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Ah!
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But you did you're doing so good. with you? it. I don't know. I DON'T KNOW. AH!
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HEY, WHAT'S GOING ON EVERYBODY?
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For First We Feast, I'm Sean Evans and you're watching Hot Ones.
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It's the show with hot questions and even hotter wings.
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And today we're joined by Anna Kendrick. Hello.
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Emmy, and Tony Award nominated actress whose resume includes everything from acclaimed Broadway performances, beloved indie films, and record-shattering movie franchises.
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Her latest project though is the psychological thriller Alice Darling, which is currently and exclusively in AMC theaters nationwide.
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Anna Kendrick, welcome to the show.
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Thank you so much for having me.
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I'm in an excellent mood right now, and things are going to go so badly for me.
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I love the positivity already.
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But you know, I remember we had like a dinner thing last year.
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You told me a normal dinner, and you told me you go, "I will never ever do your show." say that.
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But here we are just a few months later. You're in the seat.
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I'm curious what changed, and how are you with spicy food today?
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to my head just off camera.
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It's the only reason I'm here.
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I'm not sure exactly, but I mean I think the show is wonderful.
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I love watching the show, and I have often thought, "Ugh, if they didn't have to eat all those wings, I would love to go on that show."
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But um not a person who's good with spice, never have been, so um I'm happy that anybody's watching this just cuz they want to see me get tortured.
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I'm in a great mood about it.
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This seems like the darkest one, so I'm Is that like a psych out thing? Yeah, not an indication.
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that this one would be the spiciest. Not an indication. Not an indication. Nobody's safe. Yeah, right. Okay.
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Can't judge a wing by its cover as they say. Well, it's nice. See?
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Enjoy this, cuz I'm going to have such a bad attitude later on. Oh my god.
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So, your latest project, Alice, Darling, tells the story of a woman nearing her psychological breaking point in her untenable and abusive relationship bubbles to the surface during a weekend getaway with her friends.
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And I don't mean this to sound bad candid, but I'm so used to seeing you in a movie and immediately falling in love with your character.
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What did you see as the challenge or maybe even the opportunity in playing a character like Alice was a little less sort of immediately endearing. immediately endearing.
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Yeah, that's a that's a good way of putting it. I'm going to steal that. I hope you don't mind.
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Um yeah, I think um I am much more comfortable or I I guess I just usually get hired to play characters where um I'm supposed to try to be endearing, charismatic, charming, funny, you know, something.
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There's something that you like about the character.
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And the idea of playing a character who is kind of a bummer, just not that fun to be around, and see if it works as a performance and if people will stick around to end up rooting for Alice.
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Because I think it's important that the movie starts with you not really clear on who's the good guy and who's the bad guy, because uh there were times in your life where you're not sure. Like, am I the good guy? Am I the bad guy?
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And that's sort of like the it's almost like a mystery film where you're unfolding like what's actually happening to this person. Well, that's nice.
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So, not to get too meta while you eat scorching hot chicken wings on a talk show, but I really think of you as like a true patient zero in this new press era of celebrities who are asked to do a whole lot more than just answer questions.
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What is on a degree of difficulty like the most challenging hoop you've been asked to jump through? Okay, two things.
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The The time that I I think a bunch of people might have asked if I would do the cup thing like um while I was promoting the first Pitch Perfect movie and I never did it and I because I knew that I wanted to save it in case Letterman wanted it because everyone is afraid of Letterman.
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Like you have to save your best stories for him and you know cuz he's like intimidating, right?
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But the hardest thing I ever did was on a British radio show where I called I was with promoting Trolls and I was with Justin Timberlake and we had to call toy stores and every Wait, okay. See, even describing it.
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It was every sentence that I said had to start with the next letter of the alphabet cuz it's so hard but it seems so simple that you'll feel really stupid if you don't do it. Right.
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So I was really stressed out about it.
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I I think I was hoping that Justin was going to say no to it and then he did it and I was like, you son of a [ __ ] Now I've got to do it.
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So yeah, that was that like haunts my dreams that one. Okay. Here's what I will say. Mhm.
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So far, although I suspect we're going to get out of this soon.
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I can actually still appreciate some flavor. Yeah.
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Um without just being like I do not like this feeling but I think we're you know heading in the wrong direction but like it tastes really good.
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But you know you came in here kind of terrified.
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I can see you kind of like look at you going in, taking extra bites, dropping the shoulders. Mhm.
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Yeah, I'm trying to I'm trying to breathe slowly.
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What's the most memorable show you either performed in or saw in South Portland's Lyric Music Theater? Sir.
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The deep cuts are I mean, I shouldn't be surprised, but yeah, so that is a theater where I started doing community theater.
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I think the This is embarrassing because I wish it was something cooler, but the very first show I ever did, the very first like music, acting, anything I ever did, I was like six or something.
