Rebel Wilson
Birthdate: March 2, 1980 (46 Years Old)
Birthplace: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Rebel Wilson (birthname: Melanie Elizabeth Bownds) is an Australian comic actor who has helped the cause of body positivity as well as injecting a different style into various comedy subgenres since 2003, when she made her feature debut in the Australian comedy from Village Roadshow Pictures, Fat Pizza (2003), spinning off from the TV series, Pizza, created by director/co-writer/producer/lead actor Paul Fenech.
Wilson broke into Hollywood movies eight years later with a supporting role in the hit Universal Pictures comedy, Bridesmaids (2011), produced by Judd Apatow and starring co-writer Kristen Wiig (with co-writer Annie Mumulo), Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Ellie Kemper, Oscar-nominated Melissa McCarthy and Chris O’Dowd under Paul Feig’s direction, and grossing ($306.4 million) ten times costs ($32.5 million).
Wilson returned to Australia for the comedy, A Few Best Men (2011), with Xavier Samuel, Kris Marshall, and Olivia Newton-John, premiering at the Mill Valley Film Festival and grossing $15.5 million worldwide for Icon Film Distribution and Buena Vista International.
Wilson enjoyed an extremely busy 2012 with roles in a slew of movies including Bachelorette, director/writer Leslye Headland’s comedy with Kirsten Dunst, Isla Fisher, Lizzy Caplan, James Marsden and Adam Scott,; Small Apartments, co-starring Matt Lucas, James Caan, Johnny Knoxville, Billy Crystal, Dolph Lundgren, Peter Stormare, Juno Temple, Amanda Plummer, Rosie Perez and Marsden under Jonas Åkerlund’s direction; Tribeca Film’s Struck by Lightning, with star/writer/producer Chris Colfer, Allison Janney, Christina Hendricks, Sarah Hyland, Polly Bergen and Dermot Mulroney under Brian Dannelly’s direction; the rom-com What to Expect When You’re Expecting, starring Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, Elizabeth Banks, Chace Crawford, Brooklyn Decker, Anna Kendrick, Dennis Quaid, Chris Rock and Rodrigo Santoro under Kirk Jones’s direction, and earning Lionsgate $84.4 million; Wilson’s first voice role in 20th Century Fox Animation’s $877-million-grossing sequel, Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012) with Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Nicki Minaj, Drake, Jennifer Lopez and Queen Latifah; and capping her 2012 with the role of Fat Amy in the smash hit musical comedy, Pitch Perfect, and continuing the role in the hit sequels, Pitch Perfect 2 (2015) and Pitch Perfect 3 (2017), all co-starring Anna Kendrick, Brittany Snow, Anna Camp, John Michael Higgins and Elizabeth Banks, grossing a cumulative $588 million for Universal Pictures.
Rebel Wilson was then cast by director/producer Michael Bay in his terrific black comedy, Pain & Gain (2013), starring Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, Anthony Mackie, Tony Shalhoub, and Ed Harris, grossing over $86 million for Paramount Pictures. Wilson joined another successful franchise sequel, 20th Century Fox’s 363-million-grossing Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2014), directed and produced by Shawn Levy and starring Ben Stiller, Robin Williams, Owen Wilson, Dan Stevens, and Ben Kingsley.
Wilson took on her second animated movie voice role in 20th Century Fox/DreamWorks Animation’s successful ($521-million-grossing) sequel, Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016), with Jack Black, Bryan Cranston, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, J.K. Simmons, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross, Kate Hudson, James Hong, Randall Duk Kim and Jackie Chan under the co-direction of Jennifer Yuh Nelson and Alessandro Carloni. Wilson landed her first co-starring studio movie role in the romcom, How to Be Single (2016), based on Liz Tuccillo’s novel, co-starring Dakota Johnson, Damon Wayans Jr., Allison Brie and Leslie Mann under Christian Ditter’s direction, backed by New Line Cinema/MGM and released to a strong $112 million return by Warner Bros.
Rebel Wilson co-starred with star/co-writer Sacha Baron Cohen, Mark Strong, Isla Fisher, Penelope Cruz, and Gabourey Sidibe in the Louis Leterrier-directed spy comedy released to poor box office by Sony Pictures, The Brothers Grimsby (2016). Wilson began to branch out into producing as well as acting in a string of comedies, including Isn’t It Romantic (2019), in which Wilson was star (and for the first time, the only face on the poster), with Liam Hemsworth, Adam DeVine and Priyanka Chopra under Todd Strauss-Schulson’s direction and grossing a modest $49 million for New Line Cinema/Warner Bros.; the more commercially successful (over $97 million for MGM and United Artists Releasing) comedy, The Hustle (2019), co-starring Anne Hathaway and directed by Chris Addison; the Paramount Pictures-produced and Netflix-streamed time-travel high school comedy, Senior Year (2022), directed by Alex Hardcastle; and The Deb (2024), which also marked Wilson’s debut as director/writer (adapting Hannah Reilly’s and Meg Washington’s stage musical) and her return to Australian moviemaking.
