Rebel Wilson is opening up about the way people started treating her following her weight loss.
In an exclusive interview with People and ahead of the release of her tell-all memoir Rebel Rising, the actress discussed the beginning of her "year of health" during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, she says she slowly lost weight in order to "drastically change" and eventually harvest her eggs.
(Wilson welcomed a baby girl on Nov. 7, 2022, via surrogate.)
“I was getting quite a lot of attention for the weight loss,” she told the publication. “I thought: ‘Gosh, people are so intrigued by this.’ Literally, I got more attention for weight loss than any movie I'd ever done.”
The Pitch Perfect star went on to say that while she knows "that's superficial," it "was nice" to receive the attention.
"I went, ‘Oh, is this what hot people experience all the time?’ Their life must be so bloody blessed,” she went on to add, noting that people would hold the door for her and pay her more attention as a result of her smaller size.
While it was hurtful to realize how little people cared while she was larger, Wilson admitted that the added attention was "such positive reinforcement" that ended up motivating her to continue maintaining her healthy routine.
“It was interesting to know exactly what it's like to be invisible sexually and then to be visible,” she added. "I've experienced both sides of the coin.”
In the age of fad diets and Ozempic, the comedian added that it's common for people to "think that there's some magic pill, or some sick special diet, or exercise regime or whatever" that will magically help a person lose weight or get healthy. (It's worth noting that losing weight and being healthy are not always the same thing. Size is not an indicator of any one person's health.)
As she prepares to release her memoir into the world, Wilson says she hopes her book and her own lived experience will “give people the message, if they're like me and an emotional eater, that it's not about that stuff."
"It's literally about working at a healthier way to deal with your emotions, and there is no magic solution," she added. "And then maybe me telling my story might encourage them to do the same and make healthy change in their lives."
