We know that Anna Kendrick can act alongside vampires. We know that she can sing (and move about cups around at the same time!). And now, with her directorial debut Woman of the Hour, we know that she is talented on the other side of the camera, too.
In the latest episode of Esquire’s Freeze Frame, Kendrick takes us behind-the-scenes of the film, which tells the story of American serial killer Rodney Alcala, who appeared on a dating gameshow in the middle of a crime spree in the Seventies. Kendrick plays Sheryl Bradshaw, an aspiring actor and contestant on The Dating Game (think: American Blind Date) who wins date with Alcala. Not exactly hitting the jackpot.
It is a taut, gruesome film, which touches on several unpleasant, if unequal, realities: Alcala’s brutality, the machinations of a television show, unbearable auditions. “I feel like I was responding to things that were really dark,” Kendrick says about making the film. “And I started to notice that, leaning into that was not great for me personally.” Kendrick has been thriving on slightly more energetic material since, she says, so let us just hope for a musical – one with proper songs! – in the near future.
‘Woman of the Hour’ is out now on Netflix