Rebel Wilson as Fat Amy in Pitch Perfect. Photo / Supplied
Rebel Wilson as Fat Amy in Pitch Perfect. Photo / Supplied
It's packed full of complicated dance routines, multi-group a cappella riffs and powerhouse singing – but it was one scene featuring Rebel Wilson that proved the most challenging to film for Pitch Perfect.
The 2012 musical comedy hit – which featured an ensemble cast of stars including Wilson, Anna Kendrick, Adam Devine and Elizabeth Banks – was a massive hit, earning around $170 million worldwide.
It follows the story of aspiring music producer and reluctant college student Beca (Kendrick) who is recruited to The Bellas, an all-female a cappella group locked in a fierce rivalry with their male counterparts, The Treblemakers.
With such an abundance of comic talent, it's hardly surprising that there was a lot of improvisation going on during scenes.
But according to Skylar Astin (who played Jesse, Beca's Treblemaker love interest), it was one particular moment featuring Wilson's Fat Amy character that became almost impossible to film.
Astin played Jesse, Beca's love interest. Photo / Supplied
The scene unfolds right after Beca takes it upon herself to add a Bulletproof mash-up to The Bellas' live (and dull) competition routine. While she's being yelled at by Bellas leader Aubrey backstage, Jesse jumps in to defend Beca, making the situation worse and sparking Beca's resignation from the group.
"Everything's coming to a head, and I'm there trying to help the situation, and (Kendrick as Beca) snaps at me and says, 'You're not my boyfriend!' … And anytime we were doing Rebel's lines, whether the camera was on her or not, she would go off on like an (improvised) story about why (Beca) should come back," Astin, who now stars in Stan's new series Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist, told news.com.au.
Wilson and Kendrick in a scene from the movie. Photo / Supplied
"And I don't know why, because it was so wrong for the situation, but it was so funny in contrast to the seriousness. On the day, I just remember it taking forever – in the best way – and the comedy was in how much she was dragging out the story. It was just such a fun day on set."
Sadly, Wilson's extended edition didn't make it into the final edit – but that improvisation strategy was one she brought to most of her scenes.
"Rebel would be throwing her improvs out there, and it was really hard to keep a straight face because she's someone who's very off the cuff but also has a very smart plan for what she's going to do on set," Astin explained.
"Adam (Devine) and Rebel were improvising a tonne together – a lot of their banter in the first movie that set up their eventual love story was completely improvised, it was almost like a game. It was very fun to witness."
Wilson as Fat Amy, one of the new Bellas recruits. Photo / Supplied
And they weren't the only one flexing their comedy muscles – one of Jesse's funniest lines came from the actor himself on the spur of the moment. In an early scene in the movie, Beca shows up to an a cappella welcome party, where a drunken Jesse makes a beeline for her.
"You're drunk," she tells him, prompting his response: "I'm not drunk, you're just blurry."
"We just tried that line out, and it actually got in the film," he told news.com.au.
"There were a bunch of zingers that got through like that. It was definitely that kind of set – where we were willing to try things out, if we wanted to try something different … and it definitely made for a movie that was full of life."
