Some actors and actresses will go to extreme lengths to be “noticed” by casting agents, and it turns out Australian Rebel Wilson is one of them.
The 36-year-old star has admitted she purposefully gained weight early in her career to get famous.
Speaking to The Telegraph she said she noticed there were benefits to being overweight, specifically that women are seen as funnier if they’re bigger.
In her first play, she was cast alongside a girl who was bigger than she was.
“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’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.”
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The Pitch Perfect talent went on to say if she takes a few months away from the screen, her body weight drops and returns to its normal, natural size. Wilson told the paper she was athletic and had strong arms before hitting it big.
“I’ll take six months off, and just do a total transformation. But then, so many people go: ‘Don’t you do it!”
Her comments are similar to the ones she made to an Australian publication, Daily Life, last year.
“I took something that was seen as a disadvantage – no one thinks, if you’re fat, that you’re going to be an actress and everyone’s going to love you – and turned it into a positive. And bigger girls do better in comedy… “I don’t know why. Maybe because people find it easier to laugh. It’s very hard to laugh at someone who’s very attractive, I think. And normally those people don’t have a great personality anyway.”
As part of The Telegraph interview, the Bridesmaids star said the other reason she believes she grabs gigs more regularly is because she can ad lib.
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“They know I’m going to embellish the script,” she said. “And I kind of think in Hollywood, if you don’t have that ability, you’re not going to last too long in comedies.”
It’s been a busy year for Wilson. She headlined her first major film, How to Be Single, and has a part in Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie. She’ll reprise the role of “Fat Amy” in Pitch Perfect 3 in 2017.
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