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Annie was the first thing I was ever in and I was one of the little orphans, but I had a lot of energy and I do remember um the the director telling all the girls to stop playing with the dog that played Sandy and he was like just go like play with Anna.
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She has too much energy anyway. Just like I don't know.
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Like take her for a walk for God's sakes so she'll calm down.
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How about the Victoria Mansion tour? Overrated or underrated? Oh, um This is crazy.
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The Victoria Mansion tour I think is pretty fun. I mean, I don't know.
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If you're from somewhere that has cool [ __ ] maybe you're going to be like it's just a house.
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It's just like a nice old house.
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My dad passed recently and he had a collection of Christmas ornaments that are from like a local jeweler.
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They do every year like a Portland landmark and I know that me and my brother are going to end up fighting over the Victoria Mansion one cuz that's kind of like the OG one.
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The Victoria Mansion is the thing in our city that makes us feel classy. Okay, number four. Oh god. Oh, I'm in. Oh. Woah. Did I get something bad? No.
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Is it true that you asked for an additional take, something that you rarely do on the set of Get a Job because you weren't satisfied with your bong rip? Oh, wow.
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That's really interesting.
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I never put this together.
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I did the same thing on Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates about a bong rip. Oh. Yeah. Yeah, you got to. I forgot. Yeah.
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The scene where me and Aubrey Plaza in Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates are sitting on the couch and and there was like just this joke where I'm supposed to like take a big rip off the bong and then say a line.
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And I remember the director and I just couldn't like cuz it's not real weed, it behaves weirdly and um and I couldn't get like the perfect pull and then blow and the line right?
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Like it wasn't really singing.
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And he was like, "It's okay, we've got a lot of coverage on this."
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And I was like, "I know you're going to want to use this in the two-shot. I know you are."
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And he was like, "I mean, you're right.
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I do want to use it in the two-shot."
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So, that was the other time that I was like, "Come on, coach. Give me one more. Give me one more." Okay.
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I'm doing that thing that all the guests do where they're like, "It's not that bad." Oh god. Right. Oh. But going back in. I'm trying.
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Immersing yourself in the experience. Love it. Love to see it. Oh, yep. Don't freak out. Don't freak out. Don't freak out. Yeah, Sean. Don't freak out.
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John, why are you freaking out? You're doing great. You're doing great. Mhm.
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Fact or fiction, many of the actors who were fired on Up in the Air weren't actually actors, but real-life people who were recently laid off and then instructed to react as if they wish they would have.
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Yeah, um that's exactly right.
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There were a bunch of people and at first I remember that idea sounding like a little wonky and it turned out so well.
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Um although I did actually feel bad for Zach Galifianakis because it's like when people start singing in a musical the first time you're even if you like musicals it's like oh right now this is happening. Yeah, yeah.
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Um and uh yeah I did like feel a slightly bad for Zach Galifianakis for having to like kind of start the acting phase of the movie after all this really raw intense emotion.
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I got to keep up with you.
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The going for the extra bite feels like now I got to do this.
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But then even just licking my thumb then I go why?
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You didn't have to do that.
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You know different types of guests come in here and react different ways.
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Like an athlete you can almost see they're like just one more rep kind of thing in them.
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But with actors sometimes like they actually eat more and I'm wonder and I think it's like to immerse themselves in like the experience more or something.
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I wonder if it's because a lot of actors genuinely have a pet peeve about like scenes where no one really eats anything. Mhm.
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I There's a scene in The Bodyguard where um Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner are having a drink at like Barney's Beanery and he is holding this beer.
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He he'll be about to take a sip of the beer and then her line comes and I'm like just drink the beer Kevin. Drink the beer Kevin.
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So uh I wonder if there's like a I have to eat it otherwise it'll come across like really corny. You're doing great.
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You're doing better than I expected you to.
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Are you doing better than you honestly?
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Are you doing better than you expected?
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I Well I I mean I guess just based on the pure numbers although um uh Justin Timberlake did warn me that um that he did the show and he was like by the end of it like you feel drunk and I'm just beginning to get a little bit of the like sort of Hey Sean. Yeah. Like on with everybody?
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sort of a weightlessness kind of vibe.
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feel it in the back of my head. neck It's nice.
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far it's really pleasant and I'm just going to enjoy that because um I think it's going to get unpleasant really soon.
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Well, we're not going to blow the high just yet, you know, not going to blow the high just yet.
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I think we'll just enhance a little bit.
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And what a sauce by the way to enhance on with this one right here, Dreams of Calypso, you know?
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That's only going to take us higher.
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If you say so, you son of a [ __ ] Okay. Okay. Ah.
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I really don't like that they taste good at first.
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Yeah, like It's almost like manipulative. Mhm. You know? Right.
