Anna Kendrick, 'What To Expect When You're Expecting' Star, Relieved To No Longer Be In 'Twilight'

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Normally, after I interview a celebrity, I somehow settle on the deluded notion that we could, one day, become best friends. This was not the case with Anna Kendrick.

Not to say that the star wasn't friendly, we just didn't "get" each other. Nevertheless, that didn't stop us from discussing her role in the upcoming big-screen adaptation of the consummate baby guide, "What To Expect When You're Expecting." Here, she plays Rosie, a colloquialism-spewing, food truck proprietor who ends up getting knocked up by her hunky pork-hawking competitor, played by "Gossip Girl's" Chase Crawford. (Swoon!)

Moviefone (awkwardly) chatted with Kendrick about phone grettings, baby bumps, and being relieved to no longer be a part of "Twilight."

Hi! How are you?
[Monotone voice] So good.

Good? Sorry?
Oh, yeah. So good.

“So good”... is that sarcasm? Are you doing tons of interviews?
[Laughs] No, I just say that. I guess I realized that’s my standard greeting when I actually do junkets and I say it to everyone. I go, ‘Oh, I say that a lot.’

Well, let's talk "What to Expect." How was it to shoot?
It was really fun, actually. We just got to shoot, mostly nights, in the warm Atlanta weather, on a food truck -- sometimes with a little baby bump, sometimes without. [It was] pretty great.

So you actually had a prosthetic baby bump?
I did. Because when I flash it and I’m not that far along yet, I kept saying, ‘Can’t I just like, have a big lunch?’ It’ll be great. It’ll be easier for everybody. And I want to have a big lunch. So everybody wins.

And I assume that didn’t happen?
Yeah, they still made me get the prosthetic, which took like three hours to put on and was incredibly uncomfortable. You know, it’s just like it’s hot and sticky and everybody wants to poke you -- all the time.

So you had a little taste of pregnancy, then. Do you have any baby aspirations of your own?
No, no. And everybody keeps asking me like, ‘Oh, did making the movie make you want to have babies?’ No, not at all. Like, wearing that prosthetic did not make me want to bring a life into this world.

Well, I imagine you read the book...
I haven’t read the book. That book scares me. It’s going to tell me all the crazy things that are going to happen to me when I have a kid and I don’t even want to know. I like being able to sleep at night.

Is there any book that you’d like to see be made into a movie?
Well, when I was a little bit younger, I read this book called “The Rapture of Canaan” and I thought that would make a cool movie, especially because there’s like a teenage girl lead part...if they made it now Hailee Steinfeld would be a great choice. But now I don’t even remember if the book was good. I was just like, ‘Aw, they should make this a movie so I can be in it.”

Your particular role was a more serious story than the others, was that by choice?
Well, I was going to play Jennifer [Lopez]’s part but I guess she wanted to do that... No, I was just f-cking with you.

Well, in “50/50” you played a serious part, too.
The script as a whole is kind of light and funny so I wasn’t really thinking about how serious my particular storyline was until we were filming and I was like, ‘Ugh, this is another bummer of a scene.’

Yeah. It was super sad. I kept thinking it was like being in a Ben Folds Five video or something.
[Laughs] Oh, my god. Yeah!

Is it weird for you to field all these pregnancy questions?
A little bit, yeah. I kind of knew that it would be coming but I feel like pregnancy and kids, it’s one of those things that once you talk about it, people always [recall that] like, ‘Oh, you said in 2012 that you are open to having kids’ and that like follows you around or something. And it’s one of those weird things where I’m trying to avoid sort of saying anything about it because for me, honestly, I haven’t really thought about it that much.

So you spent a lot of time on the food truck, were you actually working with food?
Yeah, they gave us cooking lessons, I chopped my fingernail off, which was maybe the single most painful experience of my life.

So, this isn’t sarcasm, then? That was real?
No. I chopped my fingernail off, like, half-way up my fingernail. Gone. Like, awful. And you don’t even end up seeing my slicing skills in the movie.

