Anna Kendrick's modesty has been one of the keys to her success.
The 41-year-old actress has enjoyed a hugely successful career in Hollywood, starring in The Twilight Saga and the Pitch Perfect film franchise - but Anna claims that a lot of her big successes have arrived when she's least expected it.
Speaking at the Zurich Film Festival, Anna shared: "Any time in my career where I just thought, ‘Well there’s not a shot in hell that I’m gonna get this job,’ I do absolutely my best work — because you’re relieved of the stress of it."
Anna recalled her unconventional approach to auditioning for Up in the Air, the 2009 comedy-drama film that also starred George Clooney.
She explained: "If I’d known there was a real interest in me, I would have absolutely bungled the read. Because I just thought, ‘Obviously, they’re gonna hire someone incredibly classy.’ I went in and did an awkward, goofy read, and that’s what got me the job because nobody else did the audition that way."
Anna revealed that her role in Twilight came about in similar circumstances.
She said: "I play one of the friends at school, but I think in the book and in the script [the character, Jessica] was described as this tall, blonde, athletic, kind of popular girl. So again, I was like, why the f*** am I here?
"I remember I ran into Mae Whitman in the waiting room before the audition, and we were both like, ‘What are we doing here?’ So again, you go in and you’re like, ‘What if I just did it really weird and funny?'"
At one stage in her career, Anna was offered a lot of very similar roles. But the actress took heart from the fact that the same thing would happen to some of the biggest names in Hollywood.
She reflected: "I remember someone who had worked with Meryl Streep was like, ‘Even now, in Meryl’s career, she will just get a deluge of offers for the exact character that she just played.'"
Meanwhile, Anna previously admitted that she's never really had a career strategy.
The movie star told the New York Times newspaper: "In case you can’t tell, I don’t really have a career strategy. My decisions are entirely based on, ‘Well, I’m around, and this is something that the 15-year-old me would be excited to do.'"
Anna explained that her working-class upbringing has influenced her thinking.
She said: "When you grow up middle class, you just always feel like you’ve got to be working or you won’t be able to pay the bills. I never let myself forget that I can’t just put this down and expect it to be waiting for me when I feel like coming back to it."
