One of the most iconic moments in 2012’s Pitch Perfect (which you can watch with a Netflix subscription) is when Anna Kendrick’s character, Beca Mitchell, auditions for the Barden Bellas. The song she performs is “Cups” (or, “Cups (Pitch Perfect's 'When I’m Gone')”, a routine based on an old folk song by The Carter Family, written by A.P. Carter, that Beca accompanies herself on by playing a plastic cup.
The moment in the movie proved so popular with fans of the musical comedy that it became a big hit when it was remixed, extended and released as a single. To think, it wasn’t even supposed to be the song in the movie, as Kendrick explained recently on the podcast Call Her Daddy.
During the Pitch Perfect audition process, Kendrick, who we hope to see on the 2026 movie schedule with Misty Green, an upcoming release from A24, explained to host Alex Cooper that she had to prove she could sing. She decided to do her version of the song, along with the cup trick, which she had learned by watching a viral video. According to Hendrick:
And I was like, ‘Well, I know how to do this thing. There’s a cup, and there’s this song, and I can do that.’ So it was just ‘cause I was like, ‘Well, where else am I gonna do it?’ Because I was lame enough and dorky enough to have bothered learning this thing.
The producers of the movie loved it. In fact, they loved it so much that the song Beca was supposed to sing, “I’m a Little Teapot,” was scrapped, and the routine was written into the movie. It’s impossible to imagine that scene taking off had Millennial icon Kendrick been singing the old novelty song. Nor would it have been a hit, it’s safe to say.
In fact, Kendrick didn’t think that “Cups” could be a hit. When the producers talked to her about recording it for a single, she thought it was nuts. Kendrick said:
‘What are you f---ing serious? You want to release this as a single? This is embarrassing. I’m so embarrassed for us. So they had me go into the studio for like 20 minutes – a hit that was made in 20 minutes.
Before the craze was over, “Cups” became a Top-10 hit, reaching as high as #6 on the Billboard charts. Along the way, Kendrick was dumbfounded at each step, which included making a video for the song. She really had no idea how to react, as she explained:
Speaking of the times, Miley Cyrus and Macklemore [were] also in the top 10. I always just think like, they must’ve been like, ‘What the f--- is this s---? Like, who is this girl? What is this? How dare you….’
Whether she could believe it or not at the time, it has since become one of the most iconic moments and songs of the Pitch Perfect franchise. It was performed by Barden Bellas in the sequel as a ballad. It didn’t appear in the third movie, but it does have a cameo on the Pitch Perfect 3 soundtrack, where it was mashed up with George Michael’s “Freedom ‘90,” and it was also performed by the contestants of The Voice Season 12. Who knows, maybe we’ll see it again if Pitch Perfect 4 ever gets made!
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