Oh, so there was a sequence where you were like, julienning something?
Yeah. And then they were like, well, actually, if we just shoot it this way, we won’t even see your hand... Yeah, lost a fingernail to the cause but, OK.

That’s awful. Have you ever been hurt on-set before?
Not really, no. I mean, I should have sued them or something, right?

You and Chace Crawford really seemed to get along.
Yeah. Everybody keeps asking us if we knew each other before but, yeah, we just met on set. He’s...obviously an incredibly handsome dude and I just kind of had to get past that little speed bump cause it’s hard for me to look somebody in the face when they’re that attractive.

How does it feel not to be involved in the final ‘Twilight’ movie?
It’s a relief, you know? Because it’s kind of off my shoulders [in terms of] talking about it. Because talking about it I always feel like I say something that gets misconstrued or I offend someone because people are so deeply passionate about that series. So, I’m actually sort of happy to be not talking about it.

"What To Expect When You're Expecting" hits theaters May 18.

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Best in Blogs: Are the Dodgers Worth More than The Scream? Plus How Halo 4 Could Sway the Presidential Election

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At GamePolitics.com, "Where Politics and Video Games Collide," they must be popping the champagne bottles after a blockbuster story landed in their narrow wheelhouse this week. "How Halo 4 Could Impact the Presidential Election," shouted a midweek headline: "When Microsoft decided to pick November 6, 2012 as the release date for Halo 4, did they take into account that the date is actually pretty damned important to the future direction of the country for the next four years? By choosing that date have they given gamers in the 18 - 34 age group an excuse to be more apathetic about voting than usual?" Wait, so Halo 4 is being released on election day to drive down the youth vote and hurt Obama's re-election bid? MovieBob at The Escapist has assembled a video exploring the origin of the theory and how much there is to it. "Since this is the Internet, the second biggest breeding ground for conspiracy theories outside of isolated well-armed cabins in the Montana wilderness, imaginings of a nefarious conspiracy being at work quickly took shape," the video says. Microsoft already dismissed the conflict as "purely coincidental." It's really possible to buy Halo 4 and vote on the same day. Though as David Their at Forbes blogged: "it doesn't do much to dispel the myth of gamers as clueless and detached when it comes to the real world."

The Blackberry 10 may not sway a national election, but the soon-to-be-released smartphone "comes during really interesting times," says Beta News. Its maker, Research in Motion, "gets one more shot, one last call to battle. It's do or die." The early verdict? "Overall, I am not seeing anything that will save this company, but there are a few nice features in the new OS," says 9 to 5 Mac. With a virtual keyboard, "RIM is putting the last nail in the physical keyboard coffin." There's also a kooky camera feature (video here) that allows you to step back in time when you miss a shot." Huh? "The camera is just taking shots from the time the camera app is open and caching them for later browsing." Mashable explains how that feature could be useful: "The hypothetical situation was when someone...closes their eyes during a shot." That could come I nhandy but also illustrates RIM's ongoing effort to woo consumers when it really should be focusing on corporate users. Mashable says "RIM is fighting the wrong war," by which it does not mean Halo 4. Early feedback from popular app makers is mixed. "Some were completely opposed to making apps for the BlackBerry because of RIM's uncertain future, while others kept an open mind," says Bits.

Two items sold this week at record-smashing prices, the Los Angeles Dodgers ($2.15 billion) and a version of Edvard Munch's painting "The Scream" ($119.9 million). "The Scream is officially the world's most absurdly overpriced painting," says Gizmodo. "This version of The Scream is unique in a few ways," notes Geekosystem. "This one is said to be the most colorful and vibrant of the four versions of the painting, and is the only version where one of the two people in the background look out toward the cityscape." Baseball teams still cost more. By way of comparison, MTR Media notes that The Scream now "costs about the same as the remainder of Carl Crawford's Red Sox contract."

