Rebel Wilson: I’m not as confident as I look

REBEL Wilson’s the last person you’d expect to be shy, but at times, the Aussie superstar struggles just like the rest of us.

SHE’S not lacking in sexual confidence as Fat Amy in the Pitch Perfect franchise, but in real life Rebel Wilson says she couldn’t be more different.

“I can get up in front of a crowd of 100,000 people and tell jokes. And on the dance floor I can be unusually confident, but I get a bit shy if I’m on a one-on-one date,” she admits. “I’m trying to work on that.”

Currently single, she says, “I’m very independent and recently I’ve been getting a lot of attention, which is very overwhelming,” she laughs. “But I haven’t met the right person, though, hopefully, one day soon.”

Rebel Wilson says she doesn’t have the sexual confidence of Fat Amy.

What attributes would make for that special person? Presumably, a sense of humour is important to the Aussie comedienne.

“I find funny guys don’t really like funny girls, weirdly. But funny girls like funny guys, so there’s a bit of a double standard there. I just like someone who’s genuinely a nice person and who will treat me nicely.”

In order to get into that overtly sexual mindset necessary to play Fat Amy of the Barden Bellas a cappella group, she explains, “I have a list of key words like ‘cocksure’ that I’d keep in my bra to look at,” she says. “I love that Fat Amy is the most confident and sassy of all the Bellas. I think that sends a good message that you should be comfortable in your own skin, whatever size you are.

“At the recent MTV Awards I did a spin on Victoria’s Secret models. I think just because they’re called models, I don’t think they’re necessarily people you should model yourself after.”

Rebel’s version of a Victoria Secret angel. Picture: Michael Buckner/Getty Images

But she certainly looked like a typically glam model on a recent cover of UK Elle magazine. “Well, I’m doing a lot of magazine photo shoots now and it’s really quite strange. To get through it I pretend I’m a supermodel, like I’m Cara Delevingne and I’ll just give it. I do all my faces and channel somebody else to get over the embarrassment of thinking, ‘Oh my God, there are people looking at me behind the monitor, going ‘um?’”

Rebel on the cover of Elle Magazine.

Rebel Wilson's shoot for Elle Magazine

Although such demands of her are becoming the norm, she’s still uneasy on the red carpet. “I get pretty nervous. Everyone’s taking your photo and people are looking at you for what you look like and that’s never been what I’m about. That’s more of a Kardashian thing. I’ve gotten to where I am because I work hard and I think differently and I’m creative. I use my brain a lot so to have people look at you for what you’re wearing is still very unusual for me.”

Speaking of which, is Wilson keeping up with the Kardashians?

“I am. Actually, I watched that Bruce Jenner interview the other day,” she says, referring to his big reveal to Diane Sawyer about his transgender status. “God, I thought it was pretty progressive, and that 17 million people watched it in America I think is great. I didn’t even know he was a former Olympian,” she admits. “I found it all really interesting.”

Wilson enjoys her life in Los Angeles — particularly her swanky Hollywood Hills pad, which she purchased last year at US$2.2 million. The 29-year-old Bridesmaids and Pitch Perfect scene-stealer says of her success, “It’s really crazy. I think I’m the first female from Australia to make it in mainstream Hollywood comedies. Of course there are many great Australian actors, who are everywhere, but none who’ve broken through in comedy.”

And the downside?

“Well, now I can’t go to shopping malls or even the cinema, which I used to love doing just by myself. Now there will be paparazzi shooting me and saying, ‘Ah, she’s got no friends!’” she laughs. “So, I can’t go to the supermarket, which is surreal, although it’s great because it means people are recognising what I do, and I see now that being a role model I should try to utilise that for some good.

Rebel Wilson sure doesn’t look like she lacks confidence. Picture: Frederic J. Brown / AFP

“I’m bringing out a plus-size clothing brand with the Torrid label, which is coming out in October. It’s really interesting because it’s such an untapped market. There are so many younger girls who are bigger but don’t have cool clothes to wear,” she says. “It’s been great designing the clothes. Some of them are like sweatpants, and there are also up-market dresses and skirts.”

Pitch Perfect grossed US$113 million at the box office worldwide, in 2012, and there is expected to be a third film after the sequel hits theatres on Thursday.

Without question, Wilson’s Fat Amy is the secret to the franchise’s success.

“Originally, Fat Amy was going to be American, so when I was rehearsing for the first movie I was trying to conceal the fact that I was Australian, but the director heard me and said, ‘You need to do that in the movie,’” she recalls. “I didn’t want to because I’d practised my American accent but he was like, ‘No, be Australian.’ And that was just days before we began shooting.”

There are many Aussie-centric jokes in the second instalment. “I made up this backstory that she was from Tasmania because I thought that’s the funniest place she could be from. We improvised a lot of the jokes, so it’s very different from the original script.”

Of course, much of the movie’s appeal is about the music, but what does Wilson listen to in her downtime?

“I think coming from the western suburbs, the ghetto of Sydney, I love rap music and hip hop. Anything from Nicki Minaj. I like it when really strong girls just give it,” she explains.

On the subject of strong female recording artists, Wilson has been mistaken for Adele. “I’ve never met her but my gosh, I’m such a huge fan. She’s brilliant and she seems really down to earth. I think we’d be friends if we did meet, but I think she lives in a castle in the north of England, or something.” She pauses. “I think she’s a cool chick. Maybe I should go round there one day.”

Wilson visits Australia twice a year. “Definitely at Christmas I’m there,” she offers. “I really miss (Smith’s) Chicken Chips and Cadbury chocolate.” The Hershey Company, America’s largest chocolate manufacturer, has recently banned Cadbury from distributing product to the US. Undaunted, Wilson says, “It only tastes right when I buy it from an Australian supermarket. So when I’m coming back from Australia I get my sister to go shopping for me, and then I smuggle it in.”