Rebel Wilson, who just made her debut in the West End production of Guys & Dolls at the storied Savoy Theater in London, steals scenes right and left in every comedy she appears in, but that wasn't always the case.
In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Wilson attributed her success in
comedy to her weight. She first realized this could be her edge from her up
on others when she noticed a castmate in a play she herself had written was
getting more laughs from the audience.
“I was like: ‘Oh. That girl's getting a lot of laughs, a lot
easier than me. What is it?' Because I don't think there's much difference
in talent. And I remember distinctly thinking: ‘I think it’s because she
she’s fatter’. And then, I don't know if it was mega-conscious, but I
thought: 'How can I get more laughs? Maybe if I was a bit fatter…’ And then
suddenly I was fatter, and doing comedy,” she said.
Wilson also
mentioned that she's able to gain and lose weight quickly because of a
hormonal imbalance. “I'll take six months off, and just do a total
transformation. But then, so many people go: ‘Don’t you do it!’ But I think:
‘Why not?’”
Of course, Wilson also deflected a personal question by joking
her family de ella is comprised of drug dealers, and that Idris Elba asked
for her phone number de ella after she flirted with him onstage during the
BAFTAs but has yet to call. It's hard to tell if she was being entirely
serious in her remarks about gaining weight, but what she's saying speaks to
a larger issue at hand, which is that people find it easier to laugh at a
person who's overweight than see her as a dramatic or romantic lead, aside
from the hypersexuality of a character like “Fat Amy” in Pitch Perfect and
its sequel. None of that seems to bother Wilson, who added, “I saw my size
as being an advantage, whereas so many women see it as a
disadvantage.”
Wilson, who sued Bauer Media for defamation over articles that
accused her of lying about her age, had plenty to say about ageism.
“Hollywood IS age-ist. That's why people do crazy s—to their faces—out of
desperation to look younger. But I think my career is based more on my
personality, so it doesn't really matter.” You tell 'em, Rebel.
