Anna Kendrick is making her debut in the director’s chair for her new film “Woman of the Hour.”
The crime thriller is based on the true crime story of Rodney Alcala, a serial killer who appeared on a dating game show in 1978.
“This is really one of those stranger-than-fiction stories. There really was a serial killer that went on ‘The Dating Game’ in the 1970s,” Anna told Access Hollywood at the movie’s Los Angeles premiere. “But the thing that I love about this story is that’s almost the least interesting thing.”
“It’s a really fascinating piece of material to frame the film, and it’s a fascinating metaphor for, ‘who’s really behind the curtain?’ ‘How well can we really know someone?'” she continued. “I’m really excited for the pieces of the movie that are not centered on ‘The Dating Game’ potentially, because I’m not [acting] in most of those pieces, and I’m just so excited for the world to really fall in love with this cast.”
In addition to directing, Anna stars as Cheryl Bradshaw, the real-life woman that Alcala won a date with on “The Dating Game.”
“Cheryl is one of the characters that we know the least about in real life, so it was kind of the perfect opportunity to really explore those themes around all of the ways that women shrink themselves just so survive emotionally, financially – literally, sometimes,” she shared.
Anna used the character of Cheryl to depict “an imagined week in the life of an aspiring actress in Hollywood in the 1970s,” and for the role, she pulled from her own experience getting into the industry.
“There are some easter eggs in the movie that are lifted from my experience of being an aspiring actress, so there’s a couple little moments in there that are lifted from my life,” Anna teased. “But I think that for Cheryl, really, the question in every scene is: do you think I’m human, or do you think I’m something else – something less than? She really goes on a journey, and by the end, she gets her answer, and it’s not a great answer, but there’s still some resolution for her.”
“Woman of the Hour” hits Netflix on Oct. 18.