Everything to Know About Trolls Band Together Star Anna Kendrick's Career
Even before she voiced Poppy in the Trolls movie trilogy, Anna Kendrick has a long and varied resume full of critically-lauded roles in film, TV and theater.
Queen Poppy, as voiced by Anna Kendrick, returns November 17 in the third installment of DreamWorks Animation’s Trolls-verse: Trolls Band Together. In this adventure, Poppy is surprised to discover that her boyfriend, Branch (Justin Timberlake), has been keeping some family secrets...namely that he's got one! She finds out that Branch was the youngest member of the boy band, BroZone, with his four brothers: Floyd, John Dory, Spruce and Clay. Estranged for years, due to dire circumstances Poppy and Branch are compelled to reunite the family and maybe even the band.
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As she has for all three movies, Kendrick brings her incredible voice and energy to the role of Queen Poppy. Those who just know her as the Trolls character might be surprised to know her career goes back to age 12 when she was cast in the 1998 Broadway musical revival of High Society, where she was nominated for a Tony Award right out of the gate. She hasn't stopped since. Whether she's on stage, co-starring in major film franchises like the Twilight Saga, or fronting her own film blockbusters hits like Pitch Perfect, Kendrick is seemingly always working.
Here's a look at her rise to fame.
Where did Anna Kendrick start?
A native of Portland, Maine, Kendrick and her brother both got the performing bug with Anna starting in middle school. After her Broadway debut in High Society, Anna's next big year was 2003 when she was cast in the New York City Opera's revival of Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music and made her film debut in the musical comedy, Camp. Yet again, a debut brought her awards acclaim, with an Independent Spirit Award nomination for best debut performance.
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What projects put Anna Kendrick on the map?
Two films really thrust Anna Kendrick outside of musical theater circles and into mainstream awareness. First, it was her role as Bella Swan's high school buddy, Jessica Stanley, in Twilight (2008). She provided a lot of dry humor as Bella's human friend and stood out from the ensemble of sparkly vampires and territorial wolves. And then she followed that blockbuster up with the critically acclaimed Up in the Air (2009) where she more than held her own against George Clooney. In fact, it earned her an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress.
Kendrick appeared in all four films in the Twilight Saga. Then, she top-lined her own film franchise with Pitch Perfect (2012) where she starred as Beca Mitchell, the Barden Bells a cappella singer determined to shake up the musical stylings of her college vocal group. In the film, she sang the song "Cups" which went viral and has since been viewed on her VEVO channel 663 million times. The film franchise and that song brought her musical theater origins full circle and led to her taking more musical projects on the big screen.
Anna Kendrick's most popular music projects
Aside from the trilogy of Pitch Perfect films, Kendrick got to return to one of her musical heroes by playing Cinderella in the Rob Marshall adaptation of Sondheim's Into the Woods. In 2016, she first voiced Princess Poppy in DreamWorks Animation's, Trolls. The huge reception for the film meant she was back in 2020 for the sequel, Trolls World Tour. And she completes the trilogy with Trolls Band Together.
And while Lip Sync Battle isn't a movie or musical theater, her first appearance against The Office's John Krasinski earned her the championship title. Their competition performances got millions of views, and led to Krasinski directing her in his comedy-drama, The Hollars.
Trolls Band Together premieres in theaters Nov. 17.