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They put a little like pineapple in there, a little mango, so it's like But it's really really really nice.
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And then I can feel that it's about to start hurting me. Yeah. Yeah. bad person.
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This mermaid is a bad mermaid.
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So, I've heard you declare your love of films from the '30s and '40s, which is a time period that even the most devoted Criterion Collection fan may not know a lot about. Uh-huh.
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Off the top of your head and without thinking about it too much, can you recommend a film or two as an on-ramp to that era of Hollywood filmmaking? Sure.
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Um well, The Women is my favorite um film of all time. It's from 1939.
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Um I love Arsenic and Old Lace.
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Like there's something um there's something so charming and endearing about Cary Grant discovering that his two spinster aunts are are murdering tenants, but it's like a slapstick comedy, but then it gets really dark.
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Like Peter Lorre shows up and it gets really [ __ ] up.
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And then at one point he's like tied up and you're like, "Aw, he's so cute."
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You know, like sweet little sweet little um Cary Grant just being um Oh, okay. Anna.
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I was racing through that. Yeah, I saw that. I saw that.
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it just it just came to a screeching halt. And that's okay.
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I'm not sure if it was Peter Lorre.
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Please um uh please cut that if it if it's not Peter Lorre in the in the film. Okay.
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What are the perfect atmospheric conditions for a Lord of the Rings watch party?
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Uh the Lord of the Rings.
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I do feel kind of stoned.
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Yeah, that's what happens. That's what happens. That's what I'm chasing. Okay. I can feel it.
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I do feel kind of stoned. Okay.
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This is really interesting.
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Okay, because you can tell that I'm feeling stoned because I'm talking like in my headphones.
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Um uh um because I feel like I Okay.
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I took a break from smoking weed for like a good couple of years cuz it was starting to just make me paranoid.
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And now that it's like legal and regulated, I've been dipping my toe back in, but there's still that like kind of paranoia that it's going to tip the other direction.
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Um but obviously I did not know that this was available to me.
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I don't care for the pain. But this is fun.
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The physiological effects are resolved.
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this feels like similar to like getting high with my roommate when I was like 20 and like walking to Ralph's and having like stoner obstacles.
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Yeah, like an innocent giggly high. Uh-huh. This is great. Okay.
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It's a bomb beyond insanity. Okay. Did I get any on me? No, you look great. You're good.
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And this is like where we might kind of blow the high.
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Well, then it's pretty rude but it's not the end.
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Okay, I'm going to be really careful about touching my face.
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Oh, I don't care for this. No, not at all. Yep. Yeah. Woo. You got it. Happy place. Uh-huh. Wait, why the ears? Why the ears, Sean? Ears I don't know about.
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Like are they like pop and like an airplane kind of? Yeah. Why?
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That I don't That that's new. That's new?
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That's new No, no, no, no.
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We have a long, long history of people having their ears popped.
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And everybody comes back Everybody comes back. Everybody comes back. Uh-huh.
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Everybody comes back down to earth. Okay. We make it. We make it. How about now?
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This feels like that scene in Aladdin when he's like, "Get on the magic carpet."
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He's like, "Do you trust me?" And I'm like, "No, Sean.
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I don't [ __ ] trust you anymore." Right. No, I I get that. I get that. I get that. Okay. Okay. All right. This is so much fun. Yeah. Having a good time.
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Yeah, you remember that bad attitude I was talking about? Uh-oh, it's coming.
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I'm ready for it and I deserve it. I deserve it.
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But you do You're doing so good. What's wrong with you? I don't know. I DON'T KNOW.
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DO PEOPLE DO this without getting upset at you?
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You know, it's a it's a range.
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It's always kind of like an emotional roller coaster.
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You know, like sometimes you get like There's like a little bit of like trauma bonding that happens.
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Sometimes it goes the opposite direction.
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Sometimes I make lifelong friends doing this show. You know what I mean?
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Like it really is a range of emotions. Okay.
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But I understand totally what you're going through.
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to think of an experience in my life to compare this to.
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And one is not coming to my mind.
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I guess the kidney stones.
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Where it feels like things are kind of coming in and out of the room. Yeah.
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Like things are disappearing.
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And it's just you and me. Yeah. Yeah.
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And so far you haven't left yet. Right. I'm still here. But ho Still connected.
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Nobody else is in the room. Nobody else.
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It's just you and me and like a black abyss of pain.
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It's like the end of the woods set, you know, it's like the Truman Show.
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Who knows where it ends and does it go forever? Right. Right. Okay.
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In a 2015 interview with Stylist UK, you talked about how eating macaroni and cheese is kind of a post-award show ritual for you.
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All in, what would you say is the most extravagant or expensive ensemble that you've ever worn while just like housing easy mac?
