From 3,500 to 10 million dollars

How Rebel Wilson fought her way to a superstar salary

(Bild: MediaPunch / Action Press / picturedesk.com)

In her new book "Rebel Rising", Australian actress Rebel Wilson (44) describes her meteoric rise in Hollywood. The success of her role as "Fat Amy" in the 2012 musical comedy "Pitch Perfect" paved her way to top salaries

She remembers how she only received a fee of 3,500 US dollars for her small role in the 2011 comedy "Bridesmaids". An amount that was just enough for her to pay her rent and gain a foothold in the acting industry.

Wilson demanded a million more
But Wilson did not give up. With her talent, tenacity and humor, she won the hearts of the audience and quickly became a darling of the public. 

She cleverly used her negotiating position and demanded a whopping 10 million dollars from Universal Studios for her role in the sequel "Pitch Perfect 3" (2017) instead of the 9 million dollars on offer. A big deal for a woman in Hollywood.

Big milestone
Wilson told the "New York Times" when promoting her memoir "Rebel Rising": "Universal Studios is incredible, but did they make a lot of money from the 'Pitch Perfect' movies? Yes. Even though I absolutely love all those people at Universal, did I use that leverage to my advantage? Yes. And at the 11th hour, I say: 'You know, that's a nice offer of nine million dollars. But I need one more to get to 10."

That's a big milestone when you're an actor, he said. Wilson added: "To get an eight-figure offer is huge for a woman. Sometimes women don't like to talk about it. I don't think guys have a problem saying they're getting $20 million per movie."

Weight clause
The actress previously blabbed that she had a clause in her contract for the trilogy that said she couldn't lose or gain a certain amount of weight.

She told the Call Her Daddy podcast last year: "You weren't allowed to lose any weight. I think it was no more than 10 pounds (4.54 kilograms) or less than 10 pounds (4.54 kilograms). You kind of have to stay at that weight. It's in the contract."

Rebel Wilson(Bild: APA/AFP/Patricia DE MELO MOREIRA)

Serious accusations against "Borat"
Wilson has been causing a stir for days with her memoirs. In it, she makes serious accusations against her former co-star Sacha Baron Cohen. During the filming of the movie "The Spy and His Brother" (2016, original: The Brothers Grimsby), it felt "as if Sacha Baron Cohen had sexually harassed me", she writes.

There had been several incidents of inappropriate behavior where she had felt disrespected. She also described a situation in which he allegedly asked her to touch him intimately. In the film, Wilson played the girlfriend of the main character played by Baron Cohen. 

Rebel Wilson felt sexually harassed by Sacha Baron Cohen.(Bild: ©Columbia Pictures / Everett Collection / picturedesk.com)

Because of the ongoing harassment, she refused to promote the film, which also starred Baron Cohen's wife Isla Fisher as well as Mark Strong and Penélope Cruz, Wilson wrote. She had mentioned the incident on Twitter in November 2017 during the MeToo debate, but did not name names at the time. Cohen denied the allegations.

The 44-year-old Australian's accusations were "demonstrably false", a representative for the "Borat" actor told the British news agency PA.