Rebel Wilson told The Times that she asked for $10 million to stay overweight for the Fat Amy role.
Rebel wasn’t just fighting for laughs; she was also fighting for a fair paycheck. She said that the studio gave her $9 million, but she wanted $10. This wasn’t just about the money for her, though. It was about reaching a big goal many actors dream of but rarely talk about:
“I go, ‘You know, that’s a lovely offer of $9 million. But I need one more to make it 10.’ That’s a big milestone when you’re an actor. To receive an eight-figure offer for a woman is huge. Sometimes women don’t like to talk about that. Whereas I don’t think the guys have any issues saying they get $20 million a movie.”
Why Did She Want This Money?
Rebel revealed last year that her movie contracts had unusual rules about her weight. She was supposed to stay the same size — not losing or gaining more than 10 pounds:
“I did wait until ‘Pitch Perfect’ seemed like it was over. I couldn’t lose a massive amount of weight because it was in the contracts for that movie. You can’t lose… I think it’s not more than 10 pounds, or gain more than 10 pounds. You have to kind of stay at the weight. It’s in your contract.”
Rebel also talked about how this typecasting, or being given the same type of role over and over, made her feel trapped. It’s like Hollywood didn’t see her as anyone other than Fat Amy. What’s worse, her own agents seemed okay with this because the roles kept coming, along with the money. However, it seems she found a way to use this as an advantage:
“Universal Studios are incredible, but did they make a ton of money from the ‘Pitch Perfect’ movies? Yes. So despite me absolutely loving all those folks at Universal, did I use that leverage to my advantage? Yes.”
Rebel also talked about working with Sacha Baron Cohen in her book. She said she felt uncomfortable and humiliated during filming, especially when Cohen asked her to do things she didn’t want to do for a laugh. You can read the details here.
