Making their motion-picture debuts in Pitch Perfect 2 are six superfans — you might even say enormous fans — some of whom also happen to be members of the Green Bay Packers: Clay Matthews, David Bakhtiari, Don Barclay, T.J. Lang, Josh Sitton and Jordan Rogers (who plays for the Canadian Football League). Die-hard aficionados of Pitch Perfect, they were cast after impressing the filmmakers with their enviable knowledge of every song, line and dance move of the 2012 comedy.
When the men learned that a sequel to their beloved comedy — of which they can quote every one of screenwriter Kay Cannon’s lines — was being made, they reached out to director Elizabeth Banks on Twitter. They told her they were willing to do anything to be in the film and soon found themselves giving it their all on the set. They sing, dance and even helped to choreograph their own moves in a competitive riff-off sponsored by the oddly named National A Cappella Laser Ninja Dragon League … hosted by none other than David Cross of Arrested Development and Mr. Show With Bob and David.
“Working with the Green Bay Packers was a dream,” says star Anna Kendrick. “They were this source of joy and energy and commitment. In the rehearsal, they were getting low and were super into it. I remember thinking, ‘Please, try to freeze the image on your face in your mind so that when we shoot this scene, you can have this exact look on your face.’ It was so absurd and wonderful. That brought me a lot of joy, seeing the Green Bay Packers get low, low, low, low.”
Fellow actor Skylar Astin agrees that his football-playing coworkers stole the show: “When I got to rehearsal and saw the Green Bay Packers — they’re hard to miss, they’re big dudes — the ice was broken when they started quoting the first movie and saying Jesse and Benji’s lines verbatim. They were nervous to sing and I told them, ‘You don’t have to worry, you’re singing “Bootylicious.” You’ll be fine.’ They said, ‘Why don’t you try playing football and see how that goes?’ They’re all performers at heart, so I think they’ll be very happy. They do a lot of end-zone dances, so that helped them to bust it out.”
Pitch Perfect 2 is available beginning September 22 on Video On Demand. Check your cable system for availability.
© 2015 Universal Pictures Credit: Universal Pictures
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