While some of you may know Anna Kendrick from the Twilight movies, I remember her from the movie Pitch Perfect. I LOVE that movie and her role in it so, I was very excited about getting to meet and interview Anna for her role as Cinderella in Into The Woods.
Thankfully, Director Rob Marshall was also there to talk to us about the movie. It made for an interesting interview because both of them are passionate about musicals and you get a sense of how much respect they have for the movie and for one another.
That being said, check out my exclusive Into The Woods Interview with Anna Kendrick and Director Rob Marshall below where they chat about the cast, the music in the movie, princesses, their love of musicals and more.
On Anna Kendrick’s role as Cinderella
Rob Marshall: Meryl Streep called her role the most complex character in the film because of what she’s dealing with and she’s right because and it needs a great internal depth. Listen, Anna’s an Oscar nominated actor who’s done an enormous amount of beautiful work on film and on stage but to see the full range of what she has and to be able to open that up, it’s an exposing thing as an actor, to be able to let you in and Anna lets you in this movie. She lets you into this person who’s indecisive and not sure and wrestling with her, with what she’s feeling and it’s a very brave, personal, beautiful performance and I’m very proud of it. Very proud of her.
Anna Kendrick: Thanks, Rob.
How did it feel playing a different kind of Cinderella, almost like a modern day Cinderella in a way? What’s the thought process?
Anna Kendrick: It’s funny because I think a lot of girls’ dream of playing Cinderella and a certain kind of girl dreams of playing Sondheim Cinderella…we love those kinds of girls and I think that she is very modern…I’m glad that some people are surprised by her but it is a Cinderella that has existed since about 1987, so I didn’t have that sense of responsibility or anything about it.
I think that’s something that we do to ourselves as women, especially modern women. Instead of trusting our instincts, I think we have a tendency to feel a responsibility to weigh every option and look at things from every angle and ask our mom and ask our sister and ask our friends and we find ourselves in situations or committing to certain things that our gut is telling us is not gonna make us happy or is gonna be harder in the long run.
So that was kind of really fun to play…
Do you think this role changes how little girls will view princesses?
Anna Kendrick: I hope so. I love that girls now seem to be asking for that and embracing that…to me the idea that we’re seeing a princess who chooses the unknown over security, I think is an important message for girls…I hope that Cinderella’s journey in this, is a reflection of forgiveness and compassion.
Do you prefer making musicals?
Rob Marshall: Well, Anna and I both come from very similar background in a way, because we both come from theater, and I feel the way Anna does. I feel like we’re lucky to be making them. It’s an American born genre and I never believed when I did Chicago, when they were saying that it’s a dead genre. I just never believed it. I never think it is…I believe in it. I think there’s nothing like it. There’s nothing like the joy of it.
What is it about musicals in general that you love most about doing them?
Anna Kendrick: I mean I’m doing musicals ‘cause they’re making musicals. It’s a grand time to be alive and working. I’m so grateful. I do feel quite greedy at times but it’s only because I am worried that I’ll have these handful of opportunities…these things (musicals) are cyclical and people get spooked and what if they stop making movie musicals? It’s not tmy plan to make them exclusively for the rest of my life but they just mean so much to me and I just am loving being a part while anybody will let me.
Rob Marshall: It’s in your blood. Anna has it in her blood. You either have it or you don’t.
Anna Kendrick about being herself
I think that when I first started working consistently and doing press I felt like I was supposed to be, a kind of really composed, very diplomatic version of myself and, and that was difficult…it is great that I can be myself because not being myself was a lot harder.
I’m really, really grateful and I feel seriously lucky that I’m able to do that. It wasn’t like I just decided one day I’m just gonna be myself and people will like that better. It was sort of a tentative process and I feel really lucky that people have embraced my sense of humor and honesty because I assumed that I was gonna have to be a sort of Miss America my whole life and it’s a relief that I don’t.
You talk about how the cast was such a surprise to you and especially in relation to their talents. What surprised you most about Anna Kendrick?
Anna Kendrick: I’m so embarrassed. I should leave the room.
Rob Marshall: It’s easy to talk about Anna ‘cause I adore her. The truth is, that voice is extraordinary and I think everybody looked up to her in the cast because of that…She comes from a very rich background with her Broadway experience as a child. So to have that gift is amazing.
The think what surprised me the most about Anna is her range as an actor. The fact that she was able to open up and show such depth and vulnerability and agility and complexity in her role.
You call this cast a company. What defines a company and what made this cast that definition?
Rob Marshall: A company is everyone working together. I mean it’s as simple as that. That’s what it is. Everybody working together for the same thing.
When I cast people, I not only cast them for the talent and for playing the roles but I also cast them for who they are and I have to have people around me I like and people that are wonderful to work with and are there for the right reasons…I’ve certainly come across actors that sometimes aren’t exactly there for the whole, it’s about them…this cast understood that. There was a sense of honoring this beautiful piece. We’re all very lucky.
A Sondheim musical is really few and far between and so we felt very lucky to be doing that and I felt everybody supporting each other. Rehearsals helped enormously. Having that time to create that company because that’s when everybody’s doing things for the first time and it’s exposing and everybody’s working hard to do it together. I think during that time, wouldn’t you say Anna?, the rehearsal was a bonding experience for people.
Anna Kendrick: It was an equalizer ‘cause we were all terrified and there’s nothing like terror, to make you forget what you thought the hierarchy was going to be when you arrived, you know. That there would be a feeling of a food chain or something and to be just in it doing the work, especially when we were all so intimidated by the music. It just made you realize we’re all in the same boat here.
Rob Marshall: Totally, totally.
How much time of rehearsal did you guys have before actually shooting?
Rob Marshall: We had four weeks of rehearsal and then two weeks of prerecords but continued to rehearse while we were prerecording.
Rob Marshall about the performances being enhanced
It’s interesting. Someone asked me, “so did you enhance these performances in any way shape or form” and I thought “what are you talking about?” I mean, no. I don’t even know how to do that. I don’t even know what that is. The joys of the piece is that you feel the character, even the imperfections of the voice. I don’t want perfect voices. I want the emotion and the actor to come out. That’s the most important thing. The fact that they all sing so great is a testament to the incredible work they put into this piece and they all can really sing, even people that were new to singing for the first time like Chris Pine or Emily Blunt or James Corden. These people that are new to singing and they just worked incredibly hard to make it happen. Anna’s role, as Cinderella, is so difficult to sing and she’s belting the last note of her song. I mean what is that an E?
Anna Kendrick: It’s an E flat. It’s the Let It Go note. I’m sure you’re all familiar with that song. (I love how she she said this proudly yet sarcastically)
Be sure to check out my other Into The Woods interviews with Meryl Streep, Tracey Ullman & Christine Baranski AND Emily Blunt And James Corden
I love these two and hope they’ll have another project together soon!