How Russell Crowe helped Anna Kendrick land the perfect serial killer for Woman of the Hour

Anna Kendrick owes Russell Crowe a fruit basket. 

The Pitch Perfect star makes her directorial debut this weekend with Netflix's Woman of the Hour, a based-on-a-true-story thriller about a serial killer who appeared on a 1978 episode of The Dating Game. While the film puts more of a spotlight on the victims than their killer, Kendrick says the movie wouldn't have worked if she hadn't found the right actor to play the murderous Rodney Alcala. 

Fortunately, she knew who she wanted for the role: Station Eleven star Daniel Zovatto. "I felt like, if Danny's not available, I don't think I have a movie," Kendrick tells Entertainment Weekly. "Even though in many ways he's not the center of the film, the performance has to be beyond perfect. One misstep and the whole thing is blown."

Next, she needed to convince Zovatto to take the part — and that's where Crowe came in. 

"He was away filming, and it took us forever to finally connect," she says. "I think he was filming with Russell Crowe at the time and told Russell Crowe about the offer, and apparently Russell Crowe was like, 'Oh, I think I like her. I think you should do it.' So I owe Russell Crowe the biggest fruit basket of all time."

Zovatto confirms that Crowe did put in a good word for Kendrick. "Yeah, I was in Ireland shooting Pope's Exorcist with Russell, which, f---, that was a dream already," the It Follows actor explains. "He's a very giving guy. So when this audition came about, I was really into the movie with Russell, and I heard about it, and I was like, 'Oh, that would be really cool.' But my mind was somewhere else."

Not wanting to take his attention away from the movie he was filming with Crowe, he turned to the Oscar winner for guidance. "I went to Russell, and I was like, 'Yo, there's this movie Anna Kendrick is directing for her first time. I'd play the serial killer, but I don't know, bro, because I'm shooting here. I want to go back to my thing. He's like, 'You're going to do it, Danny.' I was like, 'All right, dude, I'll do it.'"

When the actor finally connected with Kedrick, he remembers being blown away by her attention to detail. "I was like, oh my gosh, she's going to kill it," he says. "She was so prepared, and she knew the story inside out. I saw her passion in the way that she conveyed herself in the meeting, and I was like, man, I really want this part."

In addition to making her directorial debut with the project, Kendrick also stars and produces Woman of the Hour. The film follows her character, Cheryl Bradshaw, a struggling actor who reluctantly agrees to go on The Dating Game to bolster her career. Frustrated by the show's misogynist host (played by Tony Hale), she decides to take the game into her own hands, asking the male contestants a series of questions about their views on women that leave them squirming. Ironically, the only bachelor who can handle the heat is Alcala. 

"I loved the fact that it's told from a woman's perspective and that it was going to be not so much glorifying Rodney's life but just giving little snippets all surrounding The Dating Game," Zovatto says. "So it was really exciting. And it's Anna Kendrick, man. Obviously, I've known her life and followed her career. So it was an obvious 'Yes, let's f---ing go and do this.'"

For her part, Kendrick knew she wanted Zovatto for the role after watching him as the Prophet in HBO's Station Eleven. "It was funny, the second he comes on screen, he's kind of a nefarious character," she says. "Honestly, one of the things that I really value in actors is their ability to be still. I think we all struggle with insecurity and frequently fall victim to the notion that we have to be constantly on and doing something to be interesting. He so commanded the scene within 10 seconds of being on screen by just having the confidence to exist on camera."

Zovatto was also impressed with Kendrick's confidence as a first-time director and lead actress. "It was inspiring," he says. "Her head is in so many different places, juggling so many different plates at the same time. And it was flowing. It never felt like maybe this is too much to do. She's really f---ing smart, man. She's like a nerd. It was flawless."