Elizabeth Banks made the Democratic National Convention her own personal audition for Jimmy Fallon’s gig. Following in the footsteps of Donald Trump at the Republicans’ shindig—and all the late night hosts that subsequently parodied him—Banks entered the convention center silhouetted against a blinding backdrop with “We Are The Champions” blaring. “You know I don’t usually say this about Donald Trump, but that was over the top,” she said after her making her grand debut.
Banks made reference to not one but two of her film roles. First, she drew parallels between Trump and her Hunger Games character Effie Trinket. Effie, like Trump, is a “cruel, out-of-touch, reality TV star, who wears insane wigs while delivering long-winded speeches to a violent dystopia.” But not all of Banks’ roles have an eerie, distressing similarity to the state of the country. She also employed the feel-good vibes of Pitch Perfect’s vocal stylings. Along with some of her co-stars from that franchise (John Michael Higgins, Ben Platt, Hana Mae Lee) and a litany of other celebrities (Jane Fonda, Aisha Tyler, Mandy Moore, Idina Menzel, various Modern Family-ites), Banks performed an a cappella rendition of Rachel Platten’s “Fight Song.” It’s all rather silly—and the singers have varying degrees of talent—but enjoyable if you’re into this sort of thing.