Actress Anna Kendrick just wanted to complete a simple, routine transaction: buying a car. But when she brought her best friend and frequent co-star, Aubrey Plaza, along for moral support, the mundane task exploded into a chaotic, hilarious scene of unhinged “acting out” that terrified the salesperson into granting a massive, immediate discount.
The Task: A Normal Car Purchase
The incident, often recounted by Anna Kendrick, took place at a standard car dealership. Kendrick, known for her grounded and witty persona, intended to negotiate a fair price in a typical, adult manner. The Companion: Kendrick, however, was accompanied by Aubrey Plaza, an actress famous for her deadpan humor and deliberately awkward, sometimes unsettling, public behavior (most notably from her role as April Ludgate on the sitcom Parks and Recreation). Anna Kendrick just wanted to buy a car in a normal way, but her best friend Aubrey Plaza decided to “act out” by yelling at the salesperson that her father worked for NASA and built rockets.
The Chaos: NASA and the Panic Discount
As Kendrick began the careful process of negotiation, Plaza decided to employ her own unique, improvisational tactic to speed up the deal and terrify the unsuspecting salesperson. The Fabrication: Plaza suddenly and loudly interjected into the negotiation, claiming that her father worked for NASA and was responsible for building rockets. She dramatically yelled this out, creating an immediate, jarring commotion. The Performance: Plaza escalated the bizarre narrative, using her signature intense, off-kilter energy. The sheer unexpectedness and odd nature of the shouting—completely irrelevant to the price of the car—caused the salesperson to panic entirely.
The Instant Discount
The salesperson, faced with two young women—one seemingly normal, the other apparently aggressive and claiming explosive connections to the space program—chose the path of least resistance. Anna Kendrick’s calm car purchase explode into chaos—Aubrey Plaza screams “My Dad Builds NASA Rockets!” and the terrified salesman drops the price instantly. Desperate to resolve the surreal situation and get the two girls out of the dealership immediately, the employee hastily offered Kendrick a cheap, highly discounted price. This crazy commotion caused the salesperson to panic so much that they hastily gave Anna a cheap price just to get rid of the two girls.
The Legacy: Friendship Goals
The hilariously aggressive tactic failed as a subtle negotiation but succeeded spectacularly as a method of rapid cost-cutting, proving that fear is sometimes the most effective sales tool. Data Point: Anna Kendrick and Aubrey Plaza are long-time friends, having co-starred in films like Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010) and Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (2016). This anecdote is often shared as proof of their strong, supportive friendship dynamic, where Plaza’s willingness to embrace chaos serves to benefit her friend. Notable Event Connection: This story perfectly aligns with Plaza’s reputation for being aggressively committed to a bit. Her on-screen persona as April Ludgate on Parks and Recreation is defined by her sardonic, anti-social nature, and this real-life moment showed she can weaponize that awkwardness for genuine real-world advantage. Thanks to Aubrey Plaza’s commitment to an unhinged, rocket-themed performance, Anna Kendrick secured a cheap price, walking away with a car and a legendary story about the power of friendship and fake NASA connections.