Anna Kendrick has revealed how Steven Spielberg made her reconsider her plan to direct a movie musical.

Since making her directorial debut with Woman of the Hour, the Pitch Perfect actress hopes to direct more movies, specifically a screen musical.

Kendrick thought she might be ready to take on that challenge after a few more directorial projects, however, famed director Spielberg made her realise she might need more experience than she anticipated.

“I have this kind of like long-term ambition to direct a musical. Obviously, I think musicals are really challenging and so I would want to get some more experience under my belt before attempting that,” she said on the Happy Sad Confused podcast.

“I was at an event (recently) where Steven Spielberg spoke and he was talking about making West Side Story and he was like, ‘It was so much harder than I thought it was going to be.’ Steven Spielberg?! I was thinking like, I don’t know, maybe if I made more movies, like maybe my fourth movie (would be a musical) and now I’m like maybe my 50th, Jesus.”

Spielberg, who released his remake of West Side Story in 2021, has directed more than 30 feature films.

While she may not have as much directing experience, Kendrick is a musical veteran. She scored a Tony Award nomination for her first Broadway role in the 1998 musical High Society and has starred in movie musicals like Into the Woods, The Last Five Years and the Trolls animated franchise.

The star recently revealed to Harper’s Bazaar that she often jokes about remaking the 1992 Disney musical Newsies but acknowledged that it was “a terrible idea”.

“As much as I love that movie, I don’t think that’s something anybody actually wants!” she quipped.

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