She was Fat Amy in Pitch Perfect, Fat Mandy in a sketch show and even appeared in a film called Fat Pizza. But when Rebel Wilson stands before a crowd of A-listers to host tomorrow's BAFTAs, the word “fat” simply won’t register.
Since embarking on what she called her “year of health” in 2020, the Australian comedian has lost more than five stone – and she has also managed to keep the weight off since reaching her goal of 11st 8lb.
While she’s shared much of her journey with her 10.5 million Instagram followers, the Bridesmaids star delved far deeper into her mental health in a recent interview.
For the first time Rebel, 42, told how memories of her beloved late father made her want to tackle her binge-eating, and said the therapy she has had since has made her a better actress. And shockingly, she also revealed some movie executives warned her not to lose weight for fear she’d lose her appeal.
In January, when Rebel announced she would be presenting tomorrow's awards ceremony, she posted a self-deprecating message online and said: “I don’t wanna put any pressure on this – I know I’m not going to be funny because I am no longer fat.”
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But this week she proved that was never the case when she left fans in stitches after sharing a witty social media video from London’s Royal Albert Hall.
“I have kept it [the weight] all off this year,” she said, speaking on the US podcast Getting Better: Stories of Mental Health.
“I have always gained it back so I think my life has changed now because of the work I have done for myself.”
Rebel grew up in the western suburbs of Sydney and when her father – a professional dog handler – passed away in 2008, she was in the middle of filming US TV show, Super Fun Night.
During the interview, she said: “My father could not cope with emotion very well. And how he would do that was he would get angry at times and say things that he probably didn’t mean.
“One time he said he would kill me. A few things like that happened as a child and you feel like, ‘I am not a good enough person’, or stuff like that.
“His father was murdered so it was like this whole cycle that he never dealt with.
“Even though I loved him very much, I am trying to break the cycle and be more evolved. It took my father passing away to realise that life is short and you should be open to it.”
Rebel also told how conversations about mental health were often brushed under the carpet when she was young. She recalled: “At 13, I found all these cassette tapes in the trunk of my dad’s car. He was obviously trying to help himself and they helped me.
“There were like 70 in this bag. I started listening and they were like self-help – motivational. I was very shy and I listened to all the tapes and I learned stuff.
“I came from a conservative family who did not talk very much about mental health so at the dinner table, you would talk about winning your field hockey match.”
Overeating became Rebel’s way of dealing with her emotions after she convinced herself there were far worse vices in life.
“I have seen a lot of celebrities get f****d up on substances and stuff and thought, ‘At least I am not doing anything crazy’,” she said.
“But you can make your life better and not have those cycles. You can get to a better place by talking to somebody.”
Rebel’s parents separated when she was 16 and it had a profound effect on her own self-worth. She was brought up by her mum, alongside sisters Liberty and Ryot and brother Annachi. It put Rebel, who is currently single, off men for quite some time.
The Hustlers actress said: “I never dated in my 20s at all as I was not interested in that area of my life after seeing things in my family.”
After studying for two degrees – one in theatre and performance and another in law – Rebel won a drama scholarship set up by fellow Aussie actress Nicole Kidman.
She went on to star in Australian TV shows before arriving in Hollywood just over a decade ago where she “saw that the bigger girls got the laughs” and used her “physicality to make millions of dollars”.
But when a doctor told Rebel she could have fertility issues, it was the trigger she needed to get more active.
However, not everyone was an advocate of her desire to be slimmer and fitter. Rebel said: “When I brought it up to my team, they were not into it as I make a lot of money being bigger.
“There were people who were not so supportive of me changing but at the end of the day, it is my body and my decision.
“I said I was doing it and I was out of some contracts as you have got to hold that look for a while, like, hold 5kg either side when you are in a movie contract.”
To tackle her emotional eating, Rebel enlisted the help of an LA doctor, who she says “changed my life”.
Rebel said: “Myself and the doctor would have these intense conversations and I would cry and it turned out the mental side was the big thing.”
Losing weight has not just benefitted Rebel’s health, but her career too.
“Weirdly, it has helped my acting,” she said. “I have just done a drama movie in England called The Almond and the Seahorse. I had to break down in the scenes.
“I used a lot of the things that came up in my conversation with my doctor for that.
“I used painful memories and stuff that really hits you in the guts.
“Even the directors have commented, like, ‘Wow, we did not know you had that depth’.”
But for someone who has always had such a strong work ethic, Rebel is appreciating more than ever how important it is to look after herself.
She said: “Anybody out there suffering with emotional eating and weight issues, I know exactly what it is like. I think, for me, it has not totally gone away.
“There are still days when I will just get the chocolate from the fridge like, ‘I don’t want to deal with this right now’.
“But you can work on yourself and improve your situation as the healthier you are, mentally and physically, the better.”
