[APPLAUSE]

ANNA KENDRICK: Hi.

I'll bet you guys were really surprised.

I came all the way through the audience

and then hung out over there in the dark, like you

didn't know I was coming.

[LAUGHTER]

MOLLY DECKER: Everyone was like, hi, Anna.

[INAUDIBLE] But we're here to talk about Anna's book,

"Scrappy Little Nobody."

If you haven't read it--

ANNA KENDRICK: (WHISPERS) It's Anna.

MOLLY DECKER: --it is hilariously funny.

It made my miserable New Jersey commute enjoyable.

ANNA KENDRICK: Oh.

Oh, that's great.

MOLLY DECKER: Yes, it did.

ANNA KENDRICK: Thank you.

MOLLY DECKER: Well, it took one day-- one day to read it,

so one day of commuting.

ANNA KENDRICK: Yeah, it took me a day to write it.

It's no big deal.

[LAUGHTER]

It's a year of my life.

MOLLY DECKER: But to get started, if--

ANNA KENDRICK: Sorry, I insisted that we use hand mics.

So I'm a jerk, but it's just because I need a prop.

MOLLY DECKER: But in the book, you talk about the paparazzi.

But other than that and just talking to you

backstage, you seem completely unfazed by fame.

And obviously, you're really famous.

ANNA KENDRICK: Yeah, it's just where I'm really comfortable.

[LAUGHTER]

MOLLY DECKER: So my questions are A, is that true?

And B, what's the creepiest thing a fan has ever done?

ANNA KENDRICK: I don't want to put anybody on blast.

They might be in the audience.

[LAUGHTER]

Well, I don't know.

People have shown up at my house,

and I'm always like, bro, you can't be my house.

It's like a nine-year-old girl.

And I'm like, dude, come on.

Come on.

But that's always like, I don't know

what I'm supposed to do about that, other than be like,

I'm in my bathrobe cleaning.

So I guess this picture was worth it for you.

But I did once have a-- this wasn't really even about me.

But I was shooting one of the later "Twilight" movies

in Vancouver.

And I was in an American Eagle, and I was looking at underwear,

as a lady is wont to do.

And a girl came up to me, and she was like, hi,

are you going to see Taylor Lautner soon?

And I was like, yeah, because we were filming.

And she was like, I have something for him.

And I was like, I really need to say no to this girl,

because I was really worried it was going

to be a thumb or something.

Why does she have it with her?

I was just in a store, and she ran into me.

And why did she have a thing?

She carried a thing at all moments

for Taylor Lautner in case she ran into him

or somebody that knows him.

And I thought, this can't be good.

This is going to be a lock of hair or anthrax.

I don't know.

I can't be a part of this.

MOLLY DECKER: What was it?

ANNA KENDRICK: I don't know, because I was like,

ma'am I really can't.

I called her ma'am.

She very young.

But I was trying to keep my distance.

MOLLY DECKER: That is hilarious.

ANNA KENDRICK: Because I didn't want to see a severed hand.

MOLLY DECKER: I'm sure you've seen it all.

So you're an actress.

You're a singer.

So everyone knows she sings.

And I recently saw your lip sync battle with John Krasinski.

And it's like, oh, she can dance.

I was like, great.

She can do everything.

Now she's an author.

ANNA KENDRICK: That was just me like sticking out

my butt pretending to dance.

It was supposed to be funny.

MOLLY DECKER: It was.

It was awesome.

But I was like, oh, and now she can write.

She wrote a book.

She's an author too.

ANNA KENDRICK: I am amazing.

Is that your question?

MOLLY DECKER: You really are.

[LAUGHTER]

MOLLY DECKER: Well, she is.

How long did it take, and what was

the impetus for you writing?

What made you want to write a book?

ANNA KENDRICK: Well, I wrote a piece

for "Vogue," that looking back on it, I had to turn it in.

It was supposed to be a diary of an Oscars weekend one

of the times I was presenting.

And I had to turn it in Monday morning after the Oscars.

And you're out pretty late that night.

So I wrote it really quickly and on very little sleep,

so looking back on it, I'm like mmm eh.

But that's when I started getting approached

about writing a book.

And I think I thought at some point

somebody was going to stop me.

I was like, yeah I'll do that.

And I was expecting somebody to be like--

I was expecting to turn in a couple of chapters

and mutually go, this probably wasn't a good idea.

Let's not do this.

And that didn't happen.

So I wrote--

I think I wrote the bulk of it in this 45 day

where I knew that I was never going

to become that person that could write on my lunch break

and find time and find balance--

not really my thing, balance.

So I was between movies, and I had this 45-day period.

So I wrote 2,000 words a day every day for 45 days.

