Anna’s Poppy experience
From the creators of Shrek comes animated film Trolls, a smart, funny and irreverent comedy about the search for happiness, and just how far some will go to get it. The movie hits theatres in India on November 4 and it would be singer-actor Anna Kendrick voicing the impossibly upbeat troll princess, Poppy.
The actress, who was last seen in The Accountant, will not only lend her voice to the character, but also to the movie’s buzz-worthy soundtrack. Anna in conversation with us tells us more about her character Poppy and what’s next for her…
What led to your involvement in the film?
To be honest, I probably would have done anything that DreamWorks had asked me to do. But they explained the film and it sounded great. They told me about Poppy, using a lot of visual references, and after a while I was waiting for them to stop talking so that I could say yes!
Who is Poppy?
When they were pitching the movie to me, I was told that Poppy is the happiest of all the Trolls, and the Trolls are already pretty happy. Poppy is love and joy and happiness. Poppy has a lot of pep and spark.
What do you think of the Trolls’ hair, their distinguishing physical characteristic?
Their hair has a life of its own. The Trolls can hide stuff in their hair, use it to pick stuff up, and they can fight with it. It makes you wonder why your own hair is not really useful (laughs). I spend so much time on my hair, but it just sits there on top of my head, not helping me to fight giant spiders or anything.
How interesting was it for you to be acting and singing in the film?
It is a dream to do animation, comedy and music in one film. The music is so much fun. There is a lot of throwback music, and I think Justin has tried to incorporate that sound into the new songs. There is almost like a disco flavor, but there are also beautiful ballads and original songs. Musically, there is an embarrassment of riches. It was great singing covers of classics like The Sound of Silence, True Colors and Move Your Feet …Or our version, Move Your Hair. It does feel a bit like I’m singing in the shower and getting paid for it.
It is a great voice cast. Are there any particular cast members you were excited about?
One of my favourite people in the world is Christine Baranski, who plays Chef. We worked together on Intro The Woods (2014), and I was so happy to be in a movie with Christine again.
The film is essentially about happiness; were you a happy child?
I think I was a worrier as a kid and I was definitely feisty, but I guess we are all a little bit happier in childhood (laughs). I have actually been finding more and more that I am the same person I was when I was three and four.
