Anna Kendrick explains why she told Barack Obama he was an 'a--hole'

Anna Kendrick explained how she got President Barack Obama to laugh when they met in 2012 — by calling him an “a—hole.”

The Pitch Perfect star, 33, was asked by Late Show host Stephen Colbertabout a photo she posted on Instagram in 2013 that showed the former commander-in-chief cracking up — and doubled over laughing — as they stood together at an event in L.A.

“I was very excited about having the opportunity to go to an event and meet him and I showed up, the first person there, obviously,” she explained. “I walk into this room and it’s just this Secret Service agent who’s like, ‘You’re the first one here.’ Cool, good to know I’m the loser of this group. And we got to talking a little bit and he’s from Maine and I’m from Maine.”

Then Obama came in and began to address the room, “and he looks right at me and he goes, ‘Oh, my gosh, actually Anna was in one of my favorite movies of the year [Up in the Air], which talked about the economy and the recession,” she continued. “And I was like this is such an inconvenient time to be having a full stroke, which is obviously what’s happening.”

After the president’s speech, Kendrick got to meet him one-on-one and pose for a photo. “I shake his hand and he’s like, ‘I hope I didn’t embarrass you earlier,” she explained.

“Yeah, you’re such an a—hole,” she replied (see her reaction to her faux pas at the 5:00-minute mark in the video above.

Obama laughed and then asked the A Simple Favor star about being from Maine.

“Thinking about my conversation with the Secret Service agent, I said, ‘Yes, and actually I was the first person here’ and I start to talk about his Secret Service agent. And he goes, ‘Oh, are people from Maine really punctual?’ ‘You didn’t know that? You’re the president.’ So I called him an a—hole and scolded him for not knowing enough about the 50 states. So that was what made him double over with laughter. Yay!”