The comedy actress and producer discusses her growth in Hollywood over the past decade and the benefits of premiering her film on video streaming over a theatrical release.
For the past decade, movie star Rebel Wilson has been the funny girl we’ve come to expect to get the last laugh up on the big screen, but these days, the Australian-born actress is taking her Hollywood career to the next level. In fact, back on her March 2 birthday, Rebel, 42, celebrated being able to call Hollywood and all that surrounds it her new home, sharing on Instagram her U.S. permanent resident card. When I congratulated Rebel on that recent news at the start of our interview, she replied, “Awe, thanks! I’ve always loved America and it was always my dream to like work here and live here. I’m excited that it finally did it all officially and stuff. It’s awesome.”
You can now see Rebel starring in Senior Year, her latest film streaming on Netflix. So, what was it about this comedy, heavy on the nostalgia effect of the early 2000s, that made Rebel want to get involved?
“I got given the script and it was in its earlier stages and I just thought – wow, the premise of a girl going into a coma in her senior year for 20 years and then waking up and trying to re-do her senior year 20 years later was a really fun thing to play with, especially considering how ‘woke’ and everything society is and how ‘fluid’ the kids are. There are so many differences between 2022 and 2002 culturally and in society and as a comic premise, that is going to be pretty good.”
Rebel goes on to share that Senior Year marks the third film she has produced, previously with her comedies Isn’t It Romantic and The Hustle. So, I wondered how Rebel might enjoy her producing responsibilities in ways that her on-screen performances simply do not do.
“Most people don’t know I have a law degree and so, I kind of use some of the business side of things in the producing and it’s a different set of skills to acting. Acting is like so fun! I just rock up on-set and say funny stuff, but the producing – there’s a lot of work behind the scenes and a movie like this takes years to come together and put together and to bring in the whole team of talented people. I don’t know, I just really like it. I feel like some of my leadership stuff when I was young and graduating from law school, it just really helps with the producing and I like exercising those muscles, as well.”
What Rebel’s Senior Year film highlights best is the difference between how we as a society communicated back in 2002 compared to the highs-and-lows of the technological advances we have now in 2022 with social media, a timely topic Rebel and her co-stars can relate to in our real world all too well.
“My character Stephanie says social media is like a popularity contest but instead of now just your school, it’s like the whole world now,” Rebel continues.
