Call Her Daddy – Anna Kendrick: Pitch Perfect, Twilight & Relationships (FBF)

Podcast: Call Her Daddy
Host: Alex Cooper
Guest: Anna Kendrick
Release Date: January 23, 2026

Episode Overview

In this candid and engaging episode, Alex Cooper welcomes acclaimed actress and director Anna Kendrick to discuss her life, career trajectory, personal growth, and the complexities of relationships. Ranging from behind-the-scenes tales of "Pitch Perfect" and "Twilight," to directing her film "Woman of the Hour" and deep-diving into her experiences with emotional abuse, Anna shares with signature wit, authenticity, and vulnerability. The conversation flows effortlessly between lighthearted banter and profound introspection, offering valuable insights for listeners, especially women navigating similar life and relationship journeys.

Key Discussion Points

1. Communication & Daily Life (01:27–04:40)

• Anna admits she’s a dedicated texter and terrible with emails, humorously describing herself as someone you "might as well send a postcard" if you expect an email reply.
• She reflects on the desire for tangible accomplishments, like gardening, to counterbalance the intangible nature of acting:

  "I'm trying to get mint to grow in my garden...I just want to, like, make something that I can hold and go, like, I made this." — Anna (02:48)

2. Quirks, “Chapstick Addiction”, and the Need for Tangible Things (04:41–08:03)

• Anna and Alex bond over their obsession with Burt’s Bees pomegranate chapstick, revealing an almost superstitious reliance on it.
• They discuss the subconscious link between dry lips and self-consciousness:

  "If I don't have my lips somewhat moisturized, I feel like...when you see someone with chapped lips, you're like, they must have bad breath." — Alex (07:30)

• Anna’s most high-maintenance trait? Her secretly curly hair, and the ongoing “curly hair journey” of learning to embrace her natural texture and vulnerability.

3. Early Career, Family, and Skipping College (10:52–16:31)

• Anna candidly discusses the insecurity she felt about not going to college, being the family's "black sheep" with a teacher for a dad.
• She describes feeling both left out and ahead when friends hit sophomore-year existential crises:

  "What a blessing to just know what I want. And I was watching all my friends go, 'Oh my God, I don't know what to do with my life.'" — Anna (13:17)

• Anna recounts, with humor and humility, how her family’s pride only crystallized when “buying a home” made her success tangible:

  "They were obviously very proud...but to just see something solid...it was like, oh, you made it." — Anna (25:51)

4. Childhood, Broadway Beginnings, and Surviving the Industry (16:31–24:26)

• Anna's hyper-vigilant, slightly suspicious childhood personality ("Who in this room is trying to f*** me over?"), and navigating early auditions in New York as a pre-teen with her brother.
• Getting her first Broadway gig at 12 after taking a Greyhound with her brother and improvising a “Sunday best” with Payless sandals.
• The disconnect between Anna’s young stardom and her school peers, who couldn't comprehend the scale of her achievements ("I'm at Sundance. I'm at the Sundance film festival.").

5. Pitch Perfect: The “Cups” Moment & Cast Bond (28:42–36:44)

• The iconic “Cups” song was Anna's own quirky idea at her audition, later becoming an unplanned chart-topping single:

  "I just was like, there’s no way anybody would care about this...Why is this a part of my story and my life?" — Anna (29:49 & 32:03)

• Deep group camaraderie among the “Pitch Perfect” cast, describing themselves as a true—if mismatched—family:

  "We are a family...there's something magic about it because usually you keep in touch with one or two people, but we're all really, really different, and after three movies, you're like, I think this is like a not-getting-rid-of-each-other situation." — Anna (33:02)

6. Twilight: On Being (Almost) on the Sidelines (36:44–40:33)

• Anna describes genuinely forgetting she was in “Twilight” at times, as her experience was so tangential to the saga’s central media storm:

  "I was really, like, lucky to not be dealing with the eye of the storm… It almost feels like I didn’t really have to run the gauntlet." — Anna (37:14)

• She reflects playfully on her role as Jessica and the behind-the-scenes struggle with her (secretly curly) hair.

7. Personal Trauma, Emotional Abuse, and Recovery (41:00–56:09)

Alice, Darling & Real-Life Resonance (41:00–47:18)

• Anna opens up about drawing on her own experience in an emotionally abusive relationship for her film “Alice, Darling”—a secret she kept even from her therapist, fearing being talked out of the project (41:00).
• She describes the confusing, atypical dynamic of her 7-year relationship, the abrupt switch to abuse, and the challenge of recognizing non-physical abuse:

  "It didn't follow that more traditional...frogs in boiling water thing, where it started slow. It came out of absolutely nowhere..." — Anna (42:57)

Therapy, Self-Doubt, and Internalized Blame (44:23–56:09)

• Anna details the distorting power of emotional abuse—including the couple’s therapist initially “buying” her partner’s version of events and her own obsessive self-blame:

  "I turned my life completely upside down trying to fix whatever was wrong with me." — Anna (43:45)

