In Sony Pictures’ new movie Fired Up, two football players decide to get out of the hassle and stress of football summer camp by signing up for cheer camp instead. As one might imagine would come of a situation like that, shenanigans ensue.
AnnaLynne McCord, previously known for her work on 90210 and Nip/Tuck, plays antagonist Gwyneth in the film. It was her first experience playing a role in a comedy movie.
“It was a lot of fun,” McCord said. “I was actually really turned onto the role because it was a comedy, and I did a lot of dramas and nothing too funny. I wanted to be funny, and I got a chance to do that here.”
McCord’s sense of humor for the movie is “a straight shooter and super serious. Personally, I laugh at myself, but… that can always be funny when things are a light matter and someone takes it way too seriously. Gwyneth is very serious about her cheerleading, so it’s pretty funny.”
Despite her standing in the acting community, McCord did have to go through the entire audition process with little slack. The cheerleader hand signals and stunts were a must for the character.
“Once I had already been offered the role, [the director] was like, ‘What’s that thing you did in the audition?'” McCord recalled. “And I showed him what I did again, and it became a part of the film – something that my team, the Panthers, does every time we end a conversation.”
When asked how filming Fired Up was different from shooting a TV show, McCord responded, “A film project mainly is a big production. It’s completely different… Film is all about the setting and the place and making the audience feel like they’re really there, and a TV show is more about the dialogue and what’s going on.”
The role of antagonist is also a new experience for McCord. “It’s actually a lot of fun, because I get an opportunity to really play around and do some fun stuff… but it’s also a problem if it is something that you step into… because you don’t want to be that person in real life.”
“Especially on the set… I was pretty set in who I wanted Gwyneth to be and I wanted to stay serious,” McCord added. “I keep clear on what I want to do and just really separate myself from the rest of the cast, so I was a loner on that film. On 90210 and the other shows, it’s obviously different in the way my characters are different levels of bad, but on Fired Up I was definitely a bit of a loner.”
“The best part [about playing Gwyneth] is you get to be a mean person. You get to take out all your aggression and it’s allowed. This one scene… [the director] had written a part where Gwyneth does this miming thing where I take out a napkin from my pocket and proceed to wipe imaginary drool from the other team’s captain’s lips… that was definitely fun for me.”
Sure, it’s a movie about cheerleaders, and just about anyone can name a few movies just like that. But in this case, it focuses on two guys at a cheerleading camp, which makes it stand out a bit more.
“History definitely repeats itself,” McCord said about that. “This story is actually based on two of our producers’ real life… in high school, [they] got into cheer camp to go meet girls, which to me is kind of genius. So, in its own right, it might be pioneering, but I think that there has definitely been a couple of guys who thought, ‘Hey, 300 girls who are out there in tiny miniskirts. Let’s go and be a part of that.’ We’ll see.”
Fired Up is produced by Sony Pictures and is now playing in theatres.
