Rebel Wilson Reveals Salary Jumped From $3,500 on ‘Bridesmaids’ to $10 Million on ‘Pitch Perfect 3,’ Says Agency ‘Liked Me Fat’ as It Meant Higher-Paying Roles
Rebel Wilson writes in her new memoir “Rebel Rising” that she was able to successfully negotiate a $10 million salary to reprise the role of Fat Amy in “Pitch Perfect 3” (via People). The payday proved how much of a career Wilson built for herself over six years as she earned just $3,500 for her small breakthrough in 2011’s “Bridesmaids.”
The small “Bridesmaids” sum “didn’t matter to me,” Wilson writes. She took the role and didn’t think twice about the salary because the fee was enough to get her into the SAG-AFTRA union, which meant more opportunities in Hollywood. Wilson says she booked six movies after “Bridesmaids” opened in theaters, “one of which was ‘Pitch Perfect.’ Boy, did that movie pay dividends!”
More from Variety
In an interview with The New York Times about her memoir, Wilson was asked about her decision to write candidly about some of the salaries she earned during her acting career thus far. She said that she was able to bump up her “Pitch Perfect 3” pay to $10 million after Universal Pictures originally offered $1 million less.
“Universal Studios are incredible, but did they make a ton of money from the ‘Pitch Perfect’ movies? Yes,” Wilson said. “So despite me absolutely loving all those folks at Universal, did I use that leverage to my advantage? Yes. And in the 11th hour, 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.”
The “Pitch Perfect” trilogy turned Wilson into a comedy film star around the world. But playing Fat Amy linked her career to her weight. During an interview last year on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, Wilson went viral for saying her “Pitch Perfect” film contracts prevented her from losing weight.
“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,” she said at the time.
Wilson writes in her new memoir that her agency “liked me fat because they got hundreds of thousands of dollars in commission for each film where I played the fat funny girl” (via Vanity Fair), which made her feel trapped in a “multimillion-dollar pigeonhole” due to her weight.
As Wilson’s career continued and she made the choice to lose weight, she told The New York Times that some of her fans appeared to turn against her.
“Some were like, ‘Oh, we don’t think she’s funny anymore,’ or, ‘Now she’s lost me as a fan because I can’t relate to her anymore,'” Wilson said. “But I think if they read the book they’ll understand my journey with weight and health. Obviously I have a sweet tooth. That’s my vice. And in times of stress, I’d been dealing with it by eating. I don’t think that will ever, ever go away.”
Wilson’s memoir, “Rebel Rising,” is now available for purchase.
Best of Variety
Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