It's been said that there are two kinds of people: those who think that the different ways in which Rihanna and Beyonce use social media can tell us all about our future, and those who don't. At the Bits blog, Jenna Wortham appears to fall into the first category. Apparently the two divas "sit on opposite sides of the spectrum... I've noticted something intriguing about the way they each use the social Web and what it means about a future where everyone has some sort of presence online," she blogs. So "will you be a Beyonce, and present a carefully groomed version of yourself to the Web? Or will you take Rihanna's road and throw caution to the wind, baring your life, your friends and occasionally, your unmentionables?" Gosh, umm, is there another option? "Of course, there's also a third possibility," The Verge suggests, "that both methods are just as carefully or unconsciously deployed, the one no more "real" than the other."

Or you could have the social media style of "Sarah Phillips," who was hired as a columnist for ESPN.com based on some message board posts, tweets, and fake profile photos that look pretty but aren't really her. A new Deadspin investigation asks: "Is Sarah Phillips for real? Thirteen months ago, she was an unknown message-board participant at Covers.com, a gambling website. Then Covers plucked her from the boards and gave her a weekly column, sight unseen. Five months after that, she was tapped by Lynn Hoppes, an editor for ESPN.com, to write a weekly column for ESPN's Page 2--once the home of writers like David Halberstam, Ralph Wiley, and Hunter S. Thompson...The swiftness of her ascent gave her that weird sort of internet half-celebrity whereby she became moderately famous before anyone really knew who she was." It turns out that Phillips may be behind several Internet scams. Awful Announcing does its own lengthy investigation and determines that "the Sarah Phillips mystery goes way beyond ESPN and into the farthest reaches of the Twitterverse." It also reaches into the lunacy of what qualifies soemoen to become a columnist these days. Asks Buzzfeed: "Will there be legal fallout from all of this, and if so to what extent? Will Aaron Nilsen get his money or his Twitter account back? Was this all secretly a sequel to Catfish?"

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Best in Blogs: Jeremy Lin Mania - and Do Nude Scenes Win Best Actress Awards?

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AppId is over the quota

The New York Knicks basketball phenom Jeremy Lin continues to stir debate, light up the mediasphere, and inspire awful puns. Best Week Ever has made a collage of every Lin headline from the New York tabloids, and they're Linsanely bad. David Letterman did a made-up Top 10 Worst Jeremy Lin Puns (like "Law and Order: Criminal Lin-tent"). "You have officially arrived when you are the subject of a Late Show Top Ten List," says All Ball. Lin also "can add 'subject of an SNL cold-open sketch' to his growing list of notable accomplishments," says Atlantic Wire, after Saturday Night Live did an over-the-top sports talk show mocking the use of Asian stereotypes that have appeared in some media.

After Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg watched Lin play at Madison Square Garden, the geniuses up in Cambridge began to debate which of the two Harvard grads is a better role model for students. "This titanic contrast is important because it's evident that undergraduates are confused as to whether the Jeremy or Mark model best fits the Harvard student," notes campus publication Harvard Political Review. "They are both precocious twenty-something year olds who are finding incredible success early in life, underdogs with unconventional playing styles, and people who stuck out in a crowd of wunderkinds during their undergraduate years. However, this is where the similarities end." Adds Bostinno: "Lin's the lovable one; the team player. He spent how long sleeping on his brother's couch? He's humble.. He'll give you the clothes off his back. And that's what makes him a rock star. Zuckerberg, on the other hand, well...we've all seen The Social Network. He's known for walking all over people." Maybe by coincidence, an online "meme" has recently emerged contrasting the Harvard Douchebag and the Harvard Good Guy. Who's the role model? How about neither? "Leave it to Harvard students to wring their hands over who is a better role model," gripes Boston Daily. "Surely Harvard students, who have excelled at so much in their lives, should be comfortable enough with the concept of defining their own success."

Fast Company reports that, "while big publishers court the New York Knicks' 23-year-old point guard to write his memoir, at least seven Lin Kindle books (Lindles?) have already been released." What? It says here that -- Alan Goldsher, author of "Linsanity: The Improbable Rise of Jeremy Lin," is one of the fastest (and slickest) Kindle authors, and FC interviews him here." GalleyCat has a list of all the Lin ebooks. Meanwhile, as the Observer points out, Lin is "officially hot enough" to qualify for a different moronic online meme. If you loved the Tumblr blog featuring photos of actor Ryan Gosling with "Hey Girl" messages superimposed on them, you might also like the new series of Jeremy Lin Hey Girl images at a different Tumblr blog. We truly live in an enlightened age.

