A holiday gift to you, an interview with the internet's collective girlfriend Anna Kendrick, our new Cinderella in Into the Woods which hits theaters today. Merry Christmas!
Kendrick lets me know right away that she isn't entirely comfortable with all the online fawning. When I compare her very modern kind of stardom to that of Benedict Cumberbatch she freezes "Oh god, don't say that!... It gives me anxiety. He probably can't leave his house!" Kendrick and I have both been herded into a chilly hotel suite after some scheduling confusion and me with my notes out for someone else entirely, someone far less Princess-like. It's a surprise switch but a welcome one, like expecting to remain in your pot-scrubbing work dress and suddenly you're at the ball in magic slippers. Excuse the analogy but I'm the one playing Cinderella this time since I've traded up. Kendrick wraps herself in the throw blanket on the couch and we immediately start taking musicals.
Where else would we start? She's the unofficial face of the modern musical and the Film Experience has been waiting for someone to frame there.
NATHANIEL R: You’ve been musicals back to back to back. I imagine most managers would be like “don’t do that!”
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Anna Kendrick as "Cinderella" in INTO THE WOODS
ANNA KENDRICK: Oh, I mean -- here's the thing: I don’t think anybody in their right mind would tell me not to do any of the projects I've done. On paper, yeah, 'Don’t do four musicals' but when it’s Pitch Perfect and the sequel and The Last Five Years and Into the Woods, I’d be an idiot not to go for it. Such amazing material.
Well, I've long said that I wouldn't be able to fully relax and believe that the musical was actually back until a movie star was known for doing them again. So *I* thank you.
Oh my god. That’s so funny.
Because you know Hathaway and Jackman are slacking in comparison
I mean. I wanna give people a break, obviously. I feel like i’m forcing myself into the homes of the people. Before they get too annoyed I'll have to cut it out. It’s not that I’m 'the star who decided to do musicals'. I’m just grateful that people decided to hire me for these projects.
At least with Cinderella in Into the Woods, you don't have to carry the whole movie in the same way.
That's true. The Last Five Years was -- they really kicked my ass. Jason Robert Brown does not suffer fools and I was working with Jeremy Jordan who is a Broadway star so I was the one completely playing catch up and just hanging on by the skin of my teeth.
And then I got to the set of Into the Woods and everyone was like 'oh, you've done this before you'll be fine.'
Uh-oh.
But they don’t realize that I do it by obsessively working! I like to style out the idea that I just rock up to the set and 'do my thang' but this music just kicked my ass. I had to knuckle down.
Sondheim songs are tough.
It was not a joke to me. I felt so much responsibility. I don’t normally sing in this range. Musical theater people know that 'Uhhh, she’s not a soprano!' But Paul Gemignani knows me and knows my voice. And he’s the one that raised the key. He believed that I had the notes. He's our musical director — he worked with me on High Society when I was 12 and A Little Night Music when I was 17. It was a great reunion and also terrifying because Paul does not mince words.
Speaking of your early musical theater years. The first time I ever saw you - fell right in love -- was in Camp (2003) doing your very age-inappropriate “Ladies Who Lunch” number
And Sondheim saw that, too. That was one of the most terrifying moments of my life. He said 'She’s got nice teeth'
[Laughter]
And I was like 'Okay'. At least the first thing was not 'That was terrible, you have to cut that.'
Do you know if Elaine Stritch ever saw your take on that?
Oh god! She was known for being blunt. If she did I would not risk finding out what she thought -- that’s the stuff that keeps you up at night. I got to see Elaine Stritch perform "Ladies Who Lunch" when I was 13 — we did a variety show together at Carnegie Hall so that was obviously my inspiration.
But I-- I would not care to know what Elaine Stritch thought. I think it might destroy me.
I was just at the Memorial Tribute on Broadway so she's on my mind.
That was a tough day.
My favorite scene in this version of Into the Woods is "On the Steps of the Palace" - not just for your performance but for the staging.
ANNA KENDRICK: It was really brave to put it in the present. I understand why that works on stage [Cinderella talking about a scene that happened off stage] but on screen I think it was brave of Rob Marshall to decide to freeze time -- it doesn’t happen any other place in the movie -- and put the lyrics in the present. The question is not 'I couldn’t figure what to do.' The question is 'I can't figure out what to do.'
[Emphatically] And that was so much more fun because I really had to discover it in the moment. That was not explaining my feelings it was having my feelings. We put it at a nice fast pace and Paul raised the key and it was like -- I could feel myself getting whipped into a frenzy. It was so much fun and I feel like it really helped me understand every level of her vulnerability and strength. We literally watch her in that song go from tortured -- having no idea what to do and some of it is funny but some is desperate -- to the relief that she feels when she doesn’t have to make this choice is amazing. What’s so great about her ultimate journey is that when she does make a choice:
My father's house was a nightmare. Your house was a dream.
Now I want something in between."
She's so centered and calm. It’s not about overthinking and looking at it from every angle. Everything in the world is falling apart and I know I want something real and you are not good enough.
I suppose I should SPOILER ALERT this but, as in the show, Cinderella gets the last word. So you're the last image anyone has as takeaway. How did you feel watching that?
I know. It's this lovely bookend to the film and it’s one of my favorite themes in the show. We don’t have the song that comes after the second act but they're still wishing. If the theme of the movie is that the story continues after happily ever after... they still have wishes and they still have dreams and their lives still move forward.
I think that's beautiful.
Before you go we have to talk about The Last Five Years.
Sure!
"Summer in Ohio"... I LOVE this version.
I'm so glad.
That seemed like a tough piece to pull off and it's just great. There's so much going on.
Yeah, it was a ton of work. In the show she's writing a letter but I thought when I'm away from my boyfriend we Skype. And Cathy in that number is not just recounting her day, she's performing for Jamie because even at the beginning of their marriage she’s like “I have to keep him interested. I have to keep him in love with me”.
What's happening in her fantasy was already on the page. But it's not just that. I wanted to mimic some of the choreography in the Skype sections.
NATHANIEL: So it was a true collaboration then.
ANNA KENDRICK: Richard and I had this intense vision of what that number could be. Richard added the Skype suggestions for me which I thought was great. He was telling the camera man 'well, she's just going to be sitting here' And I was like 'Oh, you think I'm just going to be sitting here - you'd better follow me!'
I think thats why the number works so well, it cuts so beautifully from the Skype session to the stage. The idea that even in her fantasy the choreography is going wrong was so funny. Richard has an amazing sense of humor so I think we had two good ideas and they really worked together. It's so exciting to work like that.
And with that dear reader Anna Kendrick was whisked away from me for her next interview. No sparkly slipper left behind to chase her with, and the blanket she had wrapped herself in tossed back on the couch. You can see "Into the Woods" in theaters now to begin your new musical year with Anna Kendrick as chief soloist. "The Last Five Years" (reviewed) and "Pitch Perfect 2" (trailer) open on February 13th, 2015 and May 15th, 2015 respectively.