), and the Trolls film franchise. In addition to her comedic roles, she has earned praise for her dramatic work in films including Up in the Air (2009), for which she received an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress, and A Simple Favor (2018). She made her directorial debut with the 2023 thriller Woman of the Hour.

Early life and education

Kendrick is the younger of two children born to Janice (née Cooke) Kendrick, an accountant, and William Kendrick, a history teacher. At the age of six, she made her debut stage performance in a production of Annie at South Portland’s Lyric Music Theater. She also appeared in productions at Brunswick’s Maine State Music Theatre. By age 10, she was shuttling to New York for theater auditions.

In 1998, at age 12, Kendrick made her Broadway debut in the Cole Porter musical High Society, earning a Tony Award nomination for best performance by an actress in a featured role in a musical. During the show’s run, Kendrick’s father moved to New York and homeschooled her. When Kendrick returned to Maine, she attended Portland’s Deering High School, where she was in the school’s choir, in addition to two other choirs.

Acting career

Kendrick appeared in her first film, Camp (2003), in the summer before her senior year. In the musical comedy she portrayed a nerdy camper who tries to befriend a popular girl at a summer musical theater camp; the role earned Kendrick an Independent Spirit Award nomination for best debut performance. In her second film, Rocket Science (2007), Kendrick portrayed a popular girl on a high school debate team who persuades a boy with a stutter to join the team. For this role, she earned her second Independent Spirit Award nomination, this time for best supporting actress.

Kendrick gained more exposure in 2008 with the release of Twilight, in which she played Jessica Stanley, the friend of protagonist Bella Swan. Kendrick went on to reprise her role in three more of the franchise’s five films: New Moon (2009), Eclipse (2010) and Breaking Dawn—Part 1 (2011). Based on Stephenie Meyer’s series of vampire romance novels, the franchise was enormously popular, grossing more than $3 billion and introducing Kendrick to wider audiences.

Kendrick catapulted to fame after her role in the 2010 film Up in the Air, which starred George Clooney. In the film Kendrick portrayed Natalie Keener, an ambitious young businesswoman who takes a job with a company that specializes in corporate downsizing. The film showcased Kendrick’s dramatic chops, introduced her to more mature audiences, and earned her award nominations for best supporting actress from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (Golden Globes), BAFTA, and the Screen Actors Guild. She won the MTV Movie Award for best breakout star in 2010.

Kendrick’s career trajectory soared even higher after the release of the musical comedy Pitch Perfect (2012). She starred as a college freshman named Beca who joins and leads an all-female a cappella group to the national singing competition championship. The movie’s success spawned two sequels: Pitch Perfect 2 (2015) and Pitch Perfect 3 (2017). Additionally, Kendrick’s version of the song Cups (When I’m Gone) spent 44 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 2013, peaking at number six and further amplifying her stardom.

Are you a student?

Get a special academic rate on Britannica Premium.

Subscribe

Kendrick also lent her voice to the character Poppy in the animated fantasy comedy Trolls (2016). She went on to voice Poppy in several big-screen sequels, television movies, and shorts.

Kendrick has appeared in other prominent films across genres, such as the fantasy comedy Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010), the comedy-drama 50/50 (2011), the musical adventure Into the Woods (2014), the dark horror comedy The Voices (2014), the holiday comedy Happy Christmas (2014), the conspiracy thriller The Accountant (2016), the romantic comedy Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (2016), the dark comedy thriller A Simple Favor (2018), and the psychological thriller Alice, Darling (2022).

Beyond acting

In 2016 Kendrick published her memoir, Scrappy Little Nobody, in which she discussed her childhood, her anxieties, and her rise to fame in a humorous and heartfelt manner. The book topped The New York Times bestseller list in humor and reached number five on the hardcover nonfiction list.

Kendrick made her directorial debut and starred in 2023’s Netflix movie Woman of the Hour. In the true-crime thriller, she played Sheryl Bradshaw, based on Cheryl Bradshaw, the woman who appeared on an episode of the television show The Dating Game (1965–86) and selected bachelor Rodney Alcala. Bradshaw’s intuition prevented her from going on a date with him, and he was later found to be a serial killer. For her directorial efforts, Kendrick received the Palm Springs International Film Festival award for directors to watch and the San Diego Film Critics Society award for best first feature film.