Rebel Wilson has been causing controversy with her allegations about co-star Sacha Baron Cohen – but the Hollywood star says she has not always been so fearless.
Admitting she suffered “extreme shyness” as a child, she says she had to read self-help books to learn how to make friends at boarding school when she was 15.
She says: “I forced myself to do things out of my comfort zone such as debating and public speaking. I’d be red in the face. It did take a year, but did I become popular? Yes.”
The Aussie star even used to fake an American accent to handle the fear of speaking to strangers. She says: “Speaking in a different voice was the only way I could cope with the stress. Playing confident characters rubs off on you, and as a result you become confident.”
After finding fame as Brynn in 2011 film Bridesmaids, she took on the role of Fat Amy in the Pitch Perfect trilogy.
Dame Judi Dench performs ABBA song with Sharleen Spiteri on New Year's EveRebel, 44, says it was key that she “had agency” over the character, adding: “It wasn’t a joke about being fat. That was part of her personality – she owned it.”
And she explains how sudden weight gain due to the condition PCOS had steered her into comedy, telling Lauren Laverne on Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs today: “In a world obsessed with thin beauty standards, I was so different.”
But she jokes she did not set out to be a comedy actress, adding: “I set out to be an actress like Judi Dench. But I quickly computed there’s something about me people find funny, so I just lean into it.”
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