The Role Anna Kendrick Really Wanted In ‘Into The Woods’
Anna Kendrick, the 29-year-old star of Pitch Perfect, landed a great role as Cinderella in Into The Woods, allowing her to act with screen legend Meryl Streep, but it’s not the role she was really after. Unfortunately, she was just too old for her preferred part.
According to Entertainment Tonight, Kendrick was actually hoping to play Little Red Riding Hood for the movie. But as Anna explained, they cast someone far more age appropriate.
“They told me an actual 12-year-old [Lilla Crawford] would play Little Red Riding Hood. In the show it’s a grown woman, so I was like, ‘Put me in! I can do it!'”
Instead, she ended up as poor old Cinderella, which carries with it one of the most difficult songs in the movie. Kendrick explained the difficulty.
“It’s a register I haven’t sung in before. I hope I’m not being biased to say I think it’s one of the most challenging songs in the piece.”
Nevertheless, Anna Kendrick is incredibly happy to be part of the film, describing it as a dream come true. Into The Woods was originally a Tony-award winning musical on Broadway that combines four different fairy tales: Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood, and Rapunzel. The movie adaptation is from Walt Disney Pictures and will come out Christmas Day.
Anna Kendrick also talked about her cast mates with Good Morning America, especially the movie’s star, Meryl Streep.
“It feels silly to say she’s great to work with because, of course. After the table read, everybody was just blown away, but no one wanted to be the first person to go, Meryl is so good. It’s like, Oxygen is so great.”
Both Anna Kendrick and Meryl Streep applauded Into The Woods for its original take on the classic fairy tales. As Kendrick explained to the Hollywood Reporter, her version of Cinderella is one that deals with a very adult problem, being satisfied with what you have or trying to find something more.
For her part, Meryl Streep was happy that the stepsisters finally have a decent look to them.
“When I was a little girl, I wore glasses, and I didn’t feel pretty, and all the princesses were always really pretty, and I identified with the ugly stepsisters.” Yet in Into the Woods, “they’re not ugly, and that’s what I like! They’re bitchy and they’re really pretty!”
Into The Woods also stars Emily Blunt, Chris Pine and Johnny Depp.
The film also promises to be an emotional piece. According to Variety, Anna Kendrick said that when she first saw it she cried the whole way through it.
[Image Credit: Mingle Media TV/Wikimedia Commons]
