Singing Her Own Tune

It's safe to say that Rebel Wilson and Hollywood are having a bit of a mutual love-fest at the moment. She's buds with Little Britain's Matt Lucas, her co-star in the smash-hit comedy, Bridesmaids. Mega-director Michael Bay, who cast her in his upcoming movie, Pain And Gain, not only sent her flowers but let her keep all the Victoria's Secret lingerie she wears in the film. She's got deals to write and star in a TV show and a movie. And she's appeared in six films this year alone.

“They're keeping me busy, that's all I'll say,” laughs the Australian actress, recently back home to promote her latest project, the musical comedy Pitch Perfect. “But I feel like I've paid my dues after all the work I did in Australia – it was like I had a lot of experience in all sorts of disciplines, from stand-up to single-camera comedy – so when I went to America I was ready for it.”

Ready for the work aspect, perhaps, but not for the first month or so of living in Los Angeles. Because while a place named Venice Beach may sound glam, it also proved to be a “gross and seedy” location where people would rummage through the rubbish in search of food and Wilson was too scared to leave her flat – “the Venice Drug Den”, she named it – after dark.

“There were times when I wondered why I left Australia, where I had this great life, but working in Hollywood was something you really wanted it'd be so sad to never try,” she admits. Fortunately it didn't take long for Wilson to land her scene-stealing Bridesmaids role, and the workflow hasn't slowed since.

In fact, she was the first person cast in Pitch Perfect, a comedy centred on the competitive culture of American college a cappella singing groups. Wilson plays Fat Amy (who tells a fellow student she uses the name “so twig bitches like you don't do it behind my back”), who is equally at home belting out a tune as she is making an inappropriate joke.

“The Fat Amy role was pretty specific,” Wilson admits. “They wanted to lock in someone who was funny and who could sing. They sent me the script but I had to go in and prove I could sing to the director, so I went in and did Edge Of Glory by Lady Gaga and I think I crushed it.”

Wilson was originally set to play Fat Amy as an American but when director Jason Moore heard her speaking in her regular Australian accent he asked her to make the switch. “When I auditioned I did it with an American accent, sang with an American accent. But Jason then said, 'Maybe you should use your real voice, it might be really distinctive.' He was totally right, of course, but I fought him on it for a few days. I had all this backstory planned! He wanted me to be an exaggerated version of myself, which was easier, but I had to throw away some of the research I'd done.”

No stranger to musical comedy (after all, she'd already written and starred in one such project, the SBS comedy Bogan Pride), Wilson nevertheless had to undergo “a cappella boot camp” with her co-stars for a month prior to filming Pitch Perfect. “Performing as a group and singing ten-part harmonies was incredibly challenging,” she says. “The sheet music for the finale was so complicated it was almost unreadable! But it was great as well – we'd get in at 9am and sing and dance all day long, then we'd all go out together. By the time we started rolling we had chemistry and ease with one another and we were ready to rock'n'roll with each other.”

Well, maybe rock'n'roll isn't quite the right term. “I came from the dog-showing world,” says Wilson, whose parents were professional dog handlers. “And a cappella is kind of similar in that you think it's very big when you're in it but it's actually kind of a niche thing. But it's ultra-competitive and very intense. And if you're immersed, you're fully immersed. But it's great to play with because it's a bit nerdy but also cool at the same time because the performances are just so brilliant.”

With Pitch Perfect a hit in the US and Wilson's performance often singled out as a highlight, she's currently reaping the rewards. She's tinkering with a new pilot for her sitcom, Super Fun Night, about a trio of socially awkward friends out to make their shared Friday nights awesome, and has signed a deal with Universal Pictures to write, produce and star in a movie. “They said it could be whatever I wanted,” she says. “They saw me in Bridesmaids and Pitch Perfect and I guess they thought, 'She deserves a shot on a bigger playing field.'”