Before 2012, you probably never once tried to slam a cup on a table in rapid succession to see what sound it would make or ever thought to google "a cappella groups at [insert the name of your university]." But with a hilarious take on the surprisingly cutthroat world of college singing competitions that was like Glee but (hot take) funnier, Pitch Perfect changed all of that. On top of making $115 million at the box office, it also gave us a she's-a-movie-star-now performance by Anna Kendrick; the absolute banger of a line, "I'm gonna kill him! I'm gonna finish him like a cheesecake"; and the true phenomenon here, "Cups."
The refresher you probably don't need: In the film, Kendrick sits onstage in a dark auditorium to perform the song as her audition for The Bellas. And even though her routine lasts just 30 seconds, it was a big enough deal to prompt a single on the movie's soundtrack and a stand-alone music video which now has upward of 638 million YouTube views. Basically, it's the type of viral sensation that would have taken over TikTok had TikTok existed back then-and maybe still will, given the fact that a new show set in the Pitch Perfect universe is just about to drop on Peacock. In the meantime, please enjoy this ultimate behind-the-scenes experience.
Kendrick first saw a video of the folk-pop song "Cups (When I'm Gone)" by musical duo Lulu and the Lampshades on Reddit, where it hadn't gotten much traction. She studied its clap-smack-table choreography at that point, basically, just a party trick before auditioning for the role of Beca.
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