{"id":1830,"date":"2008-02-15T10:48:40","date_gmt":"2008-02-15T17:48:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/?p=1830"},"modified":"2010-02-19T11:26:46","modified_gmt":"2010-02-19T18:26:46","slug":"shooting-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/shooting-star\/","title":{"rendered":"Shooting Star"},"content":{"rendered":"

February\/March 2008<\/p>\n

\"anna-kendrick\"Portland actress Anna Kendrick, star of the critically acclaimed film Rocket Science<\/em>, is sharing the screen with Ben Stiller and Jason Schwartzman in The Marc Pease Experience<\/em>, in post-production at Paramount Studios.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Interview by Colin W. Sargent<\/p>\n

When did you get your role in The Marc Pease Experience?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I got the phone call on Valentine\u2019s Day last year. I usually have bad luck on Valentine\u2019s Day, so I was very nervous when I heard I\u2019d get the decision [by telephone] then. Up until then, anything<\/em> work-related that had happened on a Valentine\u2019s Day had just gone down the toilet. So this was great. It reversed my luck!<\/p>\n

Do Ben Stiller and Jason Schwartzman know you\u2019re from Maine? <\/strong><\/p>\n

I remember talking to Jason, because he used to be the drummer for Phantom Planet<\/em>. When I told him I was from here, he immediately said he liked Portland because he\u2019d come here with his band, and all of a sudden I blurted out, \u2018I was there! You opened for Incubus<\/em> at the Civic Center.\u2019 It all came back to me: \u2018Your lead singer stage dived, and a group of my friends caught him!\u2019<\/p>\n

Was there a real-life Jason Schwartzman counterpart at Deering when you went there\u2013you know, your basic uber-loser who returns eight years after graduating in disguise so that he can star in your high-school production of The Wiz?<\/strong><\/p>\n

No! I\u2019ve never met anybody like Jason, and I don\u2019t think anybody has met anybody like Marc Pease. He\u2019s one of a kind.<\/p>\n

Take us behind the curtain during filming.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I remember my first day. Jason and Ben knew how terrified I was about the whole thing, so they took it easy on the practical jokes\u2013it was obviously a very big deal for me. But there was one time: Ben plays my music teacher, and in one scene, we were doing vocal warm-ups and Ben started improvising funnier and funnier things that I had to repeat back to him. It turned out everybody was laughing in the background, but I was white as a ghost. In-between, the script supervisor said, \u2018What he said was so funny<\/em>\u2013I can\u2019t believe you\u2019re not laughing; this is so incredibly professional of you.\u2019 I said, \u2018This is not skill, this is fear.\u2018<\/p>\n

In what ways is your character like the person you were at Deering High, and in what ways is she different? <\/strong><\/p>\n

She\u2019s romantically involved with two older men, which is certainly nothing I was involved with at Deering. She\u2019s vulnerable and in the process of discovering her strengths, and I think I shared that with everyone going through high school.<\/p>\n

Have you had to alter your Broadway live-audience gestures\u00a0 for movies? Exactly what measures did you take?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was lucky. My first film was a film about theater, called Camp<\/em>, in 2003, so that kind of eased me into the transition.<\/p>\n

Where is the premiere going to be when the movie comes out, and what friends of yours from Maine will attend? <\/strong><\/p>\n

I imagine it will be in L.A., and what I\u2019ll have to do during the premiere will be a lot like working. I like to keep that whole part of my life private.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re not doing a very good job of that!<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s more like, I\u2019d hate to disillusion any of my friends about how un-fun L.A. can actually be.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a 20 year age gap between you and Ben Stiller. Did he make jokes about that, or did you? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh, yeah. He was cool and cracked a couple of jokes. But like I said, I was too nervous to make jokes myself!<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your \u2018role that got away,\u2019 so far?<\/strong><\/p>\n

They\u2019re remaking my favorite film, The Women<\/em>, and it\u2019s my tough luck that they didn\u2019t make it 15 years from now, because I\u2019m too young for any of those roles.<\/p>\n

How are you a different actress than if you\u2019d been born in California or New York?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Growing up in a normal atmosphere and going to public schools in a life that seems, in comparison, to be \u2018humble\u2019 beginnings, is invaluable. I don\u2019t understand how a girl who\u2019s grown up in California can even play your average Joe. I wouldn\u2019t just be a different actress if I\u2019d grown up in New York or California\u2013I\u2019d be a different person.<\/p>\n

What does it take to make you feel you\u2019ve really returned to Maine during a visit? <\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019d have to watch a football game with my dad. Patriots, obviously. I know this is not very Maine-like, but my dad and I have to get the spicy scallop roll at Yosaku. I also love Foley\u2019s Bakery and Street & Company.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your favorite film performance by a Maine actor? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Bob Marley in Boondock Saints<\/em> is fantastic.<\/p>\n

How often do you come to Maine? <\/strong><\/p>\n

I usually just come for Christmas, but then somebody gets married or graduates, so it ends up to be twice a year.<\/p>\n

If your life were a movie here in Portland, where would you have to go when you had to be alone to think things through, the way Spiderman goes up into his tower?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I go to the woods on Leland Street above the Deering High football field to hear myself think, or Fort Williams.<\/p>\n

We celebrated you as one of the \u201cTen Most Intriguing People in Maine\u201d when you were 13. Did your fellow students razz you about that?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m sure they didn\u2019t mean anything by it. When you\u2019re in middle school, any attention feels like negative attention. I definitely felt different when I came back [from her Tony-nominated and Drama Desk-award-winning role in High Society<\/em> on Broadway] as a teenager. They say you can never go home again, but it\u2019s strange. On one side, you feel like you\u2019re the person you were. The atmosphere feels the same, so why shouldn\u2019t you feel the same? Then I have to remind myself that I\u2019ve been taking care of myself since I was 17 and you have to move on. Uh-oh! My mom just gave me a look.
\n
\nThe Anna Kendrick Experience <\/strong><\/p>\n

BROADWAY<\/strong><\/p>\n

High Society<\/em> 1998\u2028 – As Dinah Lord
\n\u2022 Drama Desk Award
\n\u2022 World Theater Award
\n\u2022 Tony Award nominee (second-youngest)
\n\u2022 Fany Award nominee<\/p>\n

TELEVISION<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Mayor <\/em> 2003
\nAs Sadie Winterhalter<\/p>\n

My Favorite Broadway:\u00a0 The Leading Ladies<\/em> 1999<\/p>\n

FILM<\/strong><\/p>\n

New Moon<\/em> 2009
\nAs Jessica Stanley<\/p>\n

Up in the Air <\/em> 2009
\nAs Natalie Keener<\/p>\n

The Marc Pease Experience<\/em> 2008
\nAs Meg Brickman<\/p>\n

Elsewhere <\/em> 2008
\nAs Sarah<\/p>\n

Twilight<\/em> 2008
\nAs Jessica Stanley<\/p>\n

Rocket Science <\/em> 2007
\nAs Ginny Ryerson
\n\u2022 Nominated for Film Independent\u2019s 2008 Spirit Award, presentations February 23<\/p>\n

Camp <\/em> 2003
\nAs Fritzi Wagner<\/p>\n

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