Rebel Wilson: ‘People were obsessed with my weight loss’

Despite releasing four movies In 2019, Rebel Wilson reveals she got more press the following year when she did “nothing but lose weight”. But she tells Stellar her 30kg loss was about more than just transforming her body.

She is one of our most popular acting exports in decades, but over the past 12 months Rebel Wilson made far more headlines with the health and fitness routine that resulted in a total body transformation. But as the surprisingly shy actor tells Stellar, the most lasting change of all has been a mental one, as she unleashed her “inner siren” and finally stepped into her own power – crown and all.

On a secluded island in French Polynesia on Marlon Brando’s estate, Rebel Wilson hosted a week-long party to mark turning 40. Although that milestone birthday had actually happened the year before, Wilson was not going to let Covid steal her chance to celebrate in style.

So she good-naturedly nicknamed the tropical paradise Rebel Island and, across a week in September, organised a series of events to correspond with her life story – from a tennis competition to honour her first paid job as a coach at her uncle’s tennis school, to a movie night that acknowledged the time she spent behind the counter at her local cinema’s candy bar. (And perhaps, of course, as a nod to her successful big-screen career.)

“In 2019, I had four movies come out. Yet I get more press the following year when I do nothing but lose weight” Picture: Darcy Hemley

But the highlight of the holiday was the party itself, where Wilson threw a shipwreck-themed event to signify the many storms she has weathered in her life.

Wilson came dressed as a mermaid, complete with a coral crown atop her head, to represent having found her “inner siren” and celebrate the emergence of a woman firmly stepping into her power.

“I grew up not really trading on my looks. I was the personality girl,” Wilson – her Australian accent still as strong as ever – tells Stellar over the phone from her home in Los Angeles.

“But after going through my whole health transformation last year, I’ve been in touch with this ‘inner siren’. It’s not about being a certain size or body weight or anything. It’s just about loving yourself and loving the journey that you’re on. And to me, the women I think are most beautiful are those who step into their own power.”

When Wilson shared the highlights from her holiday on social media and explained the significance of turning 40, many of her 10 million-strong followers suggested she detail the numerous storms she’s endured – from fertility struggles and surviving malaria, to a years-long battle with emotional eating – in a memoir.

Little did they know that the actor, most famous for her roles in the Pitch Perfect film franchise, had already put some of those stories into a new, semi-autobiographical children’s book.

“I grew up not really trading on my looks. I was the personality girl” Picture: Darcy Hemley

“My life has been so adventurous that I needed an outlet to start writing it down. So all the kid-appropriate stories are going in the kids’ book… and I’ll save the more sexy stories for the adult book,” she jokes.

So while there may be no insight into any of her Hollywood romances in the soon-to-be-released Bella The Brave, there is a lot into Wilson’s life as a painfully reserved child who grew up in the outer suburbs of Sydney.

The genesis of the book came to the Bridesmaids actor when she returned home to Australia at the start of the outbreak of the pandemic last year.

“I would go on walks with my sister and my niece every day, and my niece reminded me of my younger self. I started thinking, ‘I wish I could tell her things that I wish someone would have told me. I wish I had stories growing up that could motivate and inspire me with girl power,’” she says.

So along came Bella (a nod to Wilson’s role as a “Barden Bella” in the a cappella group at the heart of those Pitch Perfect movies) who, just like Wilson, learnt to overcome her shyness by joining a choir.

“It’s true to life. Although, I’m embarrassed to say that I was a lot older than Bella when I got dragged out of the car by my mum to join the choir,” Wilson tells Stellar.

“But I’m so grateful Mum forced me to come out of my shell. It was traumatic at the time, but that kick-started a whole new area of my life in terms of performing.”

Rebel Wilson with Pitch Perfect co-stars Anna Kendrick and Elizabeth Banks in 2012. Picture: Getty

Rebel Wilson during her island party in September 2021 charting her “Year of Health” Picture: Instagram

Inspiring confidence in children is a passion of Wilson’s, and a key reason why she recently donated $1 million to the Australian Theatre for Young People, where she signed up for weekly acting classes in 1999 after being rejected by the National Institute of Dramatic Art.

“Being involved in the creative arts helped me find my voice,” she says.

“It’s crazy that I became an actress, because I was so shy. Growing up, nobody looked at me and said, ‘That girl should be an international movie star!’ Even now, I still get really nervous for my live performances, but I’ve learnt to embrace it.”

She adds that her shyness is also linked to her well-documented struggles with emotional eating.

“When I was at my heaviest, I also had the most international attention on me. Because I’m not a natural performer, my natural personality is very introverted; the way I dealt with that pressure was to eat. I would reward myself with a block of chocolate,” she says.

Wilson decided to theme 2020 her “Year of Health” and finally address the root cause of her binge-eating. Now, the woman who became internationally renowned for playing a character called “Fat Amy” has lost more than 30kg, and has kept the weight off for more than a year.

“For the first time in my life I’ve lost weight and maintained it,” she says. “So I’m more proud of that fact.

“It worked because it was the whole lifestyle approach and dealing with emotional eating. I’m not totally cured. I don’t think you can be. But I’ve learnt to manage it – and it’s not by reaching for a bowl of ice cream.”

She also discovered that her weight loss invariably changed the way the world saw her, too.

“In 2019, I had like four movies come out, two which I [also] produced and one, Jojo Rabbit [in which she starred], which got nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture. Yet I get more press the following year when I do nothing except lose weight,” she says.

“When you work so hard on something, you want the message you put out to be positive. That’s what makes it all worthwhile, knowing you could make a difference to someone, somewhere out there.” Picture: Darcy Hemley

“People are so obsessed with it. But I get it. Oprah is one of my heroes. She’s certainly struggled with eating issues and I would always watch her episodes when she spoke about that.”

Another catalyst for Wilson’s health transformation was a desire to improve her chances of falling pregnant and becoming a mother.

“I’ve been going through a fertility journey for the past two years and I’m hoping at some point I may have a family of my own,” she starts.

“But it’s still a bit unclear whether that’ll be the case. I feel like [it’s] not over yet. It’s kind of an emotional roller-coaster. But I’ve been trying my best, so whatever will be, will be.”

While her experiment in theming her years has proven successful – she has also had a “Year of Fun” and “Year of Love” – Wilson admits she doesn’t know if she will nominate one in 2022.

What she will say is that, along with adding another book to the Bella The Brave series, she plans to write, star in and direct her first film.

“Even though I don’t have directing experience, I’ve been in the business for almost 20 years and I thought, why not? Certainly a guy of my stature in the industry would be getting those opportunities,” she says, adding the film has a similar vibe to Pitch Perfect.

Rebel Wilson stars on the cover of this Sunday’s Stellar.

“And I’m going to cast some really talented young people. I want to give them a boost that I got from being in Pitch Perfect.”

And like everything she does, whether it be on screen, in her writing or simply in the everyday, Wilson hopes it can inspire uncertain young women to find their voice.

“When you work so hard on something, you want the message you put out to be positive. That’s what makes it all worthwhile, knowing you could make a difference to someone, somewhere out there.”

Bella The Brave by Rebel Wilson and Annabel Tempest (Lothian Children’s Books, $19.99) is out October 27.

Originally published as Rebel Wilson: ‘People were obsessed with my weight loss’