Celebrities, Feature Stories | December 22, 2017

“Pitch Perfect 3” Star Brittany Snow Is Aca-Altruistic

Celebrities, Feature Stories | December 22, 2017

BrittanySnowLoveIsLouder_PH_IanBohenPhoto Credit: Ian Bohen

BECAUSE SHEā€™S A DEAD RINGER FOR A YOUNG REESE WITHERSPOON AND STARS IN A MASSIVE BOX office franchise, you might expect that Pitch Perfect star Brittany Snow leads a charmed life. Weā€™re not going to beat around the bush hereā€”youā€™d be right. But things havenā€™t always been harmonious for the actress, which is why, today, sheā€™s using her voice to ā€˜love louderā€™ā€¦ and she demands to be heard.

In September 2010, Snow, then 24, was moved to create her foundation, Love is Louder, after seeing the outpouring of support for those who had committed suicide as a result of bullying. The collaboration with The Jed Foundation and MTV strives to create a connected community of people.

ā€œI saw this outpouring of emotion online for these kids who didnā€™t know who to ask for help or support from all of these different groupsā€”people were really banding together,ā€ she says, noting that, while amazing, the support was a little segregated. ā€œEach group had a particular idea that they were representing: [there were support groups] for the LGBT community, or different ethnicities, but there wasnā€™t one inclusive place where you could find support. I wanted our similarities to be stronger than the things that divided us.ā€

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Working hands-on with Love Is Louder

Photo Credit:Ā Olivia HunterĀ 

Seeing so many kids simply give up struck a chord for Snow, who herself had also been a victim of bullying when sheĀ was youngerā€”so she took action. She brought her idea to pal Courtney Knowles, the executive director of The Jed Foundation, a non-profit that seeks to offer support to teens and young adults, who then presented the ā€˜Love is Louderā€™ and #LouderTogether concepts to the MTV network, which jumped on board immediately.

Today, the movement continues to connect teens across all ethnicities, religions and social groups. Anyone can join in the Love is Louder conversation on Facebook or Twitter by uploading a brief videoā€”30 seconds or lessā€”on MTVā€™s website and telling the world what they believe love is louder than. There are also helpful links and support for those who are struggling, but wish to remain anonymous.

While Snow has effectively accomplished what she set out to do in the present and is happy to look to the movementā€™s future, itā€™s understandable that she might be cagey when speaking about the pastā€”she hasnā€™t had the best experiences sharing the personal events that led her here.

At the age of 21, she opened up to the media, sharing that she had wrestled with eating disorders, depression and self-cuttingā€”with disastrous results. ā€œI try not to speak about my personal struggles very often because I feel like people magnify [my experiences] instead of what everyone is going through collectively,ā€ she notes in her sweet, soft-spoken way. ā€œI went through my difficulties in middle school and high school, and became open about them [in my 20s]. I tried to use my voice in a positive way, and people took what I said out of context and used it against me because they thought I wanted to gain attention.ā€

But this couldnā€™t be further from the truth. Even then, Snow was both hoping to be a voice for those who felt alienated and to stop feeling so isolated herself. ā€œThatā€™s why I wanted to start this as well,ā€ she says, ā€œbecause when I was growing up and going through difficult times, there was nowhere to go. There was no social media community that showed me that I wasnā€™t going crazy and that I wasnā€™t alone.ā€

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Snow hangs out at Trinity High School in NYC during a cross-country Love is Louder tour.

And sheā€™ll admit it: as much as the Love is Louder cause is for fellow sufferers, itā€™s for her, too. ā€œSelfishly, it helps me just as much as I hope it helps others. Every time I read or hear a story, I connect with something Iā€™ve gone through. I get quiet and grateful about how far Iā€™ve come.ā€Photo Credit: Olivia HunterĀ 

PRIMARILY, UNLIKE THE GIRL OF HER YOUTH, THE NOW-31-YEAR-OLD HAS SUPPORT IN SPADESĀ  Ā  Ā from her fictional family, the Barden Bellas, who have transformed into a close-knit group of real-life besties. ā€œThese girls are my family, and they are exactly the people that I go to when Iā€™m having a bad day,ā€ Snow confides. ā€œThey listen to my stories and my ramblings, and pick me up when Iā€™m feeling down.ā€

The sister-like cast first met while filming the 2012 musical comedy loosely adapted from Mickey Rapkinā€™s Pitch Perfect: The Quest for Collegiate A Capella Glory. It follows Barden Universityā€™s all-girl, underdog a cappella group as they compete against other, more established groups in a bid to win Nationals.

Raking in $116,044,347 million globally, the original film produced its first sequel in 2015. Now, the infamous ragtag bunch of aca-nerdsā€”including Snowā€™s slightly spacy leader Chloe Bealeā€”will return to the big screen on December 22 with the franchiseā€™s third installment, which will revolve around the groupā€™s post-collegiate exploits.

After winning the a cappella world championships, the Bellas discover that trying to make music in the real world is more difficult than they thought, and that ā€˜adultingā€™ just isnā€™t for them. There will be music, of course, plus travel (as the ladies get the chance to reunite for an overseas USO tour).

Most of the girlsā€”aside from Hailee Steinfeld, who was introduced in the second film, and Ruby Rose who joins the cast in the thirdā€”have been working together since the very beginning, six years ago. ā€œWeā€™ve grown into more mature women [and] our relationships have changed so much,ā€ Snow says of her buddies.

Donā€™t ask her to pick a favorite though (we didnā€™t, but others have)ā€”it wonā€™t happen. This is a group of girls that really unites as one, and even have their own constantly-going group chat, ā€œThe Bellasā€, to prove it. Instead, she shares what she loves about her cast mates, being sure to note that they arenā€™t listed in order of importance.

