APPEARING in her favourite film franchise was the last thing 19-year-old Scarlett Pannell expected – but that's just what will happen after she won a competition to appear in Pitch Perfect 3.
Scarlett, who lives in Peverell, sent off her virtual audition for the walk-on role a few weeks ago using the popular lip-sync app Dubsmash.
The University of St Mark and St John primary education student, who had her first day yesterday, was then shortlisted before receiving a tense phone call from the producers on Sunday night.
"I couldn't believe I'd got it," said Scarlett, who went to Devonport High School for Girls, "I couldn't sit still – I was so full of energy and I am really ridiculously happy."
The virtual auditions were launched by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment to celebrate the Blu-Ray and DVD release of Pitch Perfect 2, with a commitment from Universal Studios to give one fan the incredible opportunity to appear on the big screen alongside Hollywood A-listers.
Scarlett said: "I had done a lot of Acapella at school, so naturally when Pitch Perfect came out I was totally into it. I used to sing and do a lot of theatre work, and I'm currently working as a classroom assistant at Razzamataz Theatre School on Saturday mornings.
"I've always loved singing and acting but never considered it as a career, so I never would have had an opportunity like this!
"They said I came across as very professional, creative and clever but it's all a bit of a blur what they were saying because I was so happy."
She added: "I've watched the first movie about 100 times, and now that the sequel is out on DVD I'll also be watching that 100 times. I'm basically the biggest Pitch Perfect fan ever."
Thousands of other fans went for the role by submitting their virtual auditions. The Dubsmash app held a gallery of 20 acca-mazing Pitch Perfect 2 soundbites, with budding stars recording a lip-sync and uploading it to social media using #PitchSmashUK.
The virtual auditions were judged on a range of criteria including the creativity of the submission, and how good the lip-synching was.
Katy Richardson, from Universal Pictures, commented: "We've obviously got a lot of tricks up our sleeves for the next movie, and Scarlett will be right there in the thick of it – as close to the action as you can possibly get!"
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