-It derails my work.
-I know. I'm sorry.
-I just -- I'm trying to look out
why you would choose to hurt me so deliberately.
-No, I -- I mean, I just wanted to hang out with my friends.
-Right. -I wasn't --
-So you want to be here with them at my expense?
You're incredibly selfish.
-Welcome back to "Late Night."
We're here with Anna Kendrick, everybody.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-And now for a complete tonal shift.
-It was a real tonal shift, yeah.
-It brings the room down even.
-And, now, that's a comedy?
-Oh, it's about psychological abuse. It's hilarious.
You guys.
-Now, this -- I do want to ask one more question
about directing before I ask about this film
where you were an actor in and you directed yourself.
You are an actor.... but what did you --
Did you learn anything -- I think, over the years,
directors would love to know the kind of notes
actors like to receive.
And you having been on the other side first,
how did you find giving those to actors was?
-I mean, I thought -- Well, you know, I hoped I was okay at it,
but I did find that I would just give really direct notes.
And I would give somebody a note,
and then like three people from the set, from the crew,
would be like, "I didn't know you could say that to an actor."
I'm like, "Okay, we are like children.
We're barely people. I get it."
But, like, there's this feeling that we're going to, like --
like explode into dust like "Avengers Endgame"
if you say, "Can you just do it a little faster?"
That's all. Like, that's all I said to people, was like,
"Hey, maybe just a little quieter or something."
-Well, that's a helpful note for an actor, right?
-I agree. I agree. -They know exactly how to do it.
-Like, I feel like sometimes if somebody just wants me
to do something specific, they tell me this long story
about my character's grandmother or something,
and I'm trying to decipher, like,
"Did you just mean quieter?
You can just say it, babe. I'll be good."
-So, in this film, you play a Canadian.
You shot this at a remote cabin.
And I'm wondering, when you play a Canadian,
do you try to affect a Canadian accent?
-I think nobody told me to. Nobody wanted that from me.
But I did -- There were a couple times
where I would, like, try to sneak in a, like,
"Oh, you're having trouble with that, Eh?"
[ Laughter ]
And, like, the entire cast and crew was Canadian,
so they're like, "Baby, no. We don't need to do that.
We don't need to do that today, no."
-What was it about this psychological sort of thriller
that drew you to it in the first place?
-Yeah, I mean, it's a really challenging movie,
and it's about emotional abuse,
which is a hard thing to even put into words,
let alone put in a movie,
and I think the movie's not really what you expect it to be.
It's almost got this, like, mystery structure
where it unfolds really slowly.
And people have been really kind about the film,
and I think a compliment that I've been getting recently
is that people will talk about it and they'll be like,
"And I loved, like, you know,
almost how little dialogue there was."
And you can only get that compliment so many times
before you're like, "Is it my shrill voice?
Is that the problem?"
You're like, "I loved the part where you shut up.
It was, mwah, your finest work."
-I'm sure that's not what they were saying.
This is very exciting. You went to a wedding in Italy,
but you did not go to Italy to go to a wedding.
-Okay, so, yeah.
I went to Italy this summer.
It was my first time. Italy's great.
-Italy's great.
-Have you guys heard about Italy?
I hadn't, because I am not well-traveled.
But it was amazing.
And I ended up in Florence, and this --
The actor Jay Ellis, who's from --
we love from "Insecure" and "Top Gun." Lovely guy.
I had met him like twice.
And the place I was staying in Florence --
across the street, he was having the, like,
night-before reception for his wedding.
And he found out I was across the street.
He was like, "Well, you have to come to the reception.
It's just so crazy that you're here right now."
And so I was like, "Yeah, of course, of course."
And I went, and then all night, he's saying,
"You should really come to the wedding tomorrow,"
which I was like, "No.
So sweet of you to offer.
I understand you feel obligated to be polite and offer,
but of course not."
And he kept insisting, and I was like,
"No, no, I don't want to be, like, a part of a fight
that you and your wife get into, in five years where she's like,
'And another thing!
You invite what's-her-face the night before the wedding."
No. No.
And as I'm heading out, he asks me again.
I said, "No, that's so sweet of you.
No, thank you. I couldn't possibly."
And I said, "Well, you know,
I heard the dress code is earth tone,
and I didn't even pack anything earth tone."
And he said, "Well, Anna, you're rich as [bleep],
so go buy something."
[ Laughter ]
Which -- So now I'm the cheap ass [bleep]...
-Yeah. -...if I don't go buy something
to go to the wedding.
So the next morning, I, like, went to Zara --
'cause I'm very rich -- and I just bought,
like, the first thing I found and I went to the wedding.
And I did cry like a baby,
even though I was totally crashing the wedding.
Like, you would have thought
that this is my oldest friend in the world, I cried so much.
-I think it's very -- it's allowed that you cried.
You're in Florence, Italy. It's a very romantic place.
Obviously, you'd just blown a lot of money
on an outfit you were never going to wear again.
Congratulations on the movies.
-Thank you. -Both of them.
And it's so nice to have you here in person.
-It's always so great to be here. Thank you for having me.
-We love having you. Anna Kendrick, everybody.
"Alice, Darling" opens exclusively at AMC Theaters
nationwide on January 20th.
we'll be right back with John Larroquette.