Anna Kendrick & Bill Hader Played Siblings Before Dating, Praised Each Other: 'She's a Great Performer'

Benjamin VanHoose
·2 min read

Anna Kendrick and Bill Hader played a brother and sister duo onscreen before they began dating.

On Thursday, PEOPLE confirmed that the Pitch Perfect actress, 36, and the Barry star, 43, have been in a relationship for more than a year, keeping their coupling low-key during the pandemic. A source said Kendrick and Hader "met years ago," and though they made a film together, "they got together well after the movie."

Noelle, which debuted on Disney+ in 2019, was filmed around the 2017 holiday season, and in it, Kendrick and Hader star as siblings. "Bill Hader and I play brother and sister. Santa's our dad, and Nick, played by Bill, is next in line to take over as Santa Claus. And Nick goes missing. I have to go and find him and save Christmas," Kendrick told Parade of the plot.

While promoting the film on Live with Kelly and Ryan in 2019, Kendrick recalled a "magical" day when Hader's children stopped by the wintery North Pole village set. (The Saturday Night Live alum and ex-wife Maggie Carey share three daughters: Hayley, 7, Harper, 9, and Hannah, 12.)

"It was so much. Bill Hader's kids came to visit the set, and that was so magical to see them, like, skate everywhere. I was just like, 'This is— it's magic!' " she said at the time.

RELATED: Anna Kendrick and Bill Hader Have Been 'Quietly' Dating for Over a Year: 'She's Really Happy'

Noelle
Noelle

Disney+

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Kendrick also told Collider about how she and Hader would often break character while making each other laugh during scenes. "Breaking is a big problem for me. But, luckily, Bill describes himself as a soft touch, so if I break, he breaks. So I can be like, 'He started it!' "

For his part, Hader acknowledged Kendrick's work ethic, saying in a behind-the-scenes interview: "Anna's been amazing. She's a great performer. She's just such a strong performer, and that's always great because it raises your game, you know what I mean?"

"She's one of those people, she knows all her lines and all your lines," he said of the Oscar nominee, "and I don't know my lines, so it is like a brother-sister, it is like the characters, where I'm going like, 'Can I look at the script again?' And she's like, 'Why don't you know your lines?' "

Noelle, which also stars Billy Eichner and Shirley MacLaine, is streaming on Disney+.

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