Finally, in advance of the Oscars this weekend, the pop-culture chatterboxes are running at full speed. With The Artist nominated for best pic, the silent film theme is going to be big. There was a Charlie Chaplin tribute in West Hollywood, where designer dresses were on display but no one really dressing like the great silent mnovei actor. "The trouble with Charlie Chaplin fancy dress is that you end up looking like Hitler," says Holy Moly. Troublemaker Sacha Baron Cohen may actually want to look like The Dictator, the character he plays in his forthcoming movie, at the Oscars ceremony, and the Academy may or may not have banned him from attending, says The Marquee Blog. "Some [were] reporting that the actor's tickets had been rescinded, that doesn't appear to be the case." Awards Daily offers praise for this year's host, Billy Crystal: "I have always believed no one did it better than Billy in my lifetime anyway. Although Steve Martin, David Letterman and Jon Stewart were all great, only Billy Crystal has the ability to be funny, to keep the whole thing moving, and to make the medicine go down a lot more easily. " And Popwatch examines the myth that actresses who have nude scenes are the ones who win awards. They first debunk it ("From our sample, only 20 ceremonies had nude nominees - and of those, an unclothed actress only won 9 times. That's less than 50 percent.") But then the report notes that "if Viola David takes home the trophy on Sunday, she'll be the first Best Actress winner in 25 years to have won without baring any skin on screen [at any point in her career]." The last was Cher.

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Best in Blogs: Hologram Tupac, The $5 Million Wristwatch, and TIME's Most Influential

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AppId is over the quota

If you told a music fan 50 years ago that Tupac Shakur would be performing by hologram at Coachella, he would have said: "I don't know what any of those words mean." But it happened, sort of. The rapper, who was murdered in 1996, "rose from the dead and stole the show at Coachella, performing alongside Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre. 'What the f- is up, Coachella?' a hologram of the rapper asked the audience," The Daily Beast reports. The virtual Tupac "interacted with Snoop Dogg and the audience before performing two songs and disappearing in an explosion of light. Coachella marked the first time a hologram has given a performance that was not delivered during the singer's lifetime." Video of the performance is around the Web but being taken down faster that warring gangstas -- it seems to be still standing here at Break.com. What made the performance unbelievable was how believable it looked. "The life-size Tupac was amazingly realistic, down to the late rapper's signature tattoos, Timberland boots, jewelry and movements," said MTV News. Sadly, the scientists were unable to resurrect a holographic shirt for Tupac.

One guy who worked on the project said comparable projects "could cost anywhere from $100,000 to more than $400,000 to pull off." But, once built, the technology is easy to reuse, so there have been rumblings about full-blown holographic tours. Says Kimbee Jabber: "Blogs have been aflutter since Sunday with predictions of a Tupac hologram tour--and a BIG tour, and a Nate Dogg tour, and an MJ tour, and even an Elvis tour." Popdust cracks that it's irrelevant because "in 2013, the audience will all be holograms too." Tupac 2.0 looked realistic because it wasn't actually a hologram. It was prerecorded 2D video, projected and reflected onto a transparent screen on the stage. "It's called Pepper's Ghost and it works by partially reflecting light off a piece of glass from a hidden room," says TechLand. "You might have recognized it from the Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland; at Coachella, they achieved the effect by rigging up a custom, 30-foot by 13-foot screen that could be lowered in seconds."

