Why Anna Kendrick Won't Stop Working
Actress talks about turning 30 and gender bias in Hollywood.
— -- Anna Kendrick has an Oscar nod and two hit franchises under her belt -- all before 30 -- but don't expect the "Pitch Perfect" star to rest on her laurels.
"As an actress you're perpetually about to be unemployed," Kendrick told the June issue of Glamour. "That fear -- when you have two parents who worked 9-to-5 jobs and went through periods of being unemployed -- is real. Those were not welcome times in my childhood."
She added, "Working 14 hours a day isn't sustainable, but I prefer it [to doing fewer films]. I might as well be doing the thing that I wanted to do my whole life."
In fact, Kendrick knew early on that she had a knack for being funny.
"I didn't feel I was extraordinary in terms of looks or academia," the 29-year-old actress said. "I was like, 'Well, I can take a joke and I can make one, too. I've got that going for me!' So I leaned into that. There was a sense of, 'I refuse to allow you to make me feel uncomfortable.' That carried over into adulthood. I'm not saying it's healthy. It's a defense mechanism, but it's one that serves me well."
That is especially true in Hollywood, where even Kendrick sometimes has to wait for a male lead to be cast before her.
"There's [a film I'm considering] now where I have to wait for all the male roles to be cast before I can even become a part of the conversation," she told Glamour. "Part of me gets that. Part of me is like, ‘What the f***? You have to cast for females based on who's cast as males?'"
The only explanation, Kendrick said, is "that there are so many ... talented girls, and from a business standpoint it's easier to find women to match the men. I totally stand by the belief that there are 10 unbelievably talented women for every role."
As for turning 30 on Aug. 9, Kendrick said, "I felt different at 29 because 29, to me, is 30. There are times when I still feel like an actual toddler in a grown-up -- well, semi-grown-up body. But other times, I can't wait to actually be 30, just so I can say things like, 'I'm 30. I don't have time for that.'"
