Anna Kendrick on respecting relationship boundaries: 'It's giving voice to something that I've felt for a long time'

The actor reveals how she broke up with someone because he didn't respect her boundaries

Olivia Petter
Friday 22 December 2017 13:10 GMT
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Matt Baron
Matt Baron (Rex Features)

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Anna Kendrick has spoken out about the importance of respecting boundaries in relationships.

The Pitch Perfect star revealed that she broke up with someone when she was younger because he refused to respect something small that was important to her.

Despite not wanting to be labelled “the crazy girl”, Kendrick stressed the importance of being true to yourself and not sacrificing things that matter to you just to impress someone.

Speaking to Elle, Kendrick recalled an anecdote in which she was dating a guy who would playfully tickle her, however, this made her uncomfortable and she asked him to stop.

“I know that’s cute and that people do it, but I really don’t like being tickled,” she told him.

“It really makes me feel trapped and panicked. I know it’s silly and funny for most people, but I really hate it, so could you please not?”

However, the guy in question responded by calling her concerns “really dumb” and proceeded to tickle her some more.

Kendrick ultimately ended the relationship.

“I knew that in the retelling of that story, I would be some crazy girl,” she said.

“That he would tell his friends, ‘Oh, she broke up with me because I tickled her. What a psycho.’ I just had to go, ‘No, I broke up with you because I told you something was important to me, and you didn’t respect that.’”

The actor went on to explain that even though the relationship was no more, she was happy that she stood up for herself in that moment, although she added that she struggled to articulate it at the time.

“I didn't really know how to say to a guy, 'But this is how I feel. It should matter to you if you care about me,'” she said.

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