Despite it not being a legit holo, hologram gags are funny, so a Star Wars fan remade that famous scene where R2-D2 projects a holographic e-mail message from Princess Leia, subbing in a profane Tupac clip instead. "Combining the holographic return of Tupac with the classic atmosphere of this galaxy far, far away is like a delicious slice of chocolate cake at the end of long day of Portal," says Slashgear. (Even that seems like a hidden message -- wasn't the cake a lie?) College Humor pulls together bogus appearances of the ghostly Tupac in scenes from Harry Potter, the Power Rangers, and CNN. Best Roof Talk Ever contemplates the recent 3D re-release of Titanic and says: "let 2012 be remembered as the year we brought the mid-nineties back to life with overpriced tickets to 3D renderings of things I thought I forgot about. "

New technology is keeping other seemingly deceased things alive, like the wristwatch. At crowdfunding site Kickstarter, the latest project to break the all-time fundraising record is Pebble, a stylish smart-watch that talks via Bluetooth with a smart phone. It hit $5 million in money raised this week, with plenty time left on the clock to solicit more pre-orders. The Kickstarter blog notes that "12 projects have held the title of Kickstarter's all-time most-funded project" and two of them have been wristwatches. "It begs the question: Why?," says Treehugger. "Why do we want a watch that basically puts the same functions as our phones on our wrists? Weren't we working to move toward dematerialization and ending redundancy of electronics?" Yeah, right! This watch looks cool and runs apps! GigaOM says never mind the money, it's a viable new hardware platform that could create a software market. "While the artists and creators are usually the only direct beneficiaries of a successful Kickstarter campaign, the Pebble project has the potential to be a money maker for many other developers." But, wait, you said never mind the money...? Razorianfly wonders if Pebble's plans to distribute tools via a "watch app store" will conflict with iTunes's desire for total app domination.

Finally, speaking of Time pieces trying to remain relevant, Time Magazine has published its non-awaited "100 Most Influential People in the World" list, which "is kind of ridiculous. Or perhaps it's quaint and recalls a time when the publication was at the center of the culture," says MarketingLand. "The list should probably have been called, 'The 100 most interesting people according to our editorial staff and some other folks we consulted.'" In technology, no Google execs made the cut. Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg but not founder Mark Zuckerberg made it. "And why is SNL comedienne Kristen Wiig on the list? Sure, she's funny and had a successful film (Bridesmaids) but is she truly "influential"? That goes for talk show host Chelsea Handler too." "It's unclear why Time chose Rihanna , whose occupation the magazine gives as 'superstar,'" says Gawker. "Is it because she challenges us to give second chances to those who don't deserve them? Because she entertains us by dancing topless in a field?... Last year's list of influencers included Gossip Girl actress Blake Lively. Sounds like they need a better vetting process, all-around." Who knows, maybe next year holograms will be eligible.

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Month in Review: February in Design

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AppId is over the quota

Blame it on the final stretch of winter, but February had us yearning for warmer places and outdoor settings at Remodelista. Some stories took us around the world: we obsessed over an eco-friendly retreat in the high desert of California and longed to visit the summer in a quiet fishing village in Brazil. With the new season approaching, we also had our eye on clean spaces and spring colors. We found inspiration from a minimal and open box house featured on Design Boom, as well as from a light-filled New York loft documented on An Afternoon With by Michael Mundy. In terms of what's new and next, Yatzer took us to the world of color, giving readers a look inside the studio of designer Phil Cuttance and his FACETURE project, while Gwyneth Paltrow blogged about her day at the biannual home décor and furniture trade show Maison & Objet in Paris.

Like it or not, February marks the celebration of romance, and we enjoyed Valentine's Day stories across the blogging world; from the SF Girl By Bay's post on bold uses of the color pink to Design Sponge's tips on creating a romantic tablescape using vintage glass. Remodelista visited a retro workshop in Los Angeles that brought us back to our school days of creating our own handmade valentines.

Lastly, February brought the kickoff to the world calendar of fall fashion shows with New York Fashion Week. Designers, models, bloggers, editors, and the rest of the sartorially inspired gathered to show and take in all the new innovations in style. The week delivered a range of stories; from the "thrill ride" of Proenza Schouler as described by the LA Times blog, to the bronzed cheeks of the Rodarte models. And with the launch of Remodelista's Style Counsel earlier this year, our editors are also engaging in the dialogue of fashion, and will be divulging the "sartorial secrets of our friends in the design world" all throughout the year.

Guest post from the editors at Remodelista, the sourcebook for the considered home.

