Pentatonix Joins Cast of 'Pitch Perfect 2'

One of the groups at the center of the revival of a cappella music in the mainstream has joined the cast of the movie credited with kicking off the revival in the first place.

Pentatonix has joined the cast of Pitch Perfect 2 as the Barden Bellas, a rival group to the protagonists of the first movie. The members of the group, which shot to fame via its YouTube covers and its victory on Season 3 of NBC's The Sing-Off, spent one day on the set of the film in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. This included full makeup and wardrobe for group members Scott Hoying, Mitch Grassi, Avi Kaplan, Kirstie Maldonado, and Kevin Olusola.

"We’re wearing some pretty interesting things," Hoying teases. "You can definitely tell it’s the five of us, but what we’re wearing and who we’re portraying is definitely not Pentatonix."

Further details via Entertainment Weekly:

Credit: Universal Pictures

Pentatonix became involved with the film thanks to the efforts of two mutual friends: Deke Sharon, who arranged music on The Sing-Off and the Pitch Perfect films, and a film publicist who coordinated Pentatonix’s performance at the original Pitch Perfect’s premiere. Fans who tweeted producers urging them to cast Pentatonix also contributed to the cause, Olusola tells EW.

Though the band will not be playing themselves, they did get to arrange their own song to make sure they retained “the Pentatonix sound,” says Hoying. “They gave us a song, and we arranged it and sent it back, expecting them to say, ‘You need to change this, this, and this.’ But they came back and said, ‘Great, that’s it!’ That was really cool.”

To the extent that Hoying and company are fans of the original Pitch Perfect, their set visit revealed that the band had its own admirers in the cast. “Anna Kendrick came up to me on set and said, ‘Me and my roommate watch your Vines!’ and Skylar Astin came up at the premiere and said, ‘I am the biggest fan of Pentatonix,’” recalls Hoying. “It’s just crazy to think that Pentatonix has developed this following where celebrities know who we are.”

The gang won’t get any dialogue (“Let’s be honest, it’s probably for the best,” laughs Hoying), but they did get some major screentime—and some off-camera facetime with the gals who play their competition. “I will say, all the Barden Bellas are hot,” says Olusola. “So I was pretty happy.”

While we at Rickey.org are all pretty stoked for Pentatonix to appear in this movie (and, presumably, the soundtrack -- fingers crossed!), we have a bit of a wait ahead. Pitch Perfect 2, directed by Elizabeth Banks and written by Kay Cannon, hits theaters on May 15, 2015.