Following the very recent announcement that Academy Award-nominee Anna Kendrick will be starring in and producing her directorial debut The Dating Game, Collider's Perri Nemiroff was able to catch up with the actress at 2022's Toronto International Film Festival. After discussing Kendrick's upcoming role in Mary Nighy's Alice, Darling, Nemiroff asked the star about her shift to the opposite side of the lens. The actress-turned-triple-threat shared how close the project is to her and said that taking the reins was written into the stars.
The Dating Game is based on the horrifyingly true story of dating game contestant, and serial killer, Rodney Alcala. Alcala was eventually sentenced to prison. Prior to his conviction, Alcala earned himself a spot on a matchmaking game show, The Dating Game, in the late '70s, despite his bizarre and erratic behavior. A bachelorette by the name of Cheryl Bradshaw, who Kendrick portrays in the film, wound up choosing the apparently-handsome and witty Alcala, but, by some divine intervention, was turned off by his unusual conduct. Bradshaw ended up not going through with their date, possibly evading an untimely end.
When Nemiroff brought up Kendrick's decision to take over the director's chair, she asked the actress to elaborate on something she'd mentioned in a previous interview. According to Deadline, Kendrick said, "I felt so connected to the story, the tone, and the themes around gender and intimacy, that when the opportunity came up to direct the film, I jumped at it. It feels meant to be."
At Collider's Studio at TIFF, she further explained the serendipitous opportunity:
"I was saying to Mary last night, I really am not into things about like "Oh the universe put it in my [path] at the right time and it's meant to be." But this is one of those things that feels unbelievably meant to be. Because the project looked like it was going to fall apart and then suddenly [we] were looking for another director and I just felt this upwelling of like, "Oh, no, I would be horrified if anybody did it but me." I wouldn't let anybody do it but me. I felt so certain that it was mine. I'd never heard that thing about, you should feel you have a secret about it and I absolutely feel like I have a secret about this script.
Then there's like weird connections where I had been like, sort of corresponding with the screenwriter for awhile, [when] I was attached as an actress and a producer. But then once I came up [as] the director, we actually met in person [and] he was like, "I should probably tell you we're from the same hometown." I think my dad was like a substitute teacher at his boys' high school at one point. It just weird meant to be stuff, even though I don't believe in that as a principal."
Kendrick got her breakout role in Catherine Hardwicke's Twilight saga before earning an Oscar nomination for her role opposite George Clooney in 2009's Up in the Air. The actress took on a number of comedic roles with credits like Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and Jonathan Levine's buddy dramedy 50/50, before taking off as the starring role in Pitch Perfect. In 2018, Kendrick veered from her typical comedies to the crime thriller A Simple Favor with Blake Lively, showing she could tackle a more serious tone. Her most recent feature, Alice, Darling, which featured at TIFF, is a sharp turn-away from Kendrick's previous works, dealing with themes of anxiety and abuse.
The Dating Game is adapted to screenplay by Ian MacAllister McDonald, and is produced by Stuart Ford, J.D. Lifshitz, Raphael Margules, Roy Lee and Miri Yoon. The film is currently in pre-production and set to begin filming in October.