According to the 2015 Oscars’ show producers, Into the Woods star Anna Kendrick will perform at the February 22nd award ceremony, saying that her piece will be “something special that is sure to be an ‘only on the Oscars’ moment.”
Kendrick, whose vocal prowess was initially showcased in 2012’s Pitch Perfect (due for a sequel in May 2015), continues to craft her musically inclined reputation, most recently filling Cinderella’s glass slippers in the Broadway fable Into the Woods. She also performed in another broadway-musical-turned-movie adaptation, The Last Five Years (2014), though the film received mixed critical response. Considering Kendrick’s musical history, her pursuit of on-screen solos and duets seems to be a natural extension of her past. In 1998 she was nominated for a Tony Award for her work in High Society, and her first film role was in a 2003 indie musical comedy called Camp, about a songwriter’s journey at a summer theatre camp for young performers. Despite her proclivity for the musical arts, Kendrick explicitly states that does not want to pursue a career solely in the music industry, quoting:
I’m so happy that people are making these movies with music in them, because that’s as close as I’m ever going to get to the music industry, thank you very much. The movie industry can be tricky and occasionally creepy and I have this sense that the music industry is just shady as hell. I don’t want to be a part of it.”
When asked about a potential career in Broadway, Kendrick is eager, but cautious:
I would love to do that. It’s just a matter of getting the courage to go back on stage. It’s been 10 years now that I haven’t been on stage [since High Society] and it’s about wrapping your brain around doing something eight times a week.”
Kendrick, however, states clearly that she “[does] not write music”, and has built a successful resume in non-musical movies as well (examples include Up In the Air, The Twilight Saga, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, etc). She areceived an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress in 2009’s Up In the Air, also starring George Clooney. Kendrick’s next major project is the upcoming DreamWorks Animation movie Trolls (2016), also featuring the voices of Chloë Grace Moretz and Jason Schwartzman.
Leave a Comment