ā€œKelley Jakle [Jessica] was my roommate for three years, and became one of my best friends instantly. She is my sister. She inspires me to be more kind and is an amazing listener. She doesnā€™t have a mean bone in her body. Chrissie Fit [Flo] is one of my best friends and is hilarious; sheā€™s also the most giving person Iā€™ve ever met. Sheā€™ll do anything for anyoneā€”sheā€™ll drive hours and hours to help you with anything that you need. [Anna] Kendrick [Beca] has become one of my best friends, as well. Our relationship has changed in particular because, in the beginning, I think she found me annoyingā€¦ but I grew on her like a disease or something. We have the best relationship now. Sheā€™s a true friend; sheā€™s incredibly strong and gifted and is really an example of how to be a woman in this world and use your strength and intelligence for good.ā€

BrittanySnow_LoveIsLouder_PH_IanBohenPhoto Credit: Ian Bohen

But her friendship with co-star Anna Camp [Aubrey] takes things to the next level: Snow was even in her wedding (to another Pitch Perfect star, Skylar Astin). ā€œWe have the same exact sense of humor,Ā and can talk in a way where no one knows what the hell weā€™re talking about,ā€ she says with a laugh. ā€œTheyā€™re not even complete sentencesā€”theyā€™re words, phrases, soundsā€”but we get it. We have an unspoken language and unspoken bond, really, that I donā€™t have with anyone else.ā€

She rattles off positive things about her other female cast members Rebel Wilson, Ester Dean, Alexis Knapp, Hana Mae Lee and Shelley Regner, as well as relative newbie Hailee Steinfeld (whom she calls ā€œeffervescentā€ and ā€œsuch a starā€) before coming to the newest member of their tribe, Orange is the New Black actress Ruby Rose [Calamity]. ā€œI was really surprised about Ruby,ā€ she admits. ā€œI thought I was going to be so scared of herā€”sheā€™s unbelievably gorgeous and has the kind of presence you can even feel just by looking at a magazine cover. But she was absolutely the sweetest, and really became part of our group and fit right in to our jokes, and it was a seamless transition. Sheā€™s the nicest woman and of course, up close, the most beautiful human being Iā€™ve ever seen. I donā€™t think she even knows that, which is part of her charm.ā€

If she sounds like an advocate for girl power, youā€™re getting a good sense of Brittany Snow. In that way, she is just like her aca-alter ego. ā€œI would like to think that the good qualities I have and the good qualities I see in Chloe are similar. I love how passionate she is about her friends and about what she loves, which is music. Sheā€™s a little dramatic sometimes, but it all comes from a place that she really, really loves the people sheā€™s surrounded with, and I think thatā€™s part of me, too, so I instilled it in the character Iā€™ve created.ā€ She continues, ā€œ[In the film,] we all represent different things, and Chloe represents the heart of the group. I love it when people correlate that with her and with me.ā€

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Onstage with some very patriotic Bellas

Photo Credit: Quantrell Dr. Colbert/UniversalĀ 

We certainly do: in our opinion, Snow is all heart. Heck, by interviewā€™s end, we want to be part of her squadā€”and in the Bellas-only group chat, of which she says, ā€œRight now, Rebel [Wilson] is actually shooting a movie with [yet another Pitch Perfect star] Adam Devine. We all love Adam, but she was like, ā€˜Thereā€™s nothing like ourĀ set and the women that we have.ā€™ We were all like, ā€˜Yeah!ā€™ and typed lots of emojis and shit like that. We are constantly reminding each other that we really do have it good and are incredibly supportive of each other. There is no competition, no undermining, because we know that none of this works without each other.ā€

And although sheā€™s got cool new projects coming upā€”like Hangman with Al Pacino and Karl Urbanā€”and is even embarking on her directorial debut with an upcoming short film, the experience with her Barden Bellas can never be replicated, or likely as good. That 3 might be the final chapter is not lost on her. ā€œWe knew this might be the last, or one of the last [films]. We hope itā€™s not, but it very well could beā€”itā€™s not up to us. [While filming,] we looked around at each other a lot and realized how far weā€™ve come together, and how much we had used our friendships to create who we are. Thatā€™s really cheesy, but itā€™s true. It all made sense. None of this would have happened if not for Pitch Perfect. It really struck a chord when we had to say goodbye.ā€Ā 

The kind of female camaraderie that Snow describes among her own cast members seems akin to the Big Little Lies or Bridesmaids co-starsā€”the current trend is an all-for-one, one-for-all sentiment among women in Hollywood, and hopefully it lasts.

Snow agrees. ā€œWomen have to stand together!ā€ she declares. ā€œWe are not the enemy. We try our best and want the best for each other. What I love is that women especially are being truthful about whatā€™s happened to them and not being afraid to hide anymore. I think itā€™s great that people are uniting and realizing thereā€™s no reason to bring each other down.ā€

She cites Zoe Kazanā€™s recent article in The New York Times about overcoming her eating disorder and Amber Tamblynā€™s essay, also for The Times, entitled ā€œIā€™m Done With Not Being Believed.ā€ Says Snow, ā€œI love that women are standing up for themselves and taking that chance [and] not being afraid what theyā€™re saying is taboo, or that they canā€™t speak their truth because of what others will think. Itā€™s OK to share whatā€™s going on with you, and it shouldnā€™t be discredited. This is how we all collectively get better.ā€

She adds, ā€œBringing it back to Love is Louder, I think this is what people are realizing in generalā€”that thereā€™s no point in not being united.ā€

Pitch Perfect III
Making trouble with the Barden Bellas

Photo Credit:Quantrell Dr. Colbert/UniversalĀ 

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