Before the Premiere of Emotional Drama Alice dear at the Toronto International Film Festival, star Anna Kendrick candid about her personal experiences with abuse.
Kendrick told People that a former romantic partner, whom she declined to name, abused her emotionally and psychologically over the course of their relationship.
“I was in a situation where I loved and trusted this person more than I trusted myself,” said the 37-year-old actress. “So if that person tells you that you have a distorted view of reality and that you are impossible and that all the things that you think are going on not going on, your life gets confusing very quickly.”
When the relationship ended and she discovered her suspicions were correct, Kendrick had to figure out what had really happened in the relationship amid her partner’s gaslighting, something the Oscar nominee described as “the most difficult task of my adult life. “
“My body still believes it was my fault,” she added. “So even with this concrete starting point for me, to step out of that relationship knowing I wasn’t crazy, it’s unbelievable how recovery has been so challenging.”
Kendrick Says Alice dear Role was “Incredibly Cathartic” It was this difficult road to recovery, says Kendrick, that made her hesitant to take the titular role in Alice, honey.
The film follows Alice, a woman trapped in an emotionally abusive relationship with her successful boyfriend, Simon (Charlie Carrick), as she begins to unravel as a result of his brain games.
While she was initially tired of re-traumatizing herself by taking on the role, Kendrick said she “resonated” with the character when her rep sent her the script.
“I came from a personal experience of emotional abuse and psychological abuse,” she said. “[My rep] knew what I was dealing with and sent it along. Because he said, ‘This says something about everything you’ve talked to me about.'”
And in the end, the actress said, the role reaffirmed her experiences and felt “incredibly cathartic.”
“It felt very different because I had honestly seen a lot of movies about abusive or toxic relationships, and it didn’t really look like what was happening to me. It helped me normalize and minimize what was happening to me, because I thought: “Well, if I was in an abusive relationship, it would look like this.”
“But like so many things in life,” she continued, “I think the most therapeutic thing was to build relationships with these collaborators and share our personal histories with each other, and then create this thing together.”
Also featuring Kaniehtiio Horn and Wunmi Mosaku, Alice dear premieres on TIFF on Sunday.