Picture this: Anna Kendrick, the queen of quips and charm, is standing in front of 100 extras, ready to sprinkle some improv magic. But instead of nailing the moment and earning high-fives all around, she got hit with the directorial version of a cold bucket of water—and, boy, did it splash!
During a chat on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Kendrick spilled the beans on this moment of public humiliation at the hands of a director whose name she kept safely under wraps. (But don’t worry—we’ll be side-eyeing every trailer she’s ever been in just in case.)
According to Kendrick, the cinematic showdown started when the director waltzed over and hit her with:
“Hey, just make something up! Improv! Be free!”
Now, if you’ve seen Pitch Perfect or literally anything else she’s in, you know Anna can throw down with improv. So naturally, she jumped in, full sass ahead.
Then—cue ominous music—the director called cut, strolled over, and with the subtlety of a sledgehammer said:
“Oof, let’s go back to the script.”
OUCH. Imagine 100 extras pretending not to be secondhand embarrassed, while internally thinking, “That… did not just happen.”
“It felt like such a calculated power move,” Kendrick reflected. “Like, ‘Let me crush your soul right in front of everyone, so I feel like a big man.’ It was super icky.” (Insert icky face emoji here.)
But here’s the plot twist: the joke’s on the director because—drumroll please—the very line Anna improvised, which got the “big man” eye-roll treatment, wound up in the movie’s trailer!
And Kendrick? She’s got the last laugh:
“And then the thing that I improved ended up in the trailer. So f— you!”
Mic dropped. Director—obliterated. Movie trailer—certified Kendrick-flavored brilliance. 🎤
Moral of the story: never underestimate Anna Kendrick. She’ll turn your attempt at a power move into a trailer highlight and roast you on a podcast for good measure.
