‘Bumper In Berlin’ Boss Promises There Are ‘Definitely’ Updates On OG ‘Pitch Perfect’ Characters (Exclusive)
‘Bumper In Berlin’ showrunner Megan Amram teases Bumper’s ‘specific journey’ overseas, casting Sarah Hyland, and more.
The Pitch Perfect universe is getting a bit Bump-ier. The fan-favorite Bumper, played by the one and only Adam DeVine, travels all the way to Berlin in hopes of achieving pop star stardom once and for all. During this adventure, he crosses paths with Pieter from Pitch Perfect 2. HollywoodLife spoke EXCLUSIVELY showrunner/writer/EP Megan Amram about whether or not fans should expect more appearances from Pitch Perfect alums.
“In this season, we really did want to focus on Bumper and Pieter and spending the time to really deepen their characters and make them protagonists who you’re really rooting for,” Megan said. “But I would hope that in the future, if we got to make more, that there would be more Pitch Perfect cameos or characters to work with.”
However, Megan did note that we will get updates about these characters. “There definitely are [updates]. We wanted to make sure also that even though you don’t see characters like Amy [Rebel Wilson], you do hear him mention her, so we know what Bumper and her relationship is in the almost 10 years since you’ve seen them,” Megan revealed. “We’re very much not trying to pretend like Pitch Perfect doesn’t exist. Bumper just has this very specific adventure he’s going on with Pieter, but mostly by himself.”
Bumper will meet new characters in Berlin, including Heidi, played by Sarah Hyland. This marks an onscreen reunion between Adam and Sarah, who were once co-stars on Modern Family. Sarah is the perfect addition to the Pitch Perfect world.
“Elizabeth [Banks] and Max [Handelman] had been talking with her for a while about maybe trying to find a way she could fit into the Pitch Perfect universe. Adam and her had worked together on Modern Family where they played a couple and were really good friends through that,” Megan explained to HollywoodLife. “They, obviously, had a wonderful comedic and romantic chemistry on that show. And then I was a fan of hers from Modern Family, too. She’s a Broadway singer, so it made total sense that she would fit comedically and musically with the world, right?
Flula Borg, who plays Pieter, called the series a “delicious buddy comedy” between Bumper and Peter, among other fun subplots. “There’s a little will-they-won’t-they romance, a Jim-Pam style thing, between Sarah and Adam,” he added. “And then there’s the they-definitely-won’t between me and Jameela’s character, and then a fun brother-sister thing with Lera [Abova], so there’s all kinds of fun things happening in addition to this fun adventure with Adam and I.”
Music continues to evolve, and it’s changed significantly since the first Pitch Perfect movie was released in 2012. Megan teased the kind of music we’re going to hear in Bumper In Berlin.
“We wanted to both satisfy the OG fans with just your straight-up classic a capella,” Megan said. “We open the show with an amazing number that The Tonehangers sing, and we have a riff-off between Gisela [Jameela Jamil] and Adam’s Bumper. But we also have original music in the show, which I think opens up a whole new world of music you can do in Pitch Perfect. Ryan Tedder, who’s one of the most famous songwriters in the world, wrote a song just for us, which I could not believe. He’s also in the show. He makes a cameo in the finale. But we wanted to kind of keep you on your toes with what type of music we use and how we use it narratively.”
While “so much has changed” in music, Flula pointed out that a capella is “timeless.” He added, “The a capella piece is very dope and exciting, but we don’t just do a capella on this series. We do other kinds of very tasty music, original songs. And, of course, there’s a riff-off. You have to have a riff-off if it’s Pitch Perfect.” Pitch Perfect: Bumper In Berlin premieres November 23 on Peacock.