Anna Kendrick

Anna Kendrick is an American actress, producer and director who made the unusual journey from Broadway child performer to Hollywood star, becoming best known for films including Up in the Air, Pitch Perfect, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, A Simple Favor and the Trolls franchise. Kendrick began performing at a remarkably young age. At just 12 years old, she appeared as Dinah Lord in the 1998 Broadway production of High Society, earning a Tony Award nomination for her performance. Long before most actors have landed their first screen role, Kendrick had already established herself as a serious stage talent. Her film debut arrived with the 2003 musical comedy Camp, followed several years later by a memorable performance in the independent comedy Rocket Science. Then came vampires. In 2008, Kendrick appeared as Jessica Stanley in Twilight, joining a franchise that would become one of the biggest pop-culture phenomena of the late 2000s. She returned as Jessica across several of the Twilight sequels, but another movie would soon demonstrate just how much more she could do. In 2009, Kendrick starred opposite George Clooney and Vera Farmiga in Jason Reitman's Up in the Air. Her performance as ambitious young executive Natalie Keener earned widespread acclaim and an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She followed it with roles in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, 50/50 and End of Watch, moving comfortably between comedy, drama and action. And then Beca Mitchell arrived. In 2012, Kendrick took the lead role in Pitch Perfect, playing the reluctant college student who joins the Barden Bellas a cappella group. The film became a surprise hit and developed into a hugely popular franchise, with Kendrick returning for Pitch Perfect 2 and Pitch Perfect 3. It also produced something nobody could have predicted: a global obsession with plastic cups. Kendrick's performance of “Cups” became a hit in its own right, reaching far beyond the movie and ensuring that for a while you couldn't walk into a school, kitchen or pub without somebody turning a cup upside down and attempting that bloody rhythm. Her musical abilities continued to feature throughout her career. Kendrick played Cinderella in Disney's Into the Woods and later became the voice of the relentlessly cheerful Poppy in Trolls, returning to the character across the animated franchise. But Kendrick has never restricted herself to musicals and comedy. Her other films include The Accountant alongside Ben Affleck, Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates, Table 19, A Simple Favor, Stowaway and the psychological drama Alice, Darling. A Simple Favor paired Kendrick with Blake Lively in Paul Feig's stylish mystery thriller, with Kendrick playing widowed mother and vlogger Stephanie Smothers. She later returned to the character for Another Simple Favor. Kendrick has also increasingly moved behind the camera. She made her feature directorial debut with Woman of the Hour, while also starring as Sheryl Bradshaw and serving as an executive producer. The true-crime thriller marked another significant step in a career that had begun on a Broadway stage more than two decades earlier. From Twilight and Scott Pilgrim to Pitch Perfect, The Accountant and A Simple Favor, Anna Kendrick has managed to build one of those careers that's surprisingly difficult to put into a single box. She can do musicals. She can do comedy. She can do drama and thrillers. And if you hand her a plastic cup, apparently she can turn that into a hit record as well.