Anna Kendrick is just delightful. From her recent appearance on “Hot Ones” to showing up in things like Stephen Colbert’s “The Lord of the Rings” rap for the trilogy’s 20th anniversary (where she is given a hard time for being in the “Twilight” movies) she is always a whole lot of fun to watch. Kendrick is promoting her new film, “Alice, Darling,” where she plays a woman dealing with an emotionally abusive relationship. She recently sat down with Vanity Fair to watch clips of her old films like “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,” “Pitch Perfect,” “Camp,” and “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse,” where she voiced her thoughts on her graduation speech in the latter.
Kendrick played the relatively small role of Jessica, one of Bella Swan’s (Kristen Stewart) human friends in the town of Forks, Washington. If you recall the film, it’s the end of high school for Bella, Jessica, and Edward (Robert Pattinson), who is a vampire. The rivalry between Edward and the werewolf Jacob (Taylor Lautner) is heating up, and Bella accepts Edward’s marriage proposal. Kendrick wasn’t particularly happy about her performance, it seems, and had some thoughts about how Stewart (and editing) made the scene better.
‘This is the time to make mistakes’
In the graduation speech, Anna Kendrick’s Jessica speaks about how they were all asked what they wanted to be when they grew up, and as children, they all had answers like astronaut, President, or princess. However, she says that they shouldn’t have definite answers yet and that this is the time to make mistakes and see what life has to offer you.
In the Vanity Fair video, Kendrick watches the scene and joked, “I am just okay in this scene, at best.” She explained that the producers thought she would improvise that speech, as she did in her “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” movie theater scene. However, she said, “I thought that because it was a speech speech, that I should just stick to the script.” Kendrick thought they might even cut the entire speech out but it wasn’t until she saw the film in a theater that she saw what the creative team had done instead. She credited the editing and Kristen Stewart for making the entire moment so much better.
‘She is being so moved by what I’m saying’
“Twilight” produced a bevy of talented performers. Kristen Stewart was nominated for an Academy Award for portraying a fictional version of the late Diana Princess of Wales in the Pablo Larraín film “Spencer,” last year, and I would argue that Anna Kendrick is doing pretty well herself, with a Tony Award nomination for her first starring role on Broadway in 1998’s “High Society” and an Academy Award nomination for 2009’s “Up in the Air.” Still, she hails Stewart for this particular scene, having told Vanity Fair:
” … seeing it in the movie theater, it really was one of those things where you have a better understanding of the role that editing plays because every time they cut to Kristen, she is so good, and she is being so moved by what I’m saying, I can’t even remember if I was doing this off camera or if they shot this on a different day or something. Either is possible.
“But yeah, you do a little push-in on Kristen, and suddenly you’re like, ‘Wow, this speech is amazing.’ Because she thinks this speech is amazing. I am doing the bare — I don’t know what I’m doing. It’s very mid, honestly. Cut to her, and you’re like, ‘I don’t know. Maybe Jessica’s onto something here.’ So thanks, Kristen.”
I don’t know about you, but despite the fact that the “Twilight” films aren’t exactly my thing, I have seen them all, and truly, I can’t think of a single high school student that could have done any better.
“Alice, Darling” is currently in theaters.
