Anna Kendrick Has One Golden Rule When It Comes to Dating & It’s a Lesson We Should All Listen to

Right before filming the powerful 2022 film Alice, Darling, Anna Kendrick had just left an emotionally abusive relationship she was in for seven years. Since then, Kendrick has been open about her journey, opening up to fans about how she’s healed from the trauma and how it’s empowered her to move forward.

In a recent appearance on Call Her Daddy, Kendrick even got candid about the one green flag she needs to have before dating someone new.

“I’m never getting involved with a man — meaning we’re not even kissing, we’re not even going to have a real conversation — unless you are in or have been in therapy,” Kendrick said, per Us Weekly.

Also in the episode, Kendrick looked back on her relationship, noting that her ex’s abusive behavior started all of a sudden in an “overnight switch.”

Knowing how much love she felt for her partner, Kendrick looked to herself for answers. “It was very, very difficult to actually go, ‘No, this, I think this is, I think this is him. I think this is his stuff,’” she said. “I turned my life completely upside down trying to fix whatever was wrong with me.”

Throughout it all, she continued to second-guess her instincts. “It’s hard for me because there are even times when I talk about my situation where, as I’m saying it, I will go, ‘Am I making that up? Am I making everything up?’” Kendrick said.

Moving forward, Kendrick gave her fans who may be going through the same situation some sage advice. “Take off that top layer of shame,” she said. “I did and still sometimes do so much self-shaming,” she said. “How did I find myself in that situation? Like, I’m a real a—.”

Speaking to Flow Space earlier this month, Kendrick opened up about the benefits of therapy in her own life, and why it led to her directorial debut in Netflix’s Woman of the Hour.

“There was a real, positive outcome from a really terrible situation,” she told the outlet. “I had always felt like a mediocre student. I am often inarticulate and I cannot solve a math problem in my head to save my life! But psychotherapy taught me that when it’s a subject that really matters to me, I can be smart.”

If you or someone you know has been the victim of emotional or physical violence, you can get help. To speak with someone who is trained to help with these situations, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800.799.SAFE (7233) or chat online at www.thehotline.org/