{"id":26405,"date":"2025-12-25T08:41:46","date_gmt":"2025-12-25T08:41:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/?p=26405"},"modified":"2025-12-25T08:41:46","modified_gmt":"2025-12-25T08:41:46","slug":"she-was-truly-a-workaholic-meryl-streep-admits-anna-kendricks-brutal-cinderella-training-on-into-the-woods-made-the-19-time-oscar-nominee-ashamed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/?p=26405","title":{"rendered":"\u201cShe Was Truly a Workaholic.\u201d \u2014 Meryl Streep Admits Anna Kendrick\u2019s Brutal Cinderella Training on Into the Woods Made the 19-Time Oscar Nominee \u201cAshamed\u201d."},"content":{"rendered":"

The “Workaholic” Who Intimidated the Legend<\/span><\/h2>\n

In the history of Hollywood, few forces are as “immovable” as Meryl Streep. With 19 Oscar nominations<\/b> (at the time) and a reputation for “meticulous” transformation, Streep is usually the one who “colonizes” a set with her preparation. But during the filming of the 2014 musical Into the Woods<\/i>, the “stardom pressure” shifted. Streep later “confessed” that she found herself “ashamed” of her own discipline when compared to the “ferocious” energy of Anna Kendrick.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kendrick, cast as the “ambivalent” Cinderella, didn’t just sing the notes; she “dissected” them. Streep observed that Kendrick was a “truly a workaholic,” a young actress who “weaponized” her Broadway roots to “conquer” the most complex material Stephen Sondheim ever wrote. The “chilling” precision Kendrick brought to rehearsals didn’t just “stun” the crew; it made a “living temple” of acting like Streep “wary” of her own process.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The “Anatomy” of a Vocal Siege<\/span><\/h3>\n

For Kendrick, playing Cinderella was a “surgical” high-wire act. She had to “evacuate” her natural, lower belt voice to find a “pure” soprano register that music director Paul Gemignani called the “true Cinderella.”<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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    The “Sondheim” Challenge:<\/b> The music team “warned” Kendrick that <\/span>On the Steps of the Palace<\/span><\/i> was the most “lethal” song in the show.<\/span> Kendrick “endured” the higher key and delivered a performance so “note-perfect” it left the production team “speechless.”<\/span><\/p>\n

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    The “Lyric” Update:<\/b> In a “rare” show of “absolute reverence,” Stephen Sondheim himself wrote new lyrics<\/b> specifically for Kendrick\u2019s film version, “restructuring” the song to fit her “modern sensibility.”<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n

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    The “Workaholic” Metric:<\/b> Streep noted that Kendrick\u2019s “intense focus” was “unbelievable.” While others were “marinated” in the fatigue of the grueling shoot, Kendrick remained “anchored” in her character\u2019s “emotional journey.”<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

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    “Stunned” into a New Respect<\/span><\/h3>\n

    The “chilling” reality for Streep was watching a “worthy successor” operate with a “stamina” that mirrored her own legendary career. Kendrick, a “theater geek” who earned a Tony nomination at age 12, treated the “woods” as a “sacred” ritual.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Streep\u2019s “confession” wasn’t just about work ethic; it was a “purifying” moment of “raw transparency.” She admitted that seeing Kendrick\u2019s “ferocity” made her “want to work harder,” effectively “reversing” the mentorship dynamic on set.<\/span><\/p>\n

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    “She was a workaholic in the best way,” Streep shared, “it made me feel a bit ‘ashamed’ of my own preparation.”<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    A “Legacy” of Ferocious Discipline<\/span><\/h3>\n

    When the final “Witch’s Rap” was recorded and the “steps of the palace” were cleared, a “bond captured in gold” remained between the two stars. Kendrick had “overturned” the idea that she was just a “sweet ing\u00e9nue,” proving instead that she was a “rebellious” technician of the craft.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Meryl Streep proved that a “legend” is someone who can still be “haunted” and inspired by the “pure emotion” of the next generation. By “possessing” the role of Cinderella with such “intense focus,” Anna Kendrick didn’t just survive the woods\u2014she “conquered” the respect of the greatest actress of our time.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The “Workaholic” Who Intimidated the Legend In the history of Hollywood, few forces are as “immovable” as Meryl Streep. With 19 Oscar nominations (at the time) and a reputation for “meticulous” transformation, Streep is usually the one who “colonizes” a set with her preparation. But during the filming of the 2014 musical Into the Woods,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26405"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26405\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}