Chrissie Fit tells us how she got her role in Pitch Perfect 2—even after a slipup at her audition—and which star helped her get through her first day of rehearsals.
She can act, sing, and dance. She's funny. She's bilingual. And she landed her breakout role as one of the newest Barden Bellas in Pitch Perfect 2 the "old-fashioned" way: by auditioning, forgetting her song lines (we'll give her a pass—she attempted an Adele song in Spanish), and barely making it to a callback. Clearly everything worked out; now we see Cuban actress and Miami native Chrissie Fit on billboard after billboard for the sequel to 2012's Pitch Perfect in theaters this Friday, May 15.
Acting alongside big Hollywood names like Anna Kendrick and Elizabeth Banks, Fit plays the snarky Florencia "Flo" Fuentes, a foreign exchange student who joins college a cappella group the Barden Bellas. When the Bellas are banned from performing in the U.S. after an indecent-exposure incident at the national championships (we've all seen the commercials), the all-female group enters an international competition to redeem themselves.
Here, Fit tells us what Elizabeth Banks said at her audition, what it was like to rehearse with the Pitch Perfect cast, and her favorite song to sing a cappella.
What really went on between takes when you were filming Pitch Perfect 2?
CHRISSIE FIT: We all get along really well. It's kind of like a sorority of sisters. There is a lot of encouragement and advice; we all really like to hang out. It was really hot [filming] in Baton Rouge, so we were also making a lot of cold brews and surrounding the portable air conditioner. That is basically what we were doing during our downtime.
For this movie there's singing and dancing as well as acting. Were you nervous about the performing aspects?
CF: Yeah, definitely. It helped that we had a month of rehearsals; we had [Bella Boot Camp] and we had group vocal sessions and individual sessions. We basically started every morning off with choreography. I didn’t realize how difficult it is to sing and do a cappella. There were times when I wasn’t singing lyrics. Instead I had to make these noises that didn’t necessarily match with what I was doing with my body, so it took a lot of concentration. It was a cool experience. But yeah, of course I was nervous, but because we had so much preparation before, it wasn’t too bad.
What was an average day like when you were doing Bella Boot Camp?
CF: We would get up early and start with a warm-up—either stretches or some exercise. But that didn’t happen every day, thankfully—the exercise part of it. There were a couple of days where I was like, "What, are we training for an action movie?" It could get intense. Then we would have dance rehearsals for a couple of hours, a lunch break, and then vocal sessions. So, we were working hard during those rehearsals. This was a very physical movie, not just with the dancing, but the physical comedy and also with certain stunts. But it was cool to do that stuff.
How did you ultimately land this role?
CF: I did it the old-fashioned way: I went to an audition. I remember getting the audition and being like, "This might not happen," just because it is such a massive movie. But I wanted to have fun with it. I just wanted to have so much fun with the character. I remember Elizabeth Banks was in the room; she was very involved with the movie from the beginning. And she was like, "That tickled my fancy"—it was so random! And it was really funny. I just remember thinking, "Wow, I could have a shot at this." And [then] I was singing this song and forgot the lyrics, so I was basically [thinking], "There goes that."
Which song?
CF: I did Rolling in the Deep by Adele, and my mom gave me this idea. She was like, "Why don’t you sing a part of the song in Spanish?" And I was like "That’s brilliant mom!" Because then they would know I could speak Spanish. When I was supposed to sing in Spanish, I totally blanked. You are used to hearing it in English, and I myself translated the lyrics to Spanish, and I just froze. I was like, "Oh, I should just let you know I’m going to sing a part in Spanish.’ And Elizabeth Banks said, "Yeah, I like a surprise." And [to myself] I was like, "Well, I ruined that." At the end of the day I was just having fun with it. It was Pitch Perfect with so many brilliant and funny girls. Sometimes with improv, you have to be quick on your feet. I think that helped me get the role.
My whole audition process was insane. I had to go back to do a callback, but I already had plane tickets to Miami to visit my family, and it was my birthday as well. I went to the airport during that window of time where it's okay to miss your flight, and I played it like I missed my flight. And they put me on a flight that night. I left the airport, did the callback, and then went back to the airport to go to Miami. (Laughs.) I made it! It was a long, difficult road to Pitch Perfect, but I did it.
Fit at the world premiere of Pitch Perfect 2 in Los Angeles.
What was it like to go into the established group from the first movie?
CF: It was a little nerve-wracking. I was on a plane two days after I had found out that I had gotten the role, so it took a little while to process it. Once I got there I was like, "Holy crap, I’m meeting all these girls tomorrow." Suddenly I couldn’t sleep. I was so nervous. I met up with Elizabeth Banks first, and she took me down to the rehearsal and introduced me. That was really nice, and just another example of how awesome she is. I was nervous for no reason. They were so welcoming and so cool. We became fast friends.
Who would you say is the funniest cast member off screen?
CF: Man, I can't say. That’s like if you have children and you’re like, "That’s my favorite one."
All of the Bellas have their quirks. What is your character like and what is your favorite thing about playing her?
CF: My character’s name is Flo. I'm a foreign exchange student who is a new Bella. My favorite thing about Flo is that she is very sarcastic and she has a very different outlook on things. When the girls think it is the end of the world when they can’t perform at a retirement home grand opening, Flo reminds them that there are way worse things in the world, and she does it in a really funny and fun way. That was cool to play. The comedy didn’t have to be big and broad. It just had to be really specific. I love specificity. It was fun to play around with totally different tones within the group and work with everyone else within the group.
What was your favorite song to sing a cappella in this movie?
CF: I really, really enjoyed doing "Run the World" by Beyoncé. Who doesn’t want to be Beyoncé? It was actually really tricky because we were doing body percussions and having to mesh a bunch of different songs within that song. The arrangement was really challenging so that was really cool to tackle.
You played Mercedes Suarez on General Hospital for a while. What was that like?
CF: Growing up I did Shakespeare in school and I was such a dramatic actress. And I was like, "I’m going to be in drama." These last couple of films have been musical comedies. So doing General Hospital was really fun, really sporadic. I would come in twice in one week or I wouldn’t come in for a while. It was really warm and reminded me of a theater troupe; they are very close-knit and see each other every day. It was a cool job to have, doing what you love to do. And my mom is Cuban and we grew up watching novellas, so one of my mom's favorite things was telling her friends that I was in a soap opera.
Do you go home to Miami often to see your family?
CF: I try! I went for Christmas and stayed there for three weeks, which was a long time—I haven’t been there that long for a while. I kind of went back to my Miami routine and rhythm.
What is coming up next for you? Do you have any projects in the pipeline? Or any goals?
CF: Right after Pitch Perfect 2 comes out, the sequel to Disney Channel Original Movie Teen Beach Movie comes out this summer, so that is going to be fun and exciting. Being able to reprise my character, which was really cool to play, is nice. So that will be coming up next. I want to write, too, with my writing partner. Hopefully this year we will make a movie together. That is the goal.
Do you think there will be a Pitch Perfect 3?
CF: Oh man. I was a big fan of the first one. I love the second one, obviously—not because I am in it, but because it is so much fun. You leave the theater feeling good. We had such a good time doing it; of course I would love that. But I don’t know.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BEN MILLER; JASON MERRITT/GETTY IMAGES