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Australian actress and comedian Rebel Wilson has impressively accumulated a cool $22 million net worth but just a few years ago her bank account barely had a penny in it. The Australian star revealed that she had troubles with her finances a few years back. Although she has been working her ass off since she moved to Los Angeles in 2010, it was only in 2015 when she was able to earn a decent amount of money.
Born as Rebel Melanie Elizabeth Wilson on March 2, 1980 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, the 41 year old actress was keen to succeed in the show business. Her parents were both professional dog handlers and she grew up in suburbs of Kenthurst. She attended the Tara Anglican School for Girls and completed her Higher School certificate with an achievement of ranking second place in the state for Food Technology and having a rank of 99.3 in 1997. She was encouraged by her teachers to join the Tournament of Minds which made her come out of her shell.
Getting Started in The Entertainment Scene
Australian actress, comedian, writer, singer, and producer Rebel just graduated from the Australian Theatre for Young People in 2003 when she began appearing in the SBS comedy series Pizza as Toula in 2003 until 2007. During that time, she was working at a cinema in Castle Hill but eventually quit when the people started recognizing her as Toula. Before starring as Toula, Rebel moved to New York in 2003 after she won the ATYP International scholarship which was funded by actress Nicole Kidman. She trained with The Second City while she was staying in New York.
Rebel goes back and forth from Australia and New York; she goes wherever the opportunity is. She appeared with the Sydney Theatre Company and even performed at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. She first caught the eye of the public with her stage musical titled The Westie Monologues in 2002. This is the first stage musical she wrote, starred in and produced in Sydney. It was followed by another stage production called Spunks and Confessions of an Exchange Student which she also wrote, starred in and produced.
Struggling to Make Ends Meet
Rebel revealed in her recent interview that when she finally left Australia for good to pursue a career in Hollywood, she struggled so much. When she moved to Los Angeles in 2010, she only had a string of Australian TV comedy credits attached to her name and her burning ambition to make it big in the Hollywood. She then landed a guest spot in the TV sitcom Rules of Engagement that same year. The following year she had a small role in the hit movie Bridesmaids which is the breakout for her and she was seeing some hope to make it big.
After her stint in the movie Bridesmaids, her movie appearances were started to multiply. By 2012, she was starting to create a name for herself and for some people this is considered to be her breakthrough year since she appeared in six films. However, bank account seems to disagree as she did not enjoy a big payday for each movie as she was only paid five digits for each film. She even shared a flat with her Bridesmaids co-star Matt Lucas until 2015.
Breaking Through Her Financial Struggles
Her paychecks seem a few millions short considering she is beginning to make a name for herself. It was only in 2015 when she was finally able to earn millions when Pitch Perfect 2 became a hit globally with about $287 million gross in the box office. The success of the movie was largely attributed to her portrayal as Fat Amy and audience loved her with it. This is the first movie she was handed a million worth paycheck including bonuses and royalties. This also gave her the leverage to earn a bigger pay for Pitch Perfect 3.
Looking back, it is surprising that she struggled so much financially even though she was the one putting a smile on the audience faces. Although her paycheck cannot be seen as a mistake, there is no denying that she deserved much more, luckily, the producers were able to see her worth and decided to give it to her.
Sources: Hello Magazine, SMH, IMDB, Celebrity Net Worth
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