Anna Kendrick is known for her roles in smash hits like "Pitch Perfect," "Trolls" and "Into the Woods."

But her latest project, a psychological thriller called "Alice Darling," could be her strongest performance yet. Kendrick joined host Lisa McRee on LA Times Today to talk about the film, and why it's resonating with survivors of emotional abuse.

"Alice Darling" is about a woman who experiences psychological and emotional abuse in an intimate relationship. Kendrick talked about how the film helped her heal from her own experience.  

"It was a really cathartic thing to make the film and be around so many people who shared their stories," said Kendrick. "One of the actresses in it said to me the first day of filming that she was really excited to see my performance because the performance was sort of the evidence [of the abuse]. And I found that so powerful because she was talking about the movie and the performance, but it really resonated for me too, that I know myself and I am the evidence. I don't need to catalog what he said on this day and how that went down. I know what my experience was, and I'm the evidence, and that's enough."

The actor recently wrapped her directorial debut, a film tentatively titled "The Dating Game." Kendrick reflected on the experience and shared information about the plot.  

"I do feel right now very drawn to projects that explore like the psyche and some heavier issues," she said. "And I just directed my first feature, which was so much fun and so terrifying and so wonderful. It's the true story of a woman who went on 'The Dating Game' in the 1970s. The man that she chose happened to be a prolific and horrible serial killer. What an incredible framework in which to explore how much we risk in intimacy. That was a theme that I was really drawn to."

Kendrick reflected on what the COVID-19 pandemic taught her about slowing down and choosing meaningful work.

"The pandemic, in a lot of ways, and also what I went through a couple of years ago, sort of forced me to slam the brakes on my life a little bit," she said. "I was so on that wheel of being a workaholic and going on to the next thing and doing what I needed to do every day on set and like checking every box and getting the gold star... But it feels a lot better to take the time to think about what it is that I actually want to do with each project."

"Alice Darling" comes out in limited release on Dec. 30. Kendrick will be presenting the film at the Palm Spring International Film Festival in January. 

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