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Best in Blogs: Hunger Games Feeding Frenzy and Mad Men Mania

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AppId is over the quota

Let the games begin! "The Hunger Games" movie opens this week on the heels of its novelization in a bestselling Young Adult book trilogy. "March felt SO far away," says fan site The Hunger Games Blog. "But guess what?! It's here! The Hunger Games will premiere on silver screens nearly everywhere this weekend!!" THR reported that by this Wednesday the movie "already had whipped up north of $15 million in ticket sales and cracked Fandango's all-time top five presellers, overtaking The Twilight Saga: Eclipseand Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1." Says fansite Mockingjay.net: "I can't wait to see the numbers next week! I've done my part for sure, since I'm going to the midnight premiere with my brother tonight and to an IMAX showing on Saturday!" (Gee, hope you like it!). But will The Hunger Games be even better than Twilight? "Given that The Hunger Games does not feature a spineless doormat in love with a controlling, condescending stalker, yes, I can almost guarantee that," says E! Live from the Red Carpet.

Ok, now breathe. Gawker asks a key question: "Seriously, What Are The Hunger Games and Why Should I Care if I'm Not 14?" They proceed to explain what it's all about in a detailed summary of the book, plus a glossary. Business Insider (which is always our go-to source for insight into 14-year-old girls) spills "10 things you need to know" about The Hunger Games story.

Apparently the whole thing involves much killing of kids, and making them fight each other and grovel for food. Penn Badgley, a celebrity of some kind who attended the L.A. premiere this week, likened The Hunger Games to Occupy Wall Street: "It's the one percent [killing the kids]," he told Vulture at the premiere after-party. "I think you'd have to be blind to not see that. I was shocked to see all that in there." (Can't we just leave anti-Wall Street sentiments to The Muppets and The Lorax?). There also have been comparisons to that Kony 2012 video about abuses of children in Udanga that recently went viral. Says NPR's Monkey See blog: "It's a coincidence that highlights the single truth at the heart of both nightmares: Children who live in poverty are easy prey." A campaign called "Hunger is Not a Game" is piggybacking on the popularity of the book and movie to spread the world about global hunger. Says the Imagine Better site: "In the world of the Hunger Games series, everything is controlled by the Capitol, which uses power and money to punish the districts...Katniss, Gale and the citizens of District 12 are forced to break the law to keep from starving, to maintain an informal and illegal market so that they can eat. Sound familiar?"

In what is probably a bad juxtaposition here, the fitness website Daily Burn came up with a Hunger Games diet, "so you can simultaneously slim down and gain the strength to 'be an archer like Katniss or a powerhouse like Cato.'," explains The Hollywood Blog.  And just in time for Spring there is this too: "Whether you're a bride-to-be, a maid of honor, or just a party planner, we've come up with some creative and fun ways to incorporate The Hunger Games in your wedding celebrations," says Tres Sugar. "The book series may be dark, but it is filled with romance."

Meanwhile, in the real world, Mad Men is coming back to TV for its fifth season, and if you haven't been inoculated against the nostalgia virus, get ready to become infected. Banana Republic introduced a Mad Men-inspired clothing line -- in a fashion show on a jet airplane! Says PSFK: "The items included cigarette pants and floral fitted dresses for women, and colorful polos and classic navy blazers for men." Estee Lauder is offering a Mad Men cosmetics line, "inspired by the bold lips, the rouge cheeks, and the general 1950s feminine put-together-ness that the show's leading ladies pull off so swell," says Allure's Daily Beauty Reporter blog. Bourbon Blog serves up a recipe for a Mad Men inspired cocktail. Not surprisingly, it's named the Old Fashioned. Newsweek is getting in on the old-school vibe by continuing to publish itself just like in the olden days, when $1 would get you a nice sandwich, not the the entire Newsweek publishing operation. No, actually, Newsweek is getting its vintage duds on by publishing its latest issue with a retro style cover featuring the Mad Men cast and ads inside designed to look like 1960s-era classics. Says AdFreak: "Some are original from the period, while others reimagine modern-day campaigns as they might have looked in the '60s." FastCoCreate has the complete portfolio of ads here.

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