And it didn't have to be good, but I had

to write something 2,000 words.

And I had to be really strict with myself,

because if I give myself an inch, I'll take a mile.

I'm a really bad person.

So that was where I wrote a lot of it.

And a lot of that stuff wasn't good and isn't in the book.

But that was kind of where I started.

And then the year after that was about expanding on things

that were interesting and losing things

that weren't interesting.

And in a lot of cases, that meant entire sections.

The section about being nice didn't

come until right toward the very end,

because I was in a bad mood and was like, oh,

here's this stupid thing I wrote.

You're probably not going to use it.

And my editor liked it a lot, so.

MOLLY DECKER: Liked it?

Oh, that's wonderful.

ANNA KENDRICK: [GASPS] Whose phone just went off?

[LAUGHTER]

Shame.

MOLLY DECKER: For those of you who haven't seen "Camp,"--

so you talk about "Camp" in your book your, first movie 2003.

It's amazing.

And I love the show must go on scene.

I must of watched on YouTube a million times.

Loved it.

ANNA KENDRICK: Oh, thanks.

MOLLY DECKER: I love it.

I just watched it this morning with somebody,

because I was like, I love it that much.

But you talk a lot about how that experience shaped you.

You worked with a lot of younger actors and actresses on set,

like a camp, like a real kind of camp.

ANNA KENDRICK: Yeah.

MOLLY DECKER: And so the question

is, what about that experience do you still

hold on to in that character specifically, Fritzi,

what do you still hold on to from that?

ANNA KENDRICK: Well, the character was so--

was such an interesting experience for me, because

at the time, I was 16 or 17.

And I just like wanted to have my makeup done and be like--

and be able to be like, guys, like I'm in a movie.

And I'm playing someone normal.

And that wasn't the case, because Fritzi

is the smelly girl.

And now, I would love to play a character like that.

It was just about getting--

realizing that vanity just has no place in performance or art

or--

it's just going to hold you back, so.

MOLLY DECKER: You know the scene where--

is it the director-- was like, you're a creepy little girl.

I was like, this is a hilarious character.

ANNA KENDRICK: I know.

I know.

MOLLY DECKER: I loved it.

ANNA KENDRICK: I know.

But there were definitely times when the director had

to convince me, because I was like, everybody

is going to hate me.

Everybody's gonna hate this character.

It was definitely a lesson.

But when you're 16, you don't want to play the smelly girl.

MOLLY DECKER: Right.

But it is great.

You've got to watch it for anyone who hasn't.

In the book, one of my favorite quotes from the book

was when you said your dad only cries

when describing the storyline of the movie "Rudy."

ANNA KENDRICK: That is a true fact.

MOLLY DECKER: I was just like--

I literally laughed out loud.

I thought that was hilarious.

ANNA KENDRICK: Then, they come in, and they--

they put their shirt down.

And they say, this for Rudy.

This is for Rudy.

I was like, what the fuck is happening right now?

[LAUGHTER]

We were in an Applebee's.

[LAUGHTER]

MOLLY DECKER: That's so funny.

ANNA KENDRICK: True fact.

MOLLY DECKER: But similarly, the title of the book "Scrappy

Little Nobody," and you talk about sticking up

to the bully in the school.

You love that whole underdog, David versus Goliath

sort of thing, which is kind of what "Rudy" is all about.

So it seems like similar to your dad.

ANNA KENDRICK: Whoa.

MOLLY DECKER: Did you not make that connection?

ANNA KENDRICK: No.

MOLLY DECKER: Oh.

ANNA KENDRICK: I'm not a very smart person.

I don't know why they let me write a book.

[LAUGHTER]

MOLLY DECKER: So as I was reading it, I was like, wow,

she loves the underdog.

Her dad loves the underdog.

What is it about being the underdog, and what are you--

why do you miss being like this scrappy little nobody?

ANNA KENDRICK: Well, I think everybody feels that way.

No matter where you come from in life,

you feel the insecurities that you have.

You carry those with you your whole life.

And the best thing you can do with them

is turn them into something productive.

So that's why I sing so loud.

And because I have no technique.

MOLLY DECKER: You once--

[LAUGHS] This cracks me up too.

There's so much in this book that is

just-- you will laugh out loud.

You said once on Twitter that your dream

is to live in the Thanksgiving episode of a '90s sitcom.

ANNA KENDRICK: So true.

MOLLY DECKER: Which I can totally relate to,

I totally get.

And I was equally as excited in the book

when you started describing all the holiday

parties that you will no--

you'll never throw.

But you have a vision of them.

ANNA KENDRICK: Yes, that was really fun to write.

MOLLY DECKER: And I just want to know,