Name: Anna Kendrick
Birthdate: August 9, 1985
Birthplace: Portland, Maine
Claim to fame: She came to audiences’ attention when she played Jessica Stanley in the Twilight series, but rose to international stardom when she starred opposite George Clooney as Natalie Keener in Up in the Air, which she was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.
What we can see her in next: She has two movies coming out, The Voices on Feb. 6, a psychological thriller that stars Ryan Reynolds, as well as the musical The Last 5 Years, which releases in theatres on Feb. 13.
Interesting fact: She was nominated for a Tony Award in 1998 for her role in the Broadway musical High Society, making her the second-youngest Tony Award nominee in history.
Best quote: “My goal all along has just been to work and support myself. I’ve been really lucky to walk away from the Twilight series unscathed. Somebody asked me recently, what it’s like to be a star. I thought that was the strangest question. If you saw my day-to-day life, the word ‘star’ just doesn’t apply” — on not being able to understand her star status.
Why we love her: Our WCW this week is the wide-eyed, large-smiling, Anna Kendrick. This girl may have gotten her start on the Twilight series as the best friend of Kristen Stewart’s character, Bella Swan, but since the film series wrapped she’s gone on to become the cast’s most successful in movies, as well as one of Hollywood’s brightest young stars. Not only that, but she’s got a voice to go along with her cute looks and acting chops, even penning the hit billboard song, ‘Cups (When I’m Gone)’, for her role in Pitch Perfect.
Now we can’t talk about Anna Kendrick without acknowledging the role that brought her to international stardom (as well as resulted in her getting nominated for the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress), when she starred opposite George Clooney in the film by Jason Reitman, Up in the Air. Apparently Reitman always had her in mind for the role of Natalie Keener, but refrained from telling her because he didn’t want to pressure her into the role. But still to this day, that movie and Kendrick’s performance, going against the grain of George Clooney, was true brilliance. Ever since she’s been climbing her way to the Hollywood summit of most sought after actresses.
Some of her other fine work was featured in the movies Drinking Buddies, 50/50, End of Watch, and Pitch Perfect. And with a whole string of new movies coming out this year, including Jenifer Aniston’s Cake and Pitch Perfect 2, things aren’t slowing down anytime soon.
Anna Kendrick is just so darn likeable. She’s cute as a button, can act, can sing, and is hilarious, for those of you who follow her on Twitter will know exactly what I’m talking about. There’s no wonder she’s gone on to outshine the bruting Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson post-Twilight, with her lovely and peppy onscreen energy.
You can catch Kendrick in The Voices, out Feb. 6, and in the musical The Last 5 Years, out Feb. 13.
