pitch perfect

The brand new Pitch Perfect spin-off series Bumper in Berlin is heading to Peacock on Wednesday (Nov. 23), and the star-studded cast sat down with Billboard‘s Rania Aniftos to discuss the new take on the popular film franchise.
“We’re always looking to bring more Pitch Perfect to the fans,” executive producer Elizabeth Banks shared of the series. “We really were looking for a way, though, to expand the universe of Pitch Perfect. Honestly, we took a lot of our inspiration from the Marvel cinematic universe and, specifically, what they did with Loki. We took a villain from the family and gave him an entirely new world to have a great adventure in, while keeping the things that people love about Pitch Perfect.”

“Basically, I am Loki. It makes sense,” the show’s star, Adam Devine, joked.

Devine reprises his role as Bumper Allen, the former leader of the Treblemakers. He gets a call from Pieter from Pitch Perfect 2‘s Das Sound Machine (played again by Flula Borg) inviting him to come to Germany to launch his music career after a video of his went viral on the Internet. Devine then reunites with his Modern Family co-star Hyland, who plays his assistant. Abova plays Pieter’s sister, a DJ named Thea, while Jamil is the extravagant German pop star Gisela.

“I was just absolutely thrilled. Dream come true,” Hyland said of reuniting with her former co-star Devine. “I mean, I’ve been a fan of the Pitch Perfect franchise since its inception, and obviously, I love Adam. To be able to be part of such an iconic world and work with Adam again was amazing. Singing on top it, it was just like, ‘Duh!’

Devine then chimed in, “I had no idea [she had such a good voice]. I was like, ‘We have chemistry, but you do have to sing. This is Pitch Perfect. Sitcom’s Mariah Carey.”

While Borg was not present for the interview, he shared with Billboard via a statement some of his favorite memories from filming. “I very much enjoyed to teach my castmate friends German words that were not actually German words,” he explained. “For example, I told them that it is tradition to yell ‘schmuppelflau’ when a morning snack you have eaten is yummy. This is not a real word. But regardless, everyone yelled ‘schmuppelflau’ every time one of us consumed a hard-boiled egg or sausage.”

“I was able to eat my mother’s cooking (she mailed it to me from Erlangen thrice weekly), and I got to inhale the wonderful drizzle and grayness that I never experience in Los Angeles; these sad weathers made me feel such jubilation,” he added of working in Germany.

Watch the full interview with the cast of Pitch Perfect: Bumper in Berlin below.