Up in the Air

Kendrick stars in this comedy-drama directed by Jason Reitman, based on the 2001 novel of the same name by Walter Kirn. She plays Natalie Keener, an ambitious new employee for a company that specializes in firing people. Natalie wants to activate a system to fire employees through videoconferencing. Instead she paired with Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) who travels the globe firing people in person. Also starring Vera Flamiga.

It’s the first time I’ve played my own age, which was pretty exciting. I’ve played high-school kids my whole life, this time I felt like I was sitting at the grown-ups’ table. And I love strong female characters. It’s a pretty rare thing to find a part this well rounded for a young woman.