Anna Kendrick, an American actress and singer, began her career as a child actor in theater productions. She made a striking presence with her role in the 1998 Broadway musical High Society, which earned her a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. The popular movies which carved her way to fame are - Camp (2003), The Twilight Saga (2008-12), Up in the Air (2009), 50/50 (2011), Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (2016), Pitch Perfect and Pitch Perfect 2.

Early life
Born in Portland, Anna Kendrick is the daughter of Janice, an accountant, and William Kendrick, a history teacher. The actress is of an English, Irish, and Scottish descent. Her older brother is the 2000 film Looking for an Echo actor Michael Cooke Kendrick. Anna Kendrick attended Deering High School in Portland before stepping into the entertainment business.

Personal life
Kendrick got into a relationship with director Edgar Wright in 2009. They fell in love after they met on the set of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. After dating for four long years, the couple split in early 2013. The Pitch Perfect actress then started dating cinematographer Ben Richardson.

Movie Career
Anna Kendrick was ambitious about becoming an actress since her childhood and gave her career an early start by auditioning for theater productions in New York City when she was a child. She was just 12 when she got the opportunity to play a supporting role in the 1998 Broadway musical High Society. Even though in a supporting role, this child artist proved herself good enough with her acting skills. Her performance in this musical comedy earned her a Theater World Award, as well as nominations for Featured Actress in a Musical at the Drama Desk Awards and Tony Awards. Her next project was again a supporting role in the 2003 Stephen Sondheim`s musical A Little Night Music.

Kendrick made her film debut with the musical comedy Camp directed by Todd Graff, in 2003. She earned a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Debut Performance for her role as the nerdy Fritzi Wagner. This followed with her playing an ambitious high school debater in Rocket Science (2007), written and directed by Jeffrey Blitz.

Kendrick got her breakthrough with the 2008 fantasy romance Twilight based on Stephenie Meyer`s novel of the same name. This was a huge blockbuster at the box office. Her recurring appearance in the film series as the best friend of the protagonist Bella Swan, got her huge popularity and fondness among audiences. In the consecutive year, she first featured in the comedy The Marc Pease Experience. She was then seen in the crime thriller Elsewhere in her first lead role, in which Kendrick played a teenager in search of her missing best friend, essayed by Tania Raymonde. After this, in the same year, Kendrick reprised her role of Jessica Stanley in The Twilight Saga: New Moon. Kendrick`s performance alongside George Clooney in director Jason Reitman`s Up in the Air, was well-received by critics.

In 2010, Kendrick once again reprised her role of Jessica Stanley in The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. Later that year, she appeared in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, in which she played the sister of the titular character. The film did not fare well at the box office, but emerged as a cult classic over time. In the following year came her critically acclaimed comedy-drama 50/50, in which she played an inexperienced therapist to a cancer patient portrayed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. After this, she reprised her role in Breaking Dawn - Part 1, concluding her on-screen appearance in The Twilight Saga.

Kendrick was next seen as part of an ensemble cast opposite Chace Crawford, Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, Elizabeth Banks, Brooklyn Decker in the 2012 film What to Expect When You`re Expecting, loosely based on the pregnancy guide of the same name. She then lent her voice to the stop-motion animated film ParaNorman for the character of Courtney Babcock. In the same year, she essayed the role of Janet Taylor in the commercially successful crime drama End of Watch. In this movie, directed by David Ayer, Kendrick played the love interest of Jake Gyllenhaal`s character. Next, she featured in Robert Redford`s political thriller The Company You Keep as an FBI agent, with the movie being an average success. Among all her 2012 projects, Kendrick`s most successful film in the year was the musical comedy Pitch Perfect that is loosely based on the non-fiction book Pitch Perfect: The Quest for Collegiate Acappella Glory. This multi-starrer film alongside Skylar Astin, Rebel Wilson, Adam DeVine, Anna Camp and Brittany Snow, was important for the actress as she played the protagonist. Pitch Perfect was a huge commercial success and earned positive reviews from critics, and her performance was highly appreciated, making it her benchmark performance in her career.

Kendrick kick-started 2013 by featuring in the romantic comedy-drama Drinking Buddies, which received critical praise, followed by the fantasy comedy Rapture-Palooza which did not perform well. Kendrick featured in three films at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2014 - Happy Christmas, The Voices and Life After Beth. The actress had leading roles in the comedy-drama Happy Christmas and the horror comedy The Voices, and a supporting role in the zombie comedy Life After Beth. Happy Christmas and Life After Beth had limited releases in 2014, while The Voices had a limited release in early 2015.

At the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2014, Kendrick was featured in two films - the musical romance The Last Five Years and the comedy-drama Cake. The Last Five Years, an adaptation of the off-Broadway musical of the same name, saw Kendrick star opposite Jeremy Jordan. The movie received mixed reviews but Kendrick`s performance gained her widespread critical acclaim.

Disney`s 2014 film Into the Woods featured Kendrick as Cinderella. This movie was director Rob Marshall`s film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim`s musical of the same name and emerged as a major commercial success, receiving positive critical acclaim. Kendrick starred alongside a large ensemble cast including Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, James Corden, Chris Pine, Johnny Depp, and others. The actress` next was a supporting role in Digging for Fire, which premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and received a limited release in August of that year. She then reprised her role of Beca Mitchell in Pitch Perfect 2(2015), which was a huge box office blockbuster and surpassed the success of the first film. Following this, Kendrick starred in the action comedy Mr. Right, which premiered at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival and released in 2016. She was then seen in a comedy-drama The Hollars, directed by and starring John Krasinski. The movie was premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival and was theatrically released in August 2016. Kendrick next starred opposite Miles Teller in the coming-of-age film Get a Job, which also received a limited release in March 2016. The commercially successful comedy Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates featured Kendrick alongside Zac Efron, Adam DeVine, and Aubrey Plaza. Her other 2016 projects include a voice role as the main character to the animated film Trolls and as a female lead in the action thriller The Accountant with Ben Affleck.

Kendrick`s other releases include A Simple Favor (2018), The Day Shall Come (2019), Noelle (2019) and Trolls World Tour (2020).