This article discusses domestic abuse.
Over the past couple of years, Anna Kendrick has detailed her experiences of “emotional” and “psychological abuse” in a past relationship.
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Back in 2022, Kendrick played a woman stuck in an abusive relationship in the film "Alice, Darling." She later told People that she felt the film “resonated” with her personal experience. The following year, she recalled feeling unsafe in her now-ex-partner’s presence during a raw episode of Dax Shepard’s "Armchair Expert."
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Anna described this partner as her “husband” for “all intents and purposes” and noted that they’d been together for six years.
“About six years in, about somewhere around there, I remember telling my brother, when things had first kind of gone down, ‘I’m living with a stranger. Like, I don’t know what’s happening,’” she recalled.
“It was so alarming, and it was so much easier for me to assume I was crazy or I was doing something wrong,” she said.
“I can’t bring up the fact that I’m scared of you because when I do, you get really scary,” she recalled thinking.
In 2023, Kendrick made her directorial debut with "Woman of the Hour," a film based on the true story of a young woman who pairs with a serial killer and sex offender on a dating show.
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Now, Kendrick has opened up further about her past relationship during a new interview with the Independent.
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“Sometimes the most torturous thing isn’t just the disrespect or mistreatment, but the fact that everyone’s acting like it’s not happening,” Kendrick shared. “Which then convinces you that something’s not happening. It makes you question whether you’re making all of it up, or if you’re being paranoid or too sensitive.”
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“You sound crazy. You’re dismissed. ‘He brushed your hair off your shoulder — that’s nothing.’ And yet when you’re there, you can feel the threat that’s hanging in the room,” she said.
Noting that it felt like “the Band-Aid got ripped off” when she finally spoke publicly about her abusive relationship for the first time, Kendrick said that directing "Woman of the Hour" created “a window” in her mind.
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“It does feel like the most revealing piece of work I’ve ever done,” Kendrick said before going on to explain that after her relationship ended, she told her agents that she wasn’t interested in taking on comedy roles anymore.
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Over the years, fans have repeatedly described Anna as a natural comedian. Her witty personality has shone through several acclaimed movie roles, including the Pitch Perfect trilogy and A Simple Favor.
“I think I’d hit a point of critical mass, where it felt like... Oh boy, here we go… I think what was happening at that time was I was being forced into a place of performance and dishonesty in my private life,” she said. “I just couldn’t spend another second breathing dishonest air.”
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“It’s a literal true story that, in the aftermath of this really traumatic relationship, my plumber came over and asked how I’d been, and I just told him everything. I physically couldn’t continue performing,” she said.
“In the parlance of the internet, I think I was known as sort of quirky and relatable,” she added. “But in that, there’s not a lot of room for sadness and fear.”
You can read Anna’s full interview with the Independent here.
For anonymous, confidential help with domestic abuse, you can call the 24/7 National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE) or chat with an advocate via the website.
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