WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for Woman of the Hour.
Anna Kendrick’s Sheryl leaving Hollywood at the end of the Netflix film Woman of the hour reveals the true heart of her character. Kendrick made his directorial debut with Woman of the hourwhich chronicles the real-life appearance of serial killer Rodney Alcala on the popular game show The dating game. Kendrick also leads the cast of Woman of the hour alongside Daniel Zovatto as Alcala and Tony Hale as game show host Ed Burke. While Woman of the hour changes several aspects of the true story of Rodney Alcala’s experience in The dating showhis appearance left an indelible scar on the show’s legacy.
At the end of Woman of the hourKendrick’s Sheryl Bradshaw escapes Alcala’s clutches unharmed and leaves Los Angeles for good. In reality, she and Alcala appeared in The dating game on September 13, 1978just two years before Alcala was sentenced to death in California for the murder of a 12-year-old girl. Alcala received two death sentences that were overturned. He died in prison in 2021. Although the total number remains undetermined, Alcala could have had as many as 130 victims. As pictured in Woman of the hourAlcala made advances on Sheryl after recording the show, but was unsuccessful.
After entering the dating game, Anna Kendrick’s Sheryl decides she’s had enough of Hollywood
She Leaves Los Angeles and the Entertainment Industry Behind Forever
At the beginning of Woman of the hourSheryl is a struggling actress who essentially fills the shoes The dating game for a paycheck to cover his rent in Los Angeles. Throughout his experience on the show, not only dealing with the whole Rodney unmasking but also the inherent misogyny of the show’s host, Ed Burke, Sheryl decides that the life she seeks is no longer worth it.. Contributing to her decision are also the relentless and desperate romantic attempts of her fellow actor and neighbor, Terry (played by Pete Holmes).
In addition to her terrifying experience with Rodney, Sheryl is tired of being objectified in Hollywood while her career goes nowhere. During the scene where Sheryl is putting on makeup for the show, Ed Burke arrives with instructions to change her clothes, as she “has the body for it“. Sheryl is exhausted from having to jump through the hoops of the entertainment industry, all for a remote ambition of becoming a professional actress. She also appears to be fed up with the various ways in which the entertainment industry of the time (late 1970s) forces her to mold herself into an idealized, marketable version of femininity.
Sheryl’s departure contrasts with Anna Kendrick’s real-life experience
Kendrick incorporated one of his real-life experiences into the film
The final credits of Woman of the hour reveal that the real Sheryl, named Cheryl Bradshaw, actually left Hollywood to live a quiet life and start a family. This is very different from the life trajectory of the star actress and director, Anna Kendrick, who grew up in Portland, Maine, and currently lives in Los Angeles. Kendrick got his big break acting in the 2008 film Duskwhich catapulted his career to new heights. Since then, she has appeared in dozens of films and television shows, including Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010), Pitch perfect (2012), and The accountant (2016).
Although Kendrick cited some of her own experiences for Sheryl’s audition scene in the film, she ultimately made it big in the industry, unlike the real-life Cheryl Bradshaw. Kendrick recalled a strange encounter he had during one of his auditions that she felt would align with the narrative and tone of Woman of the hour. Kendrick revealed that some casting directors asked her if she was willing to do nudity and did “a very specific and strange observation“about her body, what really happened to her when she was 19. Kendrick called the memory”absolutely crazy” and made a point of including it in Woman of the hour (through People).
Did the real Cheryl Bradshaw leave Hollywood after the dating game?
She left California and had no other television credits
The real Cheryl left Los Angeles shortly after filming the The dating game. Fortunately, she was not interested in any kind of romantic involvement with Alcala and mostly left Hollywood unscathed. Cheryl was also not an aspiring actress, as portrayed in Woman of the hour. She was introduced as a teacher in the 1978 royal episode of The dating game and has no film or television credits other than The dating game and several documentary series focusing on Rodney Alcala. As Cherly Bradshaw has gone on to live a private life, there is not much information accessible about her. Kendrick revealed that Bradshaw is now dead, but he wishes he could have talked to her during development Woman of the hour.