Rebel Wilson says lead poising in her childhood has affected her brain-James Mottram-Entertainment – Metro

Rebel Wilson on her new film, autobiography, dream director and pushing the boundaries of comedy (Picture: Metro.co.uk/Getty)

Australian actress and comedian Rebel Wilson, 44, is back with her new movie The Almond And The Seahorse and autobiography Rebel Rising.

Starring in a straight drama, set in the frigid temperatures of Liverpool you could say, the Pitch Perfect star was quite literally taken out of her comfort zone.

In this weekend’s 60 Seconds, she talks about moving into drama, weight loss, the time she met Benedict Cumberbatch’s wife and the tragic reason why she has no memories from when she was a kid.

Your new film The Almond And The Seahorse is a rare dramatic role. What was that like for you?

It’s not like comedy, where you just have a fun time, like the Pitch Perfect movies where it’s not really acting, it’s more like you’re just being yourself and having a blast. It’s so different because this was a really quick shoot. I think it was 21 days.

And then in some of the scenes, you have to go from zero to a hundred. You only got a couple of takes per scene. I didn’t find it very fun at all because my character, Sarah, was so emotional and you have to be very emotionally raw. It was something I hadn’t done in a long time. So it was a bit torturous. Also it was very, very freezing for my Australian blood where we shot, in Wales and Liverpool. The scene where
I jumped in the ocean, I couldn’t stop coughing for an hour.

Do you want to do more dramatic acting?

I came out of the experience thinking
I really want to show more acting sides, because even though it was more challenging to me than doing comedy, it was really rewarding. One of my favourite actors is Toni Collette, we went to the same drama school and I love the gutsy kind of roles she does. I’d love to sink my teeth into more stuff, similar to what she does.

Do you have an ideal director?

Maybe Emerald Fennell [Saltburn]. I think she’s cool. I mean, Steven Spielberg, he’s cool. He’s so nice as well. So I don’t know. All the big ones. I can’t imagine Martin Scorsese casting me but you never know.

Emerald Fennell IS cool (Photo by Karwai Tang/WireImage)

Did you get to explore Liverpool? It’s famed for its comedy…

I didn’t know that. No, I just went on the Beatles tour! And went to Paul McCartney’s childhood house. I didn’t know they had a comedy community. I went with my friend who is a film producer. She showed me around. But some of the addresses she had were wrong… we’d just rock up to some random person’s house. And then I was like, ‘This doesn’t look like anything!’

Your book Rebel Rising is also out, in which you tackle the subject of your weight loss. What made you decide to lose weight?

I lost 35 kilos in 2020 to try to just be a healthier version of myself. I was known as like the ‘fat funny girl’ and that was working pretty well in comedy, but I knew
I wanted to be healthier and I wanted to not be emotionally eating so much. It was my one vice and I was trying to work on it.

Rebel Wilson’s autobiography is out now.

How important are memories for you?

I have this weird thing. I don’t have a lot of memories as a kid. I had lead poisoning as a child. I think it really affected my brain. Lead from the paint, from the walls. One of our dogs died – that’s how they found out. I was tested and I was part of a government study until I was about seven for lead poisoning.

But memories… I don’t know, I’m a very sentimental person. I do all this crazy stuff in my life. I travel the world and do all these fun, awesome things. And then I make these little photo books.

My nana had dementia. I don’t know whether it’s something to do with that, that I’m like, ‘Oh, I need to preserve the memories because I need to remember all of the fun things that I did.’

Do you keep a diary?

I used to but now I’ve stopped. If somebody read it, it’d be juicy.

You could publish it, like the late actor Alan Rickman did…

It would probably just be me saying, ‘I ate too many doughnuts today.’

You famously hosted the Baftas in 2022. Did you get any comeback from the guests you ribbed?

She wasn’t flirting (Credits: James Veysey/REX/Shutterstock for BAFTA)

No, but Benedict Cumberbatch’s wife came up to me and said, ‘You know he’s married, right?’ Some people thought maybe
I was trying to steal him or something. Some of the good-looking guys, you just make some jokes… I feel like they could have taken it.

Ricky Gervais set the bar very high when it comes to presenting awards shows…

He’s hilarious. When I watched him host the Golden Globes, I was always like, ‘Oh, my God!’ He says some pretty rude stuff.

Ricky got away with much ruder gibes (Photo by Vera Anderson/WireImage)

Would you like more comedy freedom?

I think the whole wokeness and cancel culture can hurt comedy.

Even back in the day when the court jester would entertain the royal court, I guess they had a fear of getting their head chopped off. Which was a problem.

But the comedian’s role in society is to push the boundaries and to push the lines. I think that should still be allowed to happen.

Rebel Rising is out now. The Almond And The Seahorse is in cinemas now

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