Anna Kendrick Recalls “Actively Shoving Down” Urge To Make Directorial Debut ‘Woman Of The Hour’ & Drawing From “Absurd” Hollywood Experience
deadline.comMore than 20 years after making her screen debut in Camp, a beloved romp about the universal experience of being a theater kid, Anna Kendrick is unpacking the sexism of Hollywood through the true-crime genre with her directorial debut.
While discussing her new movie Woman of the Hour, premiering Wednesday on Netflix, the Oscar nominee tells Deadline that although she was “actively shoving down” the urge to direct writer Ian McDonald‘s Black List script, Kendrick was so drawn to the “heartbreak” in his depiction of “Dating Game Killer” Rodney Alcala‘s victims, she got “really sick at the idea” of anyone else helming the film.
In addition to directing, Kendrick plays Cheryl Bradshaw, an aspiring actress in 1970s Los Angeles who finds herself courted by a serial killer (Daniel Zovatto) in the midst of a years-long killing spree, when they cross paths as contestants on popular game show The Dating Game.
Alcala was a California native responsible for at least eight murders across the U.S., among other crimes. Although he was sentenced to death, Alcala died at 77 of natural causes in 2021.
Read more on deadline.com