Tragic Details About Anna Kendrick

The following article contains mentions of domestic abuse.

From "Twilight" to "Pitch Perfect" to "A Simple Favor," Anna Kendrick has graced dozens of projects with her expertly delivered lines and impressive vocals. A theater kid through and through, she got her start in local theater at 5 or 6 years old and, as she explained in a conversation with NPR in September 2018, there was no going back once she got a taste for it. "I did the play 'Annie,' which is, you know, the gateway drug for all girls trying to do theater," she jested. By 12 years old, Kendrick got her big break in a Broadway show — and, following her transition to Hollywood, her work has continued to be nothing short of impressive in the years since.

Kendrick's progression throughout her two-decade-plus career has been a sight to behold. She's received an Academy Award nomination, made her directorial debut, and even maintained a lovable, self-deprecating, and somewhat relatable personality off-screen. However, as effortless as she makes all of this look, life hasn't always been easy for the actor. In fact, Kendrick has experienced some truly difficult times in her life. Not only has the "Up in the Air" star endured a number of unfortunate circumstances in her line of work, but she's also dealt with health issues, personal loss, and a taxing love life. Here are the tragic details about Kendrick — and how she's still managed to overcome many of them with a smile on her face.

The #MeToo movement played a major part in exposing the seedy underbelly of the entertainment industry and called out many of the key players who inflicted harm on those who worked under them. Anna Kendrick is among the many actors who have come forward about their uncomfortable experiences on set, although she has been slightly reserved when it comes to revealing the full extent of what she's been through. As she told The Guardian in October 2024, a scene from her 2023 directorial debut, "Woman of the Hour,"  was inspired by one of her own disturbing, real life experiences.

In the film, Kendrick's character Cheryl is auditioning for a role when she's asked if she would be willing to perform nude. She declines, and the casting director says in an almost reassuring tone while gesturing to her breasts, "Oh, I'm sure they're fine." Speaking to the outlet, the actor-turned-director said, "That is lifted verbatim from something that happened to me when I was 19." Kendrick became emotional during her interview, and though she didn't elaborate much further on the specific incident, she recalled how this wasn't the only time she was made to feel uneasy as an actor.

"I've had experiences where I found out there was a wardrobe change that the costume designer had been cagey about, likely because she felt her hands were tied," she continued. "It's like you can't get to the bottom of it: 'Wait — sorry — um, why would I be in a bathing suit in this scene?'" That said, Kendrick added that she's glad to see that the industry is making strides in the right direction to prevent similar occurrences.

Many celebrities have had frightening ordeals with stalkers, and while Anna Kendrick has been fortunate enough not to have endured quite the same situations as Jodie Foster or Miranda Cosgrove, her privacy has been invaded several times nonetheless.

She began dating director Edgar Wright in 2009 after meeting him on the set of "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World," and they kept it quiet because Kendrick is notoriously private when it comes to her love life. Upon seeing published photos of herself with Wright, taken by paparazzi without her knowledge, she told The Guardian in May 2012, "I started crying immediately." Kendrick added, "It was like someone emailing a picture of you sleeping. It felt scary and dangerous."

But it wasn't the only time that the "Mr. Right" actor felt like her privacy had been encroached on. During an appearance on the "WTF With Marc Maron" podcast in September 2014, Kendrick spoke about receiving gifts from fans. "It was my birthday recently and a couple of people managed to get my home address ... because once it's on the internet it's impossible to kind of get rid of it," she began. Kendrick said one of the gifts included a long letter from a fan "about how he really felt like we should be together," and enclosed was a pair of diamond earrings. Unfortunately, she couldn't help but view the act as "creepy," adding that her supporters should go through the appropriate channels when it comes to expressing their appreciation.

Even though she's made quite a name for herself over the years and won over the hearts of millions, Anna Kendrick simply can't please everyone. Come 2014, the actor was on her way to superstardom, having worked on "Pitch Perfect" and "Into the Woods," but there were still naysayers lurking on the web. "Ugh Anna Kendrick," one person tweeted in July 2014. "I hate Anna Kendrick so much. I refuse to watch a movie if she's in it," another X user wrote around the same time. "Terrible acting, busted face and a stupid voice. Hate her."

The evolution of Kendrick wasn't held back by a few internet trolls, but many turned on her after a celebrity stylist named Tahira called her out on TikTok in February 2021. In a series of videos, she claimed to have had a couple of run-ins with Kendrick, who was reportedly an "evil chick." One time, Tahira said she was helping the actor prepare for her book signing. "She won't speak to me, that's strike one. She won't say anything," she remarked. Kendrick then reportedly demanded $10,000 to wear any of the stylist's clothing and asked Tahira to throw away all her fan mail.

When the internet catches wind of some unflattering gossip, they can go cold on a star swiftly. It's happened to countless celebrities, from Anne Hathaway to Blake Lively, but Kendrick didn't seem to pay the negative attention too much mind.

Every Hollywood actor is bound to have a story or two about catastrophes on set or uncomfortable shooting conditions. For one, Anna Kendrick made it known that she was "miserable" filming "Twilight" when she spoke with Vanity Fair back in June 2020. However, this was simply due to the cold and wet weather the cast had to endure. But Kendrick has more anecdotes about uncomfortable projects, one of which she spoke about while on Josh Horowitz's podcast "Happy Sad Confused" in October 2024.

