-Anna Kendrick. -Hi!
-Welcome to the show. -Thanks so much for having me.
Um, I said you go by the name
of "Anna Kendrick," but I mean, that's...
That's a really weird way to put it, but...
Well, I think sometimes, it's just like...
You know what it was? I think I was listening
to, like, some hip-hop before you came out that go...
You know, like, people, and people will say that.
-"I go by the name of." -The name of. Yeah.
-But maybe that's the name. -Yeah, and I am very hip-hop.
That's what people think of when they think of me, so...
That is the first thing I think when I think of you.
-Yeah. -So welcome to the show.
-So that's... Thank you so much. -I feel like this is a...
It's not just, like, a welcome to the show.
But it's welcome back to, like, an area
that I feel like has a really special place in your heart.
Because Times Square, Broadway--
like, this was the beginning for you, wasn't it?
Oh, yeah, yeah. I mean, I guess I was mostly thinking
about coming back, and, like, you know, no audience,
whatever, sort of looser.
And there's, like, a nice vibe
to not having a live audience.
But, um, yeah, I mean, yeah, Times Square is...
Uh, well, this area is, yeah, the first job that I ever had.
Uh, I was going to say "in New York,"
but the first job I ever had ever was,
uh, yeah, it was a Broadway show
-just down on the street. -You were 13.
-Uh, I was 12. Yeah. -12?
Yeah, get your facts straight. No, yeah. I was...
When did...? Okay, when did you get the Tony?
-I turned 13. -When did you get the Tony?
KENDRICK: It's possible that, like, I was nominated
when I was 12, and then by the time the ceremony had happened,
-I turned 13 or something like that. -Then you're 13. Okay.
I'm not sure. I don't remember, actually.
But still, I mean, that's still pretty impressive.
Yeah, that's pretty young for all that... all that noise.
Do you...? Oh, that's actually a good question then.
How did you avoid the child star trap then?
How are you normal? Are you normal?
Um, well... (laughs) That's the million-dollar question.
But, uh, I feel like, actually,
I was thinking about this recently,
that I think theater, for better and potentially for worse,
I'm not sure, theater, um,
like, asks a lot more of its child actors.
-Oh. Okay. -Like, when you go on...
I mean, you know, you have been on film sets.
-Right, yes. -You know, that it's, like,
"Can we get you water?" You know, there's a fawning...
-It's a very pampered, yes, that's true. -pampered...
existence, and it's all... it is all kind of fake,
because they just don't trust you to not run off.
Like, it's not that it's coming from a place
of, like, "Genuinely, we think you're so wonderful."
It's just coming from a place of, like,
"We don't trust you to go to the bathroom and not get lost,
so we have to take you there." You know, that kind of thing.
But I think when you're very young,
you might actually internalize that as, like,
"Oh, I’m special, like, I'm at the top
of the pecking order."
And, um, when I was doing High Society when I was 12,
there was a day that I kept forgetting my line
and, like, in front of everyone.
The director was, like, "Well, we're going to cut that line
if you forget it one more time," and I did and they cut the line.
-So it was very, like, okay, -Oh, yeah, like, that's...
work ethic-- like, obviously that was
maybe a little too humiliating.
But, uh, generally speaking, it was just, like,
"You're going to be here, you're going to rehearse all day."
-You know... -Yeah. Do you miss it?
Yeah, every time I go and see a show,
I'm just, like, I'm so, like, green with envy
that, like, I'm not on stage,
and it's, like, such a magical experience.
Okay, but do you... are you able to, like, totally shut out?
So sometimes what happens to me is, if I'm watching a show,
like, let's say stand-up, I spend half the show
thinking about, like, what I would have done or, like...
Like, the joke, I see it coming, I don't see it coming.
Do you know what I mean? Do you have that
when you go to Broadway, or are you just like,
"Huh, I wouldn't have done the note that way..."
Interesting. Well, but I do that with film, too.
-I mean, you must do that with TV and... -No.
-With TV? No. -No? You don't do that with TV?
-Just with stand-up. -No, I just watch.
-Yeah, just with stand-up. -So, I end up doing that
with film and television and, then, with live theater,
but I think... and I wonder if it's the same
for you with standup, that, um,
the true test of, like, how great it is
is that's where your brain shuts off.
If you're not thinking about, like, "Oh,
"that's an interesting time to move the camera that way.
Like, do it on Steadicam? I don't know, that's a choice."
But when you're just not thinking about that at all
because you're so engrossed in the material.
So the same thing will happen with Broadway for you, then?
-Yeah. Of course. -So when you're just, like, so engrossed.
Let's talk about your show. Season two. Congratulations.
Yeah, I have to say, I'm so excited
for people to see season two,
and I feel like it's a lot easier for me to talk
-about season two... -Wait, what does that mean?
because I'm not the lead of season two now,
so I get to just be, like,
"You guys, the show is so good!
-It's so good. -(laughs) Wait, wait, wait. No, but wait.
So, you're saying before, you wouldn't want
to talk about it because you were afraid that it's like,
-"Oh, I'm so good"? -Well, I... Well, I...
