Anna Kendrick

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She's played a human in a vampire world and now Anna Kendrick is moving into animation. The starlet spills the secrets about co-stars George Clooney and Robert Pattinson.

What was it like working with George Clooney? Were you nervous?
Of course!

How did you react when you found out you got the role?
I was pretty excited. I was already trying to act really cool, like I was a total pro and that I belonged in a movie with George Clooney [laughs] which is difficult as it is. So, when I found out the role was written for me, I think I just sort of nodded, like, ‘Oh right, of course. That’s really normal for me. I get parts written for me in George Clooney movies all the time!’

There's a scene where your character, Natalie, dismisses George's character and says “He’s old” – is that how you feel about him in real life? Do you think George is an old guy?
It depends on who’s asking. If he’s asking, then yes. [Laughs.] If he asks me if he’s too old for me I’d say yes but that’s because I like to give him a hard time.

Do you understand the fuss that surrounds him? The sexiest man alive thing?
There’s part of me that totally gets it and then there’s part of me that does not see what the big deal is. But even the part that doesn’t get what the big deal is, adores George. So certainly I look at him and I can see he is a very handsome man but it’s not as if I swoon every time I see him.

He seems like such a goofball – does that make it hard to take him seriously?
[Laughs.] Yeah, it is hard to take him seriously as a sex symbol when he’s playing fake football behind your head and you’re like, “George, I’m trying to focus! I’ve got a scene coming up!”

Natalie says that deep down, she feels like all her career success means nothing if she never finds a husband. What do you think about that?
I certainly don’t subscribe to that idea. I think, Natalie has this vision of a cookie-cutter life and she thinks that everything that she’s ever wanted is going to fall into place if she continues to work hard. But she also thinks that that will mean she’s happy and that’s the biggest mistake there.

What about working with George vs Robert Pattinson – how did it compare?
Well, I’ve only done one scene with Rob.

But off-screen? Who’s more fun?
They’re both really good guys. I mean, listen, I worked with George for two and a half months and I’ve only had one scene with Rob. Rob is a really good guy and I consider him to be a friend but as far as working goes, literally, one scene ever.

So what did you learn about Clooney after two and a half months?
I was really surprised to find out that he has never worn makeup in a movie! That made me so angry. I was like, “You’re that handsome and you don’t wear makeup!” That’s annoying. He could get away with a lot of diva antics but he doesn’t do that.

So right now you’re the envy of every female from 14–40 – your friends and their mums?
Yeah, oddly, even my mom’s friends asked me more about Rob from Twilight which I found really, really shocking. [Laughs.] My friends were pretty excited about George Clooney and most of them asked if I got to kiss George. It sort of bummed me out that I had to tell them, “No, he has an age appropriate girlfriend.”

 You’re in the Twilight movies, too. How is it to be part of that whole phenomenon?
It’s a little weird. It’s one of those moments when you realise the people you look up to or admire are probably just as human as you are, that you are in the same universe. You know what your life is and what a mess you are on the inside, so it almost makes me feel a little less intimidated by my idols. Because I think, well, maybe their lives are falling apart at the seams too.

Up In The Air is in cinemas from Jan 7.