Anna Kendrick, known for her Oscar-nominated performance in “Up within the Air” and celebrated roles in movies like “Pitch Perfect,” has stepped into the director’s chair for her debut feature, “Woman of the Hour.”
The Netflix film, which has already sparked discussion, relies on the chilling true story of serial killer Rodney Alcala, who appeared as a contestant on “The Dating Game” while actively involved in a series of murders.
After its popularity, Anna Kendrick shared that she felt conflicted about receiving financial compensation for her work on the film, given its connection to real-life tragedy.
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Anna Kendrick Admits To Feeling ‘Gross’ About Pay From ‘Woman Of The Hour’
In a recent interview, Kendrick expressed feeling conflicted about accepting financial compensation for her work on the film, considering its connection to real-life tragedy.
Kendrick admitted she felt “gross” on the Crime Junkie AF podcast, claiming that she never intended the film to be “a money-making enterprise” for her. In actual fact, she shared that she hadn’t even considered that possibility until the film premiered on the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.
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“Eventually, Netflix bought the movie. But, it wasn’t until the week before TIFF that I believed, oh, the movie’s going to earn money,” Kendrick said. “We just barely made the deadline to get into TIFF, then it was like, there’s going to be money exchanging hands. I asked myself the query about, ‘Do you are feeling gross about this?’ And I did.”
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Anna Kendrick Is Donating Her ‘Woman Of The Hour’ Profits
“[I’m] not creating wealth off of the movie,” and “the cash has gone to RAINN and to the National Center for Victims [of Crimes],” she said.
The actress acknowledged that the topic stays a “complicated area” but explained that donating the earnings she would have received from the film “felt just like the least that I should do” after portraying real-life events.
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Anna Kendrick Talks About Her Directing Debut
With Kendrick’s extensive industry experience, many have wondered whether she had been contemplating directing for a while or if this chance arose unexpectedly, to which she told Deadline:
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“I believe it was a thought that I used to be actively shoving down, and I assume it might now not be silent. Looking back, it’s very obviously a protective measure on my part to disregard that desire, since it’s vulnerable to want something and know that you simply won’t get it or that you simply might get it and fail. I believe there was an element of me that was taking a look at my profession and going: ‘Guys, we’ve got an excellent thing going. Why would we do that? Why would we rock the boat?’
So I believe that I’ve built up a platform of confidence in my work and to sort of throw myself back to ground zero where this could be a primary time experience felt very scary. So I used to be definitely fighting the impulse to remain comfortable.”
Regardless, she said she is “very glad I fought through that, I assume.”
Anna Kendrick Gets The Last Laugh After An Encounter With A Different Director
Her directorial debut comes after she had a foul experience with one other director, who she claims tried to embarrass her in front of 100 extras.
“I remember a director once in a room stuffed with 100 extras or something being like, ‘Hey, on this next one just try something. Just make something up. Just improv something,’” Kendrick recalled, per Variety. “And I did it after which the director called cut and got here over and, once more in front of 100 extras, was like, ‘Oof, let’s return to the script!’”
“It really felt like a really specific power move thing to embarrass me, to realize dominance. It was very icky,” Kendrick recalled of the situation. “After which the thing that I improved ended up within the trailer. So f-ck you!”
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More On ‘Woman Of The Hour’
“Woman of the Hour,” directed by and starring Anna Kendrick, is a suspenseful crime thriller inspired by the true story of Rodney Alcala, infamously referred to as “The Dating Game Killer.”
In 1978, Alcala, a serial killer chargeable for several brutal crimes, appeared on the favored TV show “The Dating Game,” where he won a date with contestant Cheryl Bradshaw, played by Kendrick. The film explores the chilling irony of Alcala’s appearance on a lighthearted dating show while secretly engaged in a deadly crime spree.
“Woman of the Hour” is streaming on Netflix.