Wilson joined the colorful cast of her first Oscar-winning movie, director/writer/producer/actor Taika Waititi’s WWII satire, Jojo Rabbit (2019), co-starring Roman Griffin Davis, Thomasin McKenzie, Stephen Merchant, Alfie Allen, Sam Rockwell and Scarlett Johansson, premiering at the Toronto Film Festival, produced and released (to a very good $93.6 million gross) by Fox Searchlight Pictures, and winning the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar (of five nominations).
Wilson, performing Jennyanydots, joined another vivid cast in director/co-writer/producer Tom Hooper’s failed stage-to-screen adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats (2019), co-starring James Corden, Judi Dench, Jason Derulo, Idris Elba, Jennifer Hudson, Ian McKellan, Taylor Swift and Francesca Hayward, returning a poor $75.5. million (on $100 million costs) for Universal Pictures.
Rebel Wilson played Lady Capulet in director/writer/producer Timothy Scott Bogart’s commercially and critically unsuccessful adaptation, Juliet & Romeo (2025), with Clara Rugaard, Jamie Ward, Jason Isaacs, Rupert Graves, Rupert Everett, and Derek Jacobi, and released by Briarcliff Entertainment. Wilson was the star of the wedding/action comedy, Bride Hard (2025), with Anna Camp, Anna Chlumsky, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Gigi Zumbado, and Stephen Dorff under Simon West’s direction, and released widely by Magenta Light Studios.
Wilson was the star/producer (with fellow producers Jon Turtletaub, Mark Ross, and Jonathan Prince) of director/co-writer Luke Greenfield’s cruise ship comedy, Rocking the Boat (date to be announced), co-starring Leslie Mann. Wilson co-starred with Charles Melton and Jhoohoney in the Korean-American musical comedy, K-Pop: Lost in America (date to be announced), produced by CJ Entertainment and directed by JK Youn.
Personal life
Rebel Wilson was born and raised as Melanie Elizabeth Bownds in various suburbs of Sydney, Australia, by her parents (including her mother, Sue), who are professional dog handlers, dog show judges, and dog breeders. Wilson has two sisters, Liberty and Annaleise, and a brother named Ryot. Wilson attended Tara Anglican School for Girls, scoring very high in academics and earning both a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre and Performance Studies and a Bachelor of Laws degree. Wilson was in a relationship with actor Matt Lucas from 2012 to 2015. Wilson married Ramona Agruma in 2024 after announcing her relationship with her in 2022; the couple has one child via surrogacy, Royce Lillian Elizabeth Wilson. Wilson’s height is 5’ 4”. Wilson’s estimated net worth is $22 million.
Rebel Wilson Movies
Actor
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Previous (15)
- 2019 |
The Hustle
asPenny Rust
Two con women - one low rent and the other high class - team up to take down the men who have wronged them.
- 2019 |
Isn't It Romantic
A young woman disenchanted with love mysteriously finds herself trapped inside a romantic comedy.
- 2019 |
Jojo Rabbit
asFraulein Rahm
A young German boy in the Hitler Youth, whose hero and imaginary friend is the country's dictator, is shocked to discover that his mother is hiding a Jewish girl in their home.
- 2017 |
Pitch Perfect 3
asFat Amy
Following their win at the world championship, the now separated Bellas reunite for one last singing competition at an overseas USO tour, but face a group who uses both instruments and voices.
- 2016 |
- 2016 |
The Brothers Grimsby
asDawn Grobham
A new assignment forces a top spy to team up with his football hooligan brother.
- -- | as Lady Capulet
- -- | as Sarah
- -- | Pitch Perfect 2as Fat Amy
- -- | Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tombas Tilly
- -- | Pitch Perfectas Fat Amy
- -- | Pain & Gainas Robin Peck
- -- | What to Expect When You're Expectingas Janice
- -- | as Sam
- -- | as Brynn
Producer
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Previous (1)
- 2019 |
The Hustle
Two con women - one low rent and the other high class - team up to take down the men who have wronged them.
Facts About Rebel Wilson
What’s in a Name?: Rebel Wilson was born Melanie Elizabeth Bownds, but when she adopted the first name of “Rebel,” she kept most of her birthname for her revised full name as Rebel Melanie Elizabeth Wilson.
Genealogy Dispute: Wilson has argued in court that her great-aunt is Walt Disney’s widow, Lillian Disney, but has not won her claim.
Alternative Careers: Rebel Wilson displayed early talents apart from acting, placing second in the state of New South Wales’s school rankings for Food Technology, and then intending to have career in mathematics and then in Australian corporate law.
Malaria Dreams: Wilson, who was based in South Africa for a year as a Rotary International Youth Ambassador, contracted malaria there and claims that, in a malaria-induced hallucination, she dreamed that she was winning the Oscar and which then convinced her to become an actor.
Conditions: Rebel Wilson has claimed that she was a virgin until age 35, has endured emotional eating syndromes, and has polycystic ovarian syndrome, and froze her eggs around age 40.
