Talking with ‘Pitch Perfect’ star Hana Mae Lee

Hana Mae Lee, pictured top left. Image courtesy Universal Pictures

Pitch Perfect’s Lilly returns as the fire-starter, quietly the Bellas’ fiercest member. She’s played by So-Cal native and polymath Hana Mae Lee, who models, designs jewelry and performs avant-garde comedy.

Did you have any favorite places or things you did in your downtime here?
The Cove is always the coolest place to go for a drink. They have an insane collection of alcohol—some that date back to the Prohibition era. And watching their techniques with making their cocktails is entertainment in itself. I’d try to go to New Orleans as often as I could in my downtime as well. There’s so much to do there and it’s so fun. … There is no discrimination with age—people are dancing in the clubs showing off their dance moves from 21-66, and it’s epic.

How would you describe the “Southern hospitality” in Louisiana compared with other cities you’ve worked in?
I thought Southern hospitality was just a stereotype until I went to Louisiana, and I fell in love with the people and all the culture. Everyone is super nice there and people have manners! I want to move there forever.

What was the nicest thing someone did for you in Baton Rouge?
I remember when Brittany [Snow] and I arrived for the first movie, we hadn’t gotten our rental cars yet, and one of our drivers said we could borrow his pickup truck. But people usually just say those things, so I thought he was just saying that to be nice. But he gave his truck to us and said we could return it to him whenever, and we had all just met. It was a super nice truck, too.

Did you get recognized more the second time you came to Baton Rouge?
I will always remember when a background actor came up to me when we were shooting our “Promises” number, and he told me that he served time in the Army. He said that Pitch Perfect was a film he watched regularly that gave him strength every day while he was in Iraq. I felt so lucky to hear that.

What was it like to film the climactic championship scene with 3,000 extras?
I felt like we were ‘NSync but chicks. This is what it feels like to be in a band. It was thrilling for me. Having a live audience that cheers you on, and that are excited to be there, was a tremendous experience and benefit.

Rebel Wilson recently announced that a third Pitch Perfect is already in the works. What do you think the Bellas should do next?
Personally, I’d like to see what happens with it when the Bellas become domesticated. Where they live their lives and they start to miss the competitions and start doing random events to get back that “rush” feeling when they used to compete, and we get to see that unfold.

Read more about the Baton Rouge-shot movie here.

Read an interview with star Rebel Wilson here.