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A Tony nominee at the age of 12, actress Anna Kendrick graduated from top honors in the theater world to film stardom in a string of popular mainstream and independent releases in the late 2000s. After wowing the Broadway world in a 1998 production of "High Society," she impressed critics and audiences alike with her film debut in the 2003 comedy-musical, "Camp." Kendrick earned more praise for 2007's "Rocket Science," which preceded her breakthrough supporting role in the box office smash teen vampire romance "Twilight" (2008). A supporting actress Oscar nomination for "Up in the Air" (2009) solidified her status as one of the brightest up-and-coming talents in entertainment, while her lead role in "Pitch Perfect" (2012) (and an unexpected hit single off the soundtrack) and its 2015 sequel made her a star. Kendrick smartly moved between prestige films such as the Stephen Sondheim adaptation "Into the Woods" (2014), quirky comedies like "Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates" (2016) and taut dramas such as "The Accountant" (2016), showing her remarkable stylistic range and adaptability, while her sardonic social media persona made her even more relatable to her fans.
Born Aug. 9, 1985 in Portland, ME, Kendrick discovered her passion for acting at the age of 10, and was soon making regular trips to New York to audition for stage productions; brother Michael Cooke Kendrick followed in her footsteps and later appeared in the 2000 film "Looking for an Echo." At 13, she landed the role of precocious daughter Dinah in "High Society," a musical based on the play "The Philadelphia Story" and "High Society" (1956), the Cole Porter-penned musical it inspired. Kendrick bowled over the New York critical community, who honored her with a Tony nomination as Best Featured Actress, which made her the second youngest actress ever to receive such recognition. Kendrick also received a Drama World and Theater World Award for her performance, continuing to prove her talent in productions of "A Little Night Music" opposite Jeremy Irons.
Following the blitz of publicity surrounding her Tony nomination, Kendrick naturally began to field offers for roles in films and television. She made her debut in 2003's "Camp," Todd Graff's amusing musical drama about the backstage drama and romances at a performing arts summer camp. As Fritzi, a former devoted follower of the camp's queen bee who becomes her bitter rival, Kendrick's spirited performance received a Best Debut nod from the 2004 Independent Spirit Awards. Kendrick was off-screen for the next four years until returning in a big way with 2007's "Rocket Science." A bittersweet indie drama about a young man with a stutter who joins a high school debate team, Kendrick impressed as the team's ambitious champion and earned her second Independent Spirit Award nomination. That same year, Kendrick showed off her vocal talents in an episode of the short-lived musical drama series "Viva Laughlin" (CBS, 2007).
In 2008, Kendrick joined the cast of the highly-anticipated film adaptation of "Twilight," the first in a series of Gothic romance novels by Stephenie Meyer. Though illness nearly cost Kendrick the movie - she became sick during an audition and was forced to leave - the producers called her back and eventually awarded her the role of Jessica Stanley, chatty best friend to the film's female lead, Bella (Kristen Stewart). The character was featured in several of the subsequent novels by Meyer, which virtually assured Kendrick of more screen time in the future.
The buzz around "Twilight" was nearly equaled by the news about Kendrick's casting in three major motion pictures slated for 2009. In "The Marc Pease Experience" (2009), Kendrick was cast as a high school senior and musical devotee who romances the title character (Jason Schwartzman) - an older man unable to let go of his high school glory days. The thriller "Elsewhere" (2009) gave Kendrick her first shot at a starring role as a high schooler who searches for her best friend after she goes missing. And in 2008, Kendrick was announced as a cast member of Jason Reitman's follow-up to "Juno" (2007), an adaptation of the Walter Kim novel "Up in the Air" (2009) with George Clooney cast as Ryan Bingham, a corporate hatchet man who spends most of his personal time flying around the country. Kendrick played a brash corporate up-and-comer who strikes up an unlikely friendship with Bingham, a role that earned the young actress Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild and Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actress.
Although subsequent "Twilight" movies, including "New Moon" (2009) and "Eclipse" (2010), featured very little of Kendrick, she stayed busy outside of the franchise, notably appearing in the thoughtful drama "50/50" (2011), where she played a potential love interest for Joseph Gordon-Levitt's cancer-battling lead character. After a part in the star-studded pregnancy-themed film "What to Expect When You Expecting" (2012), she contributed her voice to the animated supernatural tale "ParaNorman" (2012), as the bratty older sister of the sensitive young title protagonist and had a surprise hit with the musical "Pitch Perfect" (2012). The next year, she changed things up by appearing in the ensemble indie film "Drinking Buddies" (2013), with Olivia Wilde and Jake Johnson, followed by the Aubrey Plaza-starring zombie comedy "Life After Beth" (2014). Two small-scale dramas, "Happy Christmas" (2014) and "The Last Five Years" (2014), were followed by the critically-acclaimed "Cake" (2014), in which Kendrick co-starred opposite Jennifer Aniston. Kendrick returned to more mainstream films with her key role of Cinderella in Rob Marshall's film adaptation of "Into the Woods" (2014), followed by the sequel hit "Pitch Perfect 2" (2015). After starring opposite Sam Rockwell in action comedy "Mr. Right" (2015), Kendrick reunited with Plaza in quirky indie comedy "Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates" (2016) and appeared in John Krasinski's ensemble comedy-drama "The Hollars" (2016). In the fall of 2016, Kendrick starred in both dramatic thriller "The Accountant" (2016) and animated musical "Trolls" (2016).
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