When asked what the worst note she had received from a director was, the "Get a Job" star had a story ready — but she struggled to phrase it in a way that wouldn't give away whom she meant. Without naming names or hinting at when this might've happened, Kendrick recalled, "I remember a director once, in a room full of like a hundred extras or something, being like ... 'Hey, on this next [take] like, just try something. Just like make something up, you know, just improv something.'"

She did as she was instructed, but the director's feedback was harsh. "[He] went, 'Oof, let's go back to the script.'" Kendrick said. "And it really felt like a very specific power move thing to embarrass — like to gain dominance or something." Not only was she humiliated, but her improvised scene ended up in the trailer for the project. Kendrick's unflinching response? "F*** you!"

Anna Kendrick may be private when it comes to personal matters, but she didn't shy away from revealing she had been hospitalized in early 2019. In a sweet X post the actor shared in February 2019, she told her followers that she'd been treated for kidney stones. But instead of making her message solely about her suffering, Kendrick thanked the health professionals who helped her while she was in the hospital. "I need to give a shout out to the Atlanta doctors and nurses who helped me through my first experience with kidney stones when I was at my most vulnerable and terrified," Kendrick wrote, before expressing gratitude to each of them by name.

"I was worried that my pain would turn out to be 'nothing serious' or something that I should have been able to fight through," she continued. "I'm so grateful to these women." Although Kendrick hasn't said much else publicly about this health scare, she seemed to have made a full recovery. In response, her posts were flooded with heartfelt support from her followers, including many who validated her concerns with their own experiences of having painful kidney stones.

In 2022, Anna Kendrick gave a riveting performance in the film "Alice, Darling," about a woman trapped in an emotionally abusive relationship. What fans may not have realized, though, is that she could relate deeply to her character, having just ended things with her partner of seven years shortly before filming. Kendrick has since spoken out about the toxic relationship she was in a number of times, though she's never named her ex-boyfriend, detailing the gaslighting, verbal abuse, infidelity, and heartbreak she endured.

In speaking with Alex Cooper on "Call Her Daddy" in October 2024, Kendrick explained that it was difficult for her to identify her relationship as abusive because "it didn't follow the traditional pattern." Part of it was because things weren't always bad with this partner, and the actor described his behavior as "an overnight switch ... that went on for about a year." Kendrick added that it wasn't "like a frog in boiling water thing where it started slow."

Eventually, she somehow found the strength to escape her situation. When asked how she got out of the relationship during an interview with Rolling Stone in January 2023, Kendrick remarked, "There were so many drops in the bucket. ... Honestly, I think the biggest thing was therapy, Al-Anon, and my safe friendships and relatives." She learned to set boundaries and stand up for herself, and while she's in a much better place now, Kendrick insists recovering from the ordeal is still a work in progress.

Anyone who has ever lost a parent knows that their death can hit deeply. And although it wasn't exactly a shock for Anna Kendrick when she learned that her father William had died from end-stage liver cirrhosis in November 2022, she was still heartbroken. The "Pitch Perfect" star revealed while appearing on Dax Shepard's podcast "Armchair Expert" in January 2023 that her dad had died. She said that she and her brother had been anticipating the news of their father's death for the past 10 years. "[E]specially in the last couple of years, there were constantly these updates about his health," Kendrick said. "And we don't talk about anything. So, you know, there were these kind of very vague but somehow very serious updates happening all the time." It was nearly impossible to know for certain whether she should pick up and move closer to her family just in case or if she had several years left to spend time with her dad.

Sadly, as Kendrick said, William hadn't been in the best health for some time. "[M]y dad was larger and had heart problems in the past, and [was] just generally not a man who kept his health in good order," the actor remarked. For years, she would try to keep her schedule as free as possible in case she needed to rush home to be with her dad. "It always was just, like, 'It could happen at any time,'" Kendrick added.

It's hard to imagine, but even stars like Anna Kendrick have experienced impostor syndrome. The feelings of self-doubt around your own abilities and achievements may be relatable for many of us, and when the actor decided to take a stab at directing for the first time with "Woman of the Hour," she found these thoughts getting in the way. "On the one hand, I think [my] imposter syndrome is too pronounced," she told Flow Space in October 2024. "On the other hand, I'd be a little worried if, directing my first movie, I had none. That would be a little bats***."

But it wasn't the first time Kendrick had felt this way. She also had to figure out how to combat impostor syndrome as an actor, too. "With acting," the star continued, "I couldn't tell you exactly when, but I remember kind of looking around at some point and going, 'Oh yeah, I'm really operating from a platform of confidence.'" Kendrick thinks that, maybe, the best way to oppose feelings of self-doubt is to simply gain more experience.

But while she may have been involved in over 60 projects and she's a well-recognized household name, her self-doubt still manages to creep in. "Ironically, my imposter syndrome is louder than ever," the "Love Life" actor said in speaking with Vogue Scandinavia in November 2024. "I made this movie, and it wasn't a complete disaster, but what if it was a fluke and I'm a fraud?"