George Clooney Put Anna Kendrick ‘at Ease’ by Telling Her He Still Gets ‘Really Insecure’ on Sets

Acting isn’t always the easiest of professions. Between the busy buzz of the set, difficult material, the occasional prima donna co-star or director, it can be a challenge to get in the mindset of whatever character you’re trying to inhabit. For Anna Kendrick, this can be especially difficult when you’re acting opposite a legend like George Clooney. The two starred opposite one another in Jason Reitman‘s 2009 dramedy “Up in the Air,” receiving Oscar nominations in the process for their work. However, in a recent interview on “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace,” Kendrick shared that working with Clooney was initially quite the scary prospect.

“Oh, absolutely terrifying. I mean, completely terrifying. To other people he is kind of capital G, George, and he works really hard to make you forget that and feel comfortable,” said Kendrick. “The very, very first shot that he and I did together was my first shot in the movie, we were standing on this people mover, and we’re kind of waiting cameras pretty far away, and and he said, ‘God, do you get nervous? On the first day, I get so nervous. Do you get insecure? I get really insecure.’ And I was like, ‘Yes, I do, George, I do. I totally get nervous. I totally get insecure.'”

Kendrick went on to explain that, while she initially bought into Clooney’s insecurity, after some time had passed, she came to realize that he was only putting it on for her benefit.

“He was doing this whole thing about, like, ‘I worry. Like, did they even hire the right guy?’ And it wasn’t for years suddenly that memory popped into my brain, and I thought, no, he does not get nervous,” Kendrick said to Wallace. “He does not get insecure or worry that they’ve hired the wrong guy. Maybe that’s something he dealt with earlier in his career, but it was such a gift for him to say that, because it felt like, ‘Oh, OK, I can bring my anxiety into the moment, and someone is going to hold space for that and be cool with that.’ And it really, really set me at ease. And was a complete fiction.”

Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut “Woman of the Hour” is now streaming on Netflix.