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Oh, I mean I I think um probably the the Met Gala.
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You feel like maybe I'm actually really fancy.
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You know, I was in a museum all night.
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And then you go home and you're just eating mac and cheese.
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And yeah, to have that in the experience of the the peak of masquerading as a a kind of glossy facade of what you thought the pinnacle of Hollywood was.
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It's really beautiful and it's really eye-opening, but not eye-opening the way that this is.
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This makes me want to die.
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Sometimes when I'm shooting, I am so cold.
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And it's not cold like discomfort, it's cold like I'm suffering. Yeah.
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And then they call action and I have to just be fine, right? Okay. Mhm.
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So, give me a little countdown and call action, okay?
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But I'm really going to try to take it seriously. All right. Okay. Quiet on set. Quiet on set. Quiet on set. I HATE ALL OF YOU! AND ACTION. OKAY. INCREDIBLE. It's pretty good. Incredible.
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What role did the store yellow rat bastard play in shaping your personal style as a young actor?
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Oh Jesus, it was a product of its time.
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And oh for [ __ ] sake, okay.
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It was a product of its time and um so you know, style changes, taste changes and you know, so you can't just know like oh how would I feel about that as an adult, but I can say that you know, when I was like 12 in the late '90s, I just thought it was the coolest store in history.
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Um but I remember like wearing them as a freshman in high school and just thinking I was thinking I was so cool, such a badass that I had like a t-shirt that said Orgy on it or something. I don't know. The Baywatch tee. The Baywatch tee. Yeah.
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And the fact that like it would be like I got it in New York, you know, I really felt some type of way about that.
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All right, Anna Kendrick. What's happening? What's happening? Sean. You don't have to. Yes, I do. Okay. Then I won't stop you. Oh, okay.
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Does that look That looks great, textbook. Okay. All right. Cheers, Anna Kendrick. See you in hell. Oh god. All right, then. Mhm.
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Oh god, I bit it too fast and I think some of it went in my face. Hold on.
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We'll find it out in a second.
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But you know, the good news is, Anna Kendrick, we have slayed the hot sauce dragon as Viola Davis would say and just one more hoop before we get you out of here.
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Don't worry, not going to bust out the cops or play the Annie Up instrumental, but what I want to do is take you back through this journey, you know, your love of cinema starts with this this passion for movies from the '30s and 40s, nominated for a Tony Award when you're 12 years old, and then becoming one of the most prolific actors over the last two decades.
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But to close it out, my question is, how has working in the business of Hollywood for so long, how is it enhanced or detracted from the enjoyment that you get out of movies? Oh god.
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I feel like first of all, I don't know how you talk coherently during this, so my hat's off. Um Thank you.
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But I think wait, one more lady like Yep. Okay. Okay.
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I think that when you start making movies there's a there's a period where they're kind of ruined for you cuz you're just thinking about like all the behind the the scenes and the how the sausage gets made of it all.
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And now I feel like it's a it's just sort of second nature that's like a running script in the back of my head.
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And so when a movie is really bad, it's so much worse because it's like I can see like why that choice and it would have been so easy to just do this or whatever.
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And when it's good the running script is not just like I'm immersed in the movie and it's great.
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There's a thing in the background of like, oh my god, like every department just nailed it.
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And I kind of get this like bonus appreciation for all these people that came together and made this thing.
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And I'm going to pretend that I'm just really emotional about it.
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And that's why I'm breathing really heavy and I'm sweating and maybe going to pass out.
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I just love movies so much.
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It's all a character choice and look at you, Anna Kendrick, taking on the wings of death, living to tell the tale, and now there's nothing left to do but roll out the red carpet for you.
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This camera, this camera, this camera, let the people know what you have going on in your life. I don't know. I'm falling apart. I'm finding myself.
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I'm becoming a new woman.
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You know, God's working on all of us.
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Every day is a new journey. It's one step at a time.
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I have a movie out, but whatever, man. See it, don't see it. Do what makes you happy. Don't do this.
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If you do this on the regular, I don't know. Um my hat's off. I LOVE YOU ALL.
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I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW. OKAY. OKAY. I DON'T KNOW.
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I think it might have been I think I might have been around as bad as I thought I was going to be. Okay. Be honest. Yeah.
23:44
Did I have like Blair Witch snot bubbles throughout?
23:54
Hot Ones fans, breaking news, the three-in-one boneless bites challenge is back.
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For a limited time, you can put your taste buds to the test against some of our most iconic flavors.
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The classic, Los Calientes, and the peak of heat, Apollo.
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But don't fret, Hot Ones fans, even when the three-in-one challenge leaves the freezer aisle, you can still pick up your favorite flavor of Hot Ones boneless bites. Visit hotoneschallenge.
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com for more information on products and to find a store near you because it's time to bring the heat home.