U.S. audiences got their first taste of Australian funny lady Rebel Wilson in the 2011 smash summer comedy Bridesmaids as one of Kristen Wiig’s two obnoxious roommates.
Wilson gets a taste of the obnoxious in the upcoming comedy Pitch Perfect, which also stars Oscar® nominee Anna Kendrick, Brittany Snow, Anna Camp and Elizabeth Banks, who also produced the movie. Driving the girls to a singing competition, Wilson’s character, Fat Amy, is the target of a Burrito Drive-By when the guys of a rival acapella team pass the gas station where the girls have stopped.
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The scene is just one of many that Wilson steals in the movie – in theaters Friday, October 5th – earning every single laugh thanks to some ridiculously funny lines (some improvised, others by Emmy®-nominated writer and producer Kay Cannon), her uniquely dry sense of humor layered with just the right amount of sass and sarcasm, and her brave and brazen approach to physical comedy.
Max Handelman, Elizabeth Banks’ husband and producing partner, says she was an obvious choice for the movie. “Rebel is someone that we knew could be counted on to improv and come up with all sorts of crazy, hilarious lines.”
“Rebel came in to audition for Fat Amy, and she sang Lady Gaga’s ‘Edge of Glory’ while beating on her chest with her fists,” recalls Jason Moore, a Broadway veteran and Tony® nominee for “Avenue Q” making his feature directorial debut with Pitch Perfect. ”I didn’t even hear the end of the song because I was laughing so hard. There’s this beautiful openness to the way Rebel approaches everything, and that’s what works great for the character. She’s fearless.”
Wilson might be fearless, but she admits there was some trepidation on her first day shooting Pitch Perfect. In this feature, see how Moore and the stunt team perfected Wilson’s burrito bombing.
