How Wilson shifted her shape

Rebel Wilson made a name for herself in Hollywood by playing the funny fat girl, said Megan Agnew in The Sunday Times (U.K.). Arriving from Sydney in 2009, the actress says she knew she wouldn’t be “taken seriously” like fellow Australians Cate Blanchett and Nicole Kidman. “But I quickly realized that the bigger you were, the more audiences laughed. So I’d have my gut hanging out and wear micro-shorts on stage, no makeup. It was part of my plan.” It worked, and she quickly began landing seven-figure roles in comedies. “People applauded me for being the size I was, telling me I was ‘brave.’” Soon, she was contractually obliged not to let her weight fluctuate by more than 10 pounds. But a few years ago, Wilson realized she had to “get healthier.” Now, she has a leaner but still “curvy and solid” body. She is comfortable with this physique, but didn’t receive much encouragement to get to it. “Basically no one apart from my mum wanted me to lose weight. People thought I’d lose my pigeonhole in my career.” She also, she admits, had to overcome her own anxieties, about “stuffing my face” as a substitute for “dealing with my emotions properly” and worries over whether her success was dependent on her weight. “I knew how to be fat. It’s who I was.”