Anna Kendrick created embryos to start a family with her 'person'. Then things suddenly changed.

For six years, Anna Kendrick was in a toxic relationship.

While she was not legally married to this partner, she considered him to be her 'husband'. 

Her feelings about this past relationship came to a head while she was filming her project Alice, Darling.

While speaking with Dax Shepard and Monica Padman on their podcast Armchair Expert in early 2023, Kendrick opened up about wanting to start a family with this person.

"I was with someone - this was somebody I lived with, for all intents and purposes my husband. We had embryos together, this was my person," she explained.

"And then about six years in, about somewhere around there, I remember telling my brother, when things had first kind of gone down, 'I'm living with a stranger. Like, I don't know what's happening'."

When she addressed the rift with her then-partner, her told her he had feelings for someone else. On top of that, Kendrick said she felt emotionally and psychologically abused in the relationship - and it left her feeling completely "dismantled".

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"I did start going to Al-Anon while all this was going on. It was a reaction to the accusation that I was crazy and I was the one causing the problem. I started seeing two therapists a week, and I started trying to learn to meditate," she told the podcast. 

When the relationship ended, Kendrick said she was left as a shell of her former self. Her self-confidence was shattered, and so was her trust.

"I was in a situation where I loved and trusted this person more than I trusted myself. So when that person is telling you that you have a distorted sense of reality and that you are impossible, and that all the stuff that you think is going on is not going on, your life gets really confusing really quickly," she said to People.

"And I was in a situation where, at the end, I had the unique experience of finding out that everything I thought was going on was, in fact, going on."

It wasn't until she was filming Alice, Darling that Kendrick realised what she had experienced was not okay. And that ultimately, she had been a victim of gaslighting.

For context, the new film is about a young woman trapped in an abusive relationship who becomes the unwitting participant in an intervention staged by her two closest friends.

"I was coming out of a personal experience with emotional abuse and psychological abuse. It felt really distinct in that I had, frankly, seen a lot of movies about abusive or toxic relationships, and it didn't really look like what was happening to me," she said.

"It kind of helped me minimise what was happening to me, because I thought, 'Well, if I was in an abusive relationship, it would look like that'."

Watch the trailer for Anna Kendrick's new film Alice, Darling. Post continues below.

Reflecting on the Armchair Expert podcast, Kendrick said she usually isn't one to go too deep or personal in interviews, but felt that by sharing her story, it would help her heal.

"Started listening to this podcast [Armchair Expert] because my life was basically falling apart. It was my constant companion, and modelled honesty and acceptance when I was desperate for both. I was really terrified having this conversation and I'm SO grateful to Dax and Monica for having me, and for the space the create."

From 2009 to 2013, Kendrick was in a relationship with British director Edgar Wright.

The couple first met when they worked on Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. Their relationship reportedly ended due to distance, as Kendrick lives in Los Angeles and Wright lives in London.

In 2014, Kendrick began a relationship with British cinematographer Ben Richardson. They likely met while working together on the set of Drinking Buddies (2013) and Happy Christmas (2014).

While together, Kendrick and Richardson did not attend any red carpet events as a couple or post on social media. In 2022, Kendrick had a brief relationship with Saturday Night Live! star Bill Hader.

Kendrick has previously shared that keeping her dating life private, other than the occasional (and inevitable) paparazzi image, is of great importance to her. 

"Well, as far as keeping it private, it isn't easy, as you are proving right now," Kendrick told The Sydney Morning Herald. "But that's just always how it's been for me."

She did however elaborate more broadly on what she's learned from her former partners, saying "even though our relationships end, it doesn't mean they are complete failures".

"People come into your life and you grow and they change you and what you learn from them might be really positive or it might be negative. Looking back now, I didn't feel strong enough to say, 'You can't speak to me that way.' I'm just so happy that I'm clearer now about what I will accept from people in my life."

If this has raised any issues for you, or if you just feel like you need to speak to someone, please call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service.

Feature Image: Getty.

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