Chris Carlberg didn’t expect to be back on a film set more than two decades after his first brief appearance. But this summer, the Bend native returned to the big screen in Freakier Friday, Disney’s long-awaited sequel to its 2003 body-swap comedy Freaky Friday. And once again, he’s behind the drums.

Chris Carlberg, now a longtime musician and local music educator, was just a teenager when he played a small but memorable part in the original film as the school band’s drummer. At the time, it was a fun moment, something between a cameo and a fluke. But two decades later, that single scene came full circle.

In the new film, which premiered this August, Carlberg is back: this time not as a student, but as a working drummer. His return to the set was kept quiet until local media in Central Oregon caught wind of it. For his hometown of Bend, the news landed with a mix of surprise and hometown pride. It’s not often a regional musician winds up reprising a Disney role after twenty years.

“I didn’t go looking for it,” Carlberg said in a recent interview, reflecting on how the role found its way back to him. The filmmakers reached out earlier this year with the idea of bringing back original faces: those small characters that helped build the world around Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan in the first film. Carlberg’s scene, though still short, carries a bit of nostalgia and authenticity. He doesn’t speak, but he plays. And that’s what matters.

Carlberg’s return was filmed in Los Angeles over a few days this spring. Unlike in 2003, this time he arrived with years of performance under his belt. The drumming in the new scene isn’t acting, it’s real. His touch is tighter, his timing sharper. For a film that plays with ideas of time and perspective, that kind of subtle growth becomes a quiet, fitting detail.

Back in Bend, Carlberg still plays regularly and teaches young drummers across the region. He’s known for his calm demeanor, his groove, and the way he encourages students to listen more than they play. The news of his return to the screen came with a kind of small-town joy, the kind you feel when someone from around the corner ends up on a national stage, again.

Freakier Friday may be about switching bodies, but Carlberg’s role stayed exactly the same. One drummer, two decades, and a beat that never stopped.