'Disrespected, humiliated': Rebel Wilson on shooting 'The Brothers Grimsby'
Australian actor-producer Rebel Wilson has opened up about her horrendous experience on the sets of the 2016 action-comedy The Brothers Grimsby. In an interview with The Sunday Times, she described the experience as the "worst professional experience of my career," citing extreme disrespect on set. Wilson also admitted that she remained silent during that time due to fear of being labeled a "troublemaker." The film was directed by Louis Leterrier.
'I was something to be laughed at'
Per Wilson, her costumes in the film were chosen to "see all the cellulite on my thighs and a top to show the fattest part of my arm...like I was something to be laughed at and degraded because of my size." The film also starred and was co-written by Sacha Baron Cohen, with whom she has been at loggerheads for the past few days.
Wilson claimed costumes were chosen to mock her size
The Pitch Perfect star further said, "It's one thing for someone who is fat to exploit their size for comedy, but it's another for somebody else to humiliate you." Wilson essayed Dawn Grobham, while Baron Cohen played the role of Kyle Alan "Nobby" Butcher, a dim-witted hooligan. He was also one of the producers, so he would have had immense creative control over the project.
Wilson recalled refusing to perform a nude scene
Wilson further alleged that she was asked to run naked across a football field, a request she declined. She disclosed that a stripper was hired instead to perform this scene. Despite these incidents, Wilson confessed that she eventually returned to the sets for reshoots. "The fact that I then went back...Why do I have such low self-worth?," she added.
Wilson and Baron Cohen's public fight
Wilson recently spoke about a "massive a**hole" who attempted to stop her from publishing her forthcoming memoir, Rebel Rising. She later specified that she was talking about Baron Cohen, who is mentioned in the first chapter. In his defense, Baron Cohen said, "While we appreciate the importance of speaking out, these demonstrably false claims are directly contradicted by extensive detailed evidence, including contemporaneous documents, film footage, and eyewitness accounts from those present before, during and after the production of TBG."