Well, I can't be like, this... You know, the...
Of course I want people to see the show,
-and I think the show is good. -Right, right, right.
But it's, like, a lot easier
for me to just unabashedly be like,
-"You guys, the show is so good." -Okay.
And William Jackson Harper from The Good Place
is so great on this season.
Like, it's unbelievable.
-And Jessica Williams is, uh, electric. -NOAH: Yes.
KENDRICK: Electrifying.
-I've never seen you speak about yourself like this. -Um...
-Well, that would be weird. -(siren wailing in distance)
No, I don't think it would be weird.
Sorry, there's siren going by. It's Times Square.
But, like, no, I don't think that would be weird at all.
I think, like, maybe...
Let me think. Maybe you should...
add, like, an... like, an "S" to your name
and then be like, "It's Anna Kendricks who's in the show."
-And then you talk about her like that, as well. -(laughs)
You'd be like, "She's, I mean... Anna Kendricks is, like...
-She's just phenomenal in this." -I-I would end up being like,
"Anna Kendricks is, you know, she's talented,
-but she's, uh, she's kind of a lot." -(Noah laughing)
"I don't know, she's not for everyone."
-(chuckles) -But it... You know,
you know what I loved about this show
is, like, season one was...
I will say this. It surprised me because it was, like,
the nicest show on HBO Max. Let me start with that.
-Oh, yeah. -So, like, a lot of the stuff on HBO Max
-is, like, Suicide Squad-y. Know what I mean? -Yeah, yeah.
I love it. It's funny. It's dark.
And then this was... I was like, "Oh."
I was like, "Is this gonna be, like, a...
-Is this dark? Is this...?" I was like, "No." -Yeah.
-I was like, "This is nice." -It's really nice.
I was like, "Oh, this is very friendly. This is..."
I was not expecting that from HBO Max.
Yeah. No, it is.
Like, it's a very kind of, like, approachable,
-friendly show. -Yes. Yes. Right.
Um, and then it does get into, um, some-some heavier stuff,
um, but in a way where, like,
you are laughing the entire time.
There's, uh, there's an episode later in the season
where, like, uh, the three kind of guy friends
end up on this camping trip,
and that episode is, I think,
my favorite episode because it is...
It really, really gets into the...
-the brutality of heartbreak, you know? -Yeah.
But it's so funny.
It's, like, three guys on mushrooms in the woods,
and it's so funny, but you're still getting
all of that, like, catharsis of watching somebody go like,
"God, like, love is this fundamental human drive,
-and it just tears us apart." -Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
But, you know, to be able to be, like, really laughing
while you're exploring that is amazing.
Um, I would love to know... Before I let you go,
you know, your character, Darby,
we travel through so much with her.
-Yeah. -You know, it's like this whole journey.
It was like, "Oh, here we are." And we got to l...
relive moments of her life, obviously.
And, so, it's like, you know, the young love,
the new love, the getting married, the...
Then it's like... Oh, and then at the end of the season,
it's like, "Oh, now here we are with her as a single mom,"
and it's just, like, a journey that she's been on.
Have your ideas on love changed
or been shaped by the show in any way?
Is there-- is there something where the material
has made you think, like, "Huh,
"I wonder if I see love differently"?
Or have you shaped the show because of how you see love?
Oh, that's really-- Well, yeah.
That's really interesting, because I, uh...
The first season,
um, a couple of things happened.
Like, a lot of that first season was personal experience.
And, in fact, I was like, "We have to change
"some of these details so that I don't get... -Wow.
...some angry phone calls."
Um, but there was one episode in particular
that I, like, went to the creator when I got the script
for this particular episode and was like,
"We need to change some more details.
Like, I-- This is way too close to my real life."
And he was like, "We have not talked about this.
This episode, we didn't consult you on this thing."
And I was like... (stammers)
"So actually the most close to my life
-was the thing that I didn't talk about." -(laughs)
And that was-- that's the crazy thing about season two...
-Yes. -...is that I-I'm going, like--
It feels just as personal,
and it-- like, none of it's drawn from my actual life.
And so it-it feels almost like...
I-- Actually, there was another thing
where I had never had an experience quite like
the one that Darby has. And then, since the show has ended,
-I have had that experience. And, you know... -Oh, boy.
So it's, uh, like, this kind of...
w-weird, uh, road map.
Or, like, sometimes it feels like the show is, like,
my personal psychic or something.
Um, so I don't know...
Yeah, I guess it's that, you know... (stammers)
that-that constant question of is life imitating art
or is art imitating life.
That's probably why people love the show,
because it connects with people.
There are moments where you feel like you're watching
"a real show," if that makes sense.
-Yeah. -But it's just like-- It's a show that connects.
It's a show that makes you laugh.
And then, when it stops, you're like,
"Oh, yeah. I was watching a show.
I wasn't just watching my friends."
So that's what people love about it.
-Congratulations on season two. -Thank you so much.
-I love that. Thank you. -It's gonna be fun to watch.
Season two of Love Life premieres on HBO Max
on October 28.