Australian actress and comedian Rebel Wilson have a net worth of $22 million. Wilson successfully crossed over to North American audiences and is now best recognized for her appearances in Jojo Rabbit, Cats, and the Pitch Perfect franchise following her breakthrough in Australian television comedy.
Early Years
Melanie Elizabeth Bownds was born Rebel Wilson on March 2, 1980, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Her mother, a professional dog handler, originally planned to pursue a career in mathematics, but finally decided to major in Law and Arts at the University of New South Wales.
At some point, she adopted the moniker Rebel, which was also adopted by at least two of her siblings, a sister who now goes by the moniker “Annarchi” and a brother who goes by the moniker “Ryot” (Ryot appeared with the third Wilson sister Liberty on the first season of the reality TV show The Amazing Race). She received an international study scholarship from the Australian Theater for Young People and flew to the United States to train with Second City Improv.
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Personal Facts
Wilson acquired an endorsement contract with the Australian arm of weight reduction company Jenny Craig in the summer of 2011, around the time she relocated to the United States. She told the media that she had shed 22 pounds on the diet and would have continued to lose weight if the makers of the Pitch Perfect film series hadn’t prohibited it.
In 2020, she expanded on this publicly, telling The Sun that she “had a job where I was paid a lot of money to be bigger, which at times can mess with your head a little bit.” And it was announced in early 2013 that she had severed relations with the corporation in 2012. Wilson lived in Hollywood with fellow actor and comedian Matt Lucas from September 2012 till 2015 or so.
Comedy Career
She gained great attention in Australia for her performance in The Westie Monologues, a touring musical that she also wrote and produced. She continued her tour with two further hit shows, Spunks and Confessions of an Exchange Student. She rose to prominence in Australia through the comedic series Pizza and The Wedge and the film Fat Pizza, which was based on the aforementioned series. During this time, she also began earning jobs in Hollywood feature films, such as Nicolas Cage’s 2007 Marvel Comics adaption Ghost Rider, which led to her 2011 decision to relocate to Los Angeles.
Wilson returned to the big screen in the comedy Bridesmaids, followed by roles in Rules of Engagement and Workaholics. She has remained a mainstay in Hollywood comedies, with leading roles in Isn’t It Romantic and The Hustle, a 2019 adaptation of the Steve Martin classic in which she co-starred with Anne Hathaway.
In the same year, Wilson also appeared in Taika Waititi’s “anti-hate satire” Jojo Rabbit and the notorious film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical Cats.
In 2020, Wilson hosted the Australian dog grooming reality competition series Pooch Perfect (a clear reference to her work in the Pitch Perfect films), appeared on an episode of Celebrity IOU, and hosted LOL: Last One Laughing, an Australian comedy reality show that was later made available on Amazon Prime.
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Suit for Defamation
Wilson won a landmark defamation case in her native Australia against the Bauer Media Group in 2017. Wilson filed the action in response to articles about her that ran in Woman’s Day, the Australian Women’s Weekly, NW magazine, and OK! magazine, which she claimed inaccurately represented her as a “serial liar” due to disparities between her childhood and her age. She was granted AU $4.5 million in the case, which translates to more than $3.2 million in U.S. dollars at the time of writing, a record amount for defamation lawsuits in Australia.
In a tweet before damages were awarded, she stated that the lawsuit was not about the money: “Any cash I receive will be donated to charity, scholarships, or invested in the Australian film industry to create jobs.” Bauer Media Group successfully challenged the judgment in October 2017 and had the damages lowered to $600,000, a ruling that Wilson attempted to appeal but was denied by a judge.
How Much Did Rebel Wilson Lose?
We can’t help but be inspired by rebel Wilson’s incredible weight loss after a “year of wellbeing.” She claimed that she had shed 33 pounds at the end of 2016, marking the start of her commitment to a healthy lifestyle. By 2022, the Australian native had made light of her weight loss.
Residential Real Estate
Wilson spent $3.75 million on a waterfront mansion in her native Sydney in 2014, plus another $900,000 on repairs to the property, which was characterized as a Victorian-style abode dating from the early 1900s. In April 2022, Rebel placed this residence on the market for $6,7 million.
She has at least one investment property, including a two-bedroom luxury flat in a restored Sydney suburbia home.
She has also been linked to a $3 million penthouse in Manhattan’s Tribeca neighborhood, which is part of an exclusive building shared with several other celebs, including Justin Timberlake, Harry Styles, and the married couple Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively.
She owns a “classic masterpiece” in the Cape Cod Colonial architectural style in West Hollywood, which cost about $3 million, and the second property in Los Angeles for $2.2 million (either for investment purposes or some other reason). She formerly resided in a 2,500-square-foot Hollywood Hills mansion for which she spent an estimated $2.2 million in 2014.