Anna Cooke Kendrick (born August 9, 1985) is an American actress, singer, and film director. Known for playing upbeat and endearing characters in comedies and musicals, her accolades include nominations for an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award and a Tony Award.
Kendrick's first starring role was in the 1998 Broadway musical High Society, for which she earned a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. She made her film debut in the musical comedy Camp (2003) and had a supporting role in The Twilight Saga (2008–2011). She achieved wider recognition for the comedy-drama film Up in the Air (2009), which earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, and for her starring role in the Pitch Perfect film series (2012–2017).
She starred in the comedies Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010) and 50/50 (2011), the crime drama End of Watch (2012), the musical Into the Woods (2014), the thrillers The Accountant (2016) and A Simple Favor (2018), and the fantasy comedy Noelle (2019). She has voiced the lead role in the animated musicals of the Trolls film franchise since 2016. She starred in the short form comedy series Dummy (2020), for which she received a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Actress. She made her directorial debut with the self-starring thriller Woman of the Hour (2023).
Kendrick sang on soundtracks for some of her films, including the single "Cups" in 2012, and at events including the 2013 Kennedy Center Honors, and the 2015 Academy Awards. Her memoir, Scrappy Little Nobody, was published in 2016.
Kendrick was born on August 9, 1985, in Portland, Maine. Her mother, Janice, is an accountant. Her father, William, was a history teacher. She is of English, Irish, and Scottish descent.
She began performing in community theater at the age of six. Her older brother, Michael (b. 1983), is also an actor; he appeared in the drama film Looking for an Echo (2000). Her parents divorced when she was 15 years old. She attended Deering High School.
1998–2007: Early career, theater, hiatus and film debut
Kendrick started her career at age 12 in a supporting role in the 1998 Broadway musical High Society, which earned her a Theater World Award and nominations for Featured Actress in a Musical at the Drama Desk Awards and Tony Awards. She went on to a supporting role in the 2003 New York City Opera production of Stephen Sondheim's musical A Little Night Music.
Her film debut in the musical Camp as nerdy Fritzi Wagner earned her a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Debut Performance. After a hiatus of three years Kendrick played an ambitious high school debater in Rocket Science (2007), earning an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Supporting Female.
2008–2011: Twilight and Up in the Air
Kendrick rose to prominence in 2008 for the fantasy romance Twilight, a major box-office hit based on Stephenie Meyer's 2005 novel of the same name; Kendrick played Jessica Stanley, a friend of protagonist Bella Swan. In 2009, she appeared in the comedy The Marc Pease Experience, in her first leading role in the crime thriller Elsewhere, and reprised her Jessica Stanley role in Twilight's sequel, New Moon.
She then starred alongside George Clooney in director Jason Reitman's Up in the Air (2009). Critics praised her performance as an ambitious college graduate, saying that she "grabs every scene she's in". It brought her nominations for several Best Supporting Actress awards, including the Academy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards and BAFTA Awards. Kendrick has been a member of the Actors' Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 2010.
In 2010, Kendrick again portrayed Jessica Stanley in the Twilight saga's third installment, Eclipse. Later that year, she appeared in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, as the sister of the title character. The film did not fare well at the box office, but has since become a cult classic. In 2011, she appeared in the critically acclaimed comedy-drama 50/50, as an inexperienced therapist to a cancer patient played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Later that year, she made her final appearance as Jessica Stanley in Twilight's fourth installment, Breaking Dawn – Part 1 (2011).
2012–2015: Pitch Perfect and Into the Woods
In 2012, Kendrick featured as part of the ensemble cast of What to Expect When You're Expecting, loosely based on the pregnancy guide of the same name. Also that year, she lent her voice to the stop-motion animated film ParaNorman, starred in the commercially successful crime drama End of Watch, and appeared in Robert Redford's political thriller The Company You Keep.
Kendrick's most successful film of 2012 was the musical comedy Pitch Perfect, loosely based on the non-fiction book Pitch Perfect: The Quest for Collegiate A Cappella Glory. Kendrick played Beca Mitchell, a rebellious college freshman who joins an a cappella group called the Barden Bellas and finds that her more modern approach to music clashes with the traditional approach of the group's leader. The film emerged as a major commercial success. It received mostly positive reviews from critics, who called Kendrick's performance "splendid", saying that she "hits just the right note between pithy and chummy".
In 2013, Kendrick featured in the romantic comedy-drama Drinking Buddies, which received mostly positive reviews from critics, as well as the largely panned fantasy comedy Rapture-Palooza. At the Sundance Film Festival in January 2014, Kendrick was featured in three films. She played leading roles in the comedy-drama Happy Christmas and the horror comedy The Voices, which both received generally favorable reviews from critics, as well as a supporting role in the zombie comedy Life After Beth. Both Happy Christmas and Life After Beth received limited releases later in 2014, while The Voices was given a limited release in early 2015. Kendrick hosted Saturday Night Live in 2014.
At the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2014, Kendrick was featured in two films. She starred in the musical romance The Last Five Years, an adaptation of the off-Broadway musical of the same name. While the film itself received mixed reviews, Kendrick garnered widespread critical acclaim for her performance. She also played a supporting role in the comedy-drama Cake. Cake was eventually given a wide release in January 2015, while The Last Five Years received a limited release in February 2015. Kendrick was next seen playing Cinderella in Disney's Into the Woods (2014), director Rob Marshall's film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's musical of the same name. Kendrick was among the members of the film’s extensive ensemble cast. The movie achieved significant commercial success and garnered generally favorable reviews from critics.