Rebel Wilson has weighed in on the debate around actors playing characters with different gender identities or sexual orientations than their own. She believes it’s “total nonsense” to restrict gay actors to only playing gay roles.
In an interview on BBC’s Desert Island Discs, the Pitch Perfect star was asked if there’s a different standard for the jokes female comedians can make versus male comedians.
Wilson said the real issue is whether you belong to a certain group dictates what jokes or roles you can take on. “It’s going into this territory of saying only straight actors can play straight roles and gay actors can play gay roles, which I think is total nonsense,” she stated.
The actress, who came out as gay in 2022 and has a child with her fiancée Ramona Agruma, argued actors should be able to play any role they want.
“In comedy, your job is to flirt with that line of what’s acceptable,” Wilson explained. “Good comedy won’t come from always playing it safe.”
Later in the interview, Wilson discussed her allegations in her new memoir that she was mistreated by Sacha Baron Cohen on the set of their 2016 film The Brothers Grimsby.
She called it her “worst professional experience” and said she stayed in an uncomfortable situation where disrespectful things were said because she lacked the self-esteem at the time to walk away.
While Baron Cohen has denied her claims, Wilson feels bringing the experience to light provides a “final release of the emotions” and could potentially help others in similar situations.