For a movie about coupons, Queenpins had some surprising physical demands for its stars Kristen Bell and Kirby Howell-Baptiste.
“Very few things I’ve tried in my life have been that hard,” says Bell, referencing her training for the film. She portrays Connie, a former Olympic gold medalist racewalker, and had to demonstrate the sport several times in the film. “There were even more racewalking scenes in the movie that didn’t end up making it in there in the final cut.” For those scenes that did make it onto the screen, Bell was coached by a real-life Olympian racewalker.
“This is gonna look funny,” Bell was warned by her trainer. She also considered it one of the most intense levels of cardio she’s ever done. “A sprinters just giving their all, and a long distance runer is using their stamina muscles. In racewalking you’re actually using both.”
Howell-Baptiste had her own physical challenge for the film, although one that was perhaps a bit more fun. “I did this dance class in Griffith Park, and I fell in love with the choreographer,” says Howell-Baptiste. When her role as JoJo in Queenpins called for a victory dance moment, she knew she wanted to use that same choreographer. “I never painted myself as one of those people doing an hour workout in the middle of a park with a bunch of people watching you, but it was so fun.” She knew that if she could recreate that same feeling she would nail that victory moment in the film. “I wish I could say it was just all me off the cuff, but no, I had to practice that dance.”
You can hear about their prepration for the film and the fun they had on set in their Queenpins interview.
Kirby Howell-Baptiste and Kristen Bell Queenpins Interview
Queenpins is opening in select Cinemark Theaters nationwide on September 10, 2021, followed by a premiere this fall on Paramount+.
About Queenpins
Couponing goes criminal in the new trailer for Queenpins. From writer-directors Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly, the film stars Kristen Bell, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Paul Walter Hauser, Vince Vaughn and Bebe Rexha. In theaters September 10th and coming soon to Paramount+
Inspired by a true story, QUEENPINS is an outrageous comedy about a bored and frustrated suburban homemaker, Connie (Kristen Bell) and her best pal JoJo (Kirby Howell-Baptiste), a vlogger with dreams, who turn a hobby into a multi-million dollar counterfeit coupon caper. After firing off a letter to the conglomerate behind a box of cereal gone stale, and receiving an apology along with dozens of freebies, the duo hatch an illegal coupon club scheme that scams millions from mega-corporations and delivers deals to legions of fellow coupon clippers. On the trail to total coupon dominance, a hapless Loss Prevention Officer (Paul Walter Hauser) from the local supermarket chain joins forces with a determined U.S. Postal Inspector (Vince Vaughn) in hot pursuit of these newly-minted “Queenpins” of pink collar crime.