• She likens trying to spot “red flags” to being dropped into a wilderness filled with traps you’re not equipped to identify, emphasizing how manipulative partners work hard to keep you disoriented.
• Anna describes her enduring impulse to question reality—even today:

  "As I'm saying it, I will go, am I making that up? Am I making everything up?" — Anna (48:41)

• The fawn response as a survival mechanism, not a character defect:

  "That's the whole, like, woman of the hour. That's. It's like all fawn response. It's all just like, what do I have to do to survive?" — Anna (56:09)

8. Woman of the Hour: Directorial Debut, Themes, and the Female Perspective (60:25–70:04)

• Anna tells how she impulsively pitched herself to direct "Woman of the Hour," based on a real 1970s serial killer who appeared on The Dating Game.
• The film explores how women are systematically preyed upon, forced to navigate safety through politeness and appeasement—not aggression.

  "It's almost like a fantasy section of the movie, except the fantasy is what if a woman stood up for herself? Can you imagine?" — Anna (64:54)

• Anna describes her stylistic choices, like the parking lot scene, to simulate how women’s senses narrow and heighten when danger registers—a uniquely female directorial touch:

  "It's like, oh. That's when you would be aware of like, oh, this parking lot is empty...all I can hear is the buzz of the street lights." — Anna (67:34)

9. Dating, Boundaries, and Relationship Lessons (72:03–78:41)

• Anna is currently single by choice, humorously admitting to ignoring romantic cues:

  "Every time your phone buzzes, it's someone...who really wants to meet you, so just let me know. And I just put it back down and go, 'No prospects for old Anna.' Poor, poor Anna." — Anna (74:34)

• Her new dating non-negotiable:

  "I'm never getting involved with a man...unless you are in or have been in therapy. And if we're actually like, okay, maybe this is a relationship, we're getting a couple therapists from jump." — Anna (76:07)

• She reflects on "red flag" culture, reminding listeners that manipulative men learn too, and presentation can be deceiving.

10. Lighthearted Finale – Relationship Strengths & Misconceptions (78:41–82:40)

• Anna asserts her “bodyguard” energy in relationships—quick to defend and fiercely loyal toward loved ones.
• On her reputation for sarcasm and humor, Anna jokes:

  "I have such nervous kid sister energy around real comics...I'll go so dry that...it comes off like I'm being dead serious...Meanwhile, I'm like, I'm being so funny. It's going great." — Anna (80:36 & 81:56)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Anna on Artistic Tangibility:

  "There's something about devoting your entire life to this very weird thing of pretending to be another person...that you're like, I don't make anything physical." (02:48)

• On Not Going to College:

  "I would be so screwed. I felt really insecure about not going to college...It was very black sheep behavior." (10:52–14:18)

• On Internalized Shame in Abuse:

  "Even when I would watch these videos, I would read the articles…as I'm saying it, I will go, am I making that up? Am I making everything up?" (48:41)
  "There's something like, so vulnerable and kind of humiliating about the fact that, like, I just stayed." (53:59)

• On Directing 'Woman of the Hour':

  "I pitched myself to direct the movie because I felt like I had become slowly kind of obsessed with the script." (60:25)

• Dating Real Talk:

  "I'm never getting involved with a man unless you are in or have been in therapy." (76:07)

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment | Description | Timestamp | |---------|-------------|-----------| | Quirks & Mint Gardening | Anna's life outside acting and the need for tangible hobbies | 01:27–04:40 | | Chapstick & Self-Care | Hilarious exchange about Burt’s Bees obsession | 04:41–08:03 | | Career vs College Insecurity | Early ambitions, missing out on college, family pride | 10:52–16:31 | | Broadway Childhood | Hustling for first big break as a kid | 16:31–24:26 | | Pitch Perfect "Cups" Origin | How Anna's odd talent became iconic | 28:42–32:08 | | Cast Dynamics | Lifelong bonds with co-stars | 33:02–36:44 | | Twilight Experience | Marginal role in a phenomenon | 36:44–40:33 | | Emotional Abuse & Healing | Open discussion of trauma and growth | 41:00–56:09 | | Directing Woman of the Hour | Impulse to direct, themes of gendered danger | 60:25–70:04 | | Dating after Trauma | Rebuilding boundaries, new standards | 72:03–78:41 | | Self-Deprecation Finale | On relationship strengths and misconceptions | 78:41–82:40 |

Final Thoughts

Anna Kendrick delivers a raw, relatable, and vividly human episode, adeptly jumping between entertainment, vulnerability, and razor-sharp humor. Her willingness to dissect not only career highlights but her darkest relationship struggles provides validation and guidance for listeners—especially women grappling with identity, shame, and survival in both love and career.

Listeners will walk away laughing, reflecting, and feeling a little bit less alone—classic Call Her Daddy energy, only with a Broadway shine.

Listen if you want: Female empowerment, unfiltered Hollywood stories, real talk on healing from emotional abuse, and sharp comedic chemistry between Alex and Anna.