Rebel Wilson is trying to clear the air about a few different things. Let’s knock these things out one by one. Back in May of this year, there were some online investigations and stories about whether Rebel has been lying about her age for years. Outlets had been reporting Rebel’s age at 27/28 at the time, but people in Australia claimed that Rebel was definitely in her 30s, and then someone found her Aussie birth records and they discovered she was actually born in 1980, making her 35 years old now. Considering she consistently plays characters in their early-to-mid 20s, it does seem like Rebel’s lies about her age were directly related to her career. At the time, she didn’t say much about it, accusing the Aussie tabloids of “tall poppy syndrome,” which is where people cut down someone successful just because. Anyway, in a new interview, Rebel finally speaks about this age controversy:
Hollywood funny woman Rebel Wilson faced considerable criticism when it was revealed the actress had lied about her age, earlier this year. Now the Australian star has opened up and explained just why she shaved six years off her birth date, branding it a ‘business’ decision. Rebel, 35, also spoke out about the challenges of being an older female actress in Hollywood and how having her real age published was ‘hurtful’.
She told Who magazine: ‘Being an actress it affects women more than men in terms of ageism and sexism so to be called out by the press on something most sensible business-minded people would have done in my position, it was a bit hurtful. When you’re an actor, you have what’s called a playing range; to me, it’s not really beneficial having your age written anyway.’
Jessica Chastain went through something similar, after her school records showed that she was actually five years older than what was generally reported. I have a hard time explaining why this bugs me so much, quite honestly. I guess I feel like… all of us in the real world have to go by our real ages, so why not celebrity women? I also hate it when celebrities lie about something that can easily be disproven. It makes me feel like those celebrities think we’re stupid. Now, all that being said, I understand the thought process of lying about your age when you’re an actress. And can we honestly say that Rebel would have gotten some of her biggest roles if she had gone by her real age?
Meanwhile, Rebel also has some words about her recent shade for the Kardashian-Jenners. Rebel recently said she refused to present with Kylie and Kendall Jenner at the VMAs because they have no real “talent.” Well, Rebel is feeling the cat-faced HEAT. She tweeted this yesterday:
I'd be very happy to debate the Kardashians anywhere / anytime / any topic.
— Rebel Wilson (@RebelWilson) November 12, 2015
Or maybe their publicist can just stop the smear campaign against me because I made one prompted comment about them on Australian radio?
— Rebel Wilson (@RebelWilson) November 12, 2015
Have the Kardashians engaged in a smear campaign? Do they have that kind of power? Eh. I did think it was interesting that OPRAH (of all people) came out to support the Kardashians as “hard working.” Is that a “smear campaign”? Not really.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
it doesn’t bug me, and I can’t really blame her. we know how it is for actresses. i’m also sure she and jessica chastain aren’t the only ones lying, it’s probably very very common. is it fair? no, the whole attitude towards women should change. but i’m not gonna go after women who lower their age to get work.
i’m not mad at her for lying, i’m mad that women like Jessica and Rebel have to lie about their age to get work as actors. It’s messed up.
Edit: sorry that wasn’t meant to be a reply to you Ell. But I agree:)
I was around back in the day when Sandra Bullock had just hit big with Speed and fudged her age. Said she was 27, when she was actually 30, older than Keanu at the time by a few months.
Well said! That is exactly it, Hollywood sounds insanely ageist, if I was pursuing a career there (am not thank god) I’d probably shave a few years off (and I’m 24 lol)
I agree. And honestly who cares? There are more important things to be concerned about like who has botox and who doesn’t, are the Kardashians butts real, and why is American Horror Story still airing.
I don’t find it relevant in the first place. I would never share my age with my co-workers or managers – they can infer based on my years in the workforce/graduation date, etc.
I’m torn….on one hand, I think it’s silly. On the other hand, I completely get the age thing because of how ageist Hollywood can be. I don’t know if there was a smear campaign, but Buzzfeed ran some pretty pro Kardashian pieces after the Rebel thing and a few of their writers on twitter basically implied Rebel was sexist (Taylor Swift school of feminism) for saying the Kardashians had no talent. I don’t remember anyone reacting the same way when Jon Hamm went after the Kardashians either.
I don’t really care that she lied. I understand why she felt she had to, and I believe that is the bigger problem. That’s what people should be talking about. Like Merritt said down thread, I’m sick and tired of actors in their 40s being paired up with 20 something ingenues (I’m looking at you BCoop), yet a woman in her 30s loses out on those roles to the 20 something ingenue.
Also, in response to Oprah’s defense of the K Klan, notice she never said they *are* talented. She said they’re hardworking. Which is not, in fact, a synonym for talented. So I’m pretty sure O knows they have no talent.
Yes, it is ‘hurtful’ to get caught in a lie. No need for accountability here – just deem any consequences for your actions ‘hurtful’ and you can get away with anything.
Who did it hurt, though? I mean, I guess the author of this doesn’t like people thinking she’s stupid but that obviously wasn’t Rebel’s intent. I believe it was a business decision, not a “can I pull the wool over everyone’s eyes” trick. It was harmless to all of us and helpful to her.
Its really not that serious. If you are angry over her shaving a few years off of her age then i think the issue is with you. Who freakin cares?
She probably found the massive deal being made over it hurtful rather than her being caught out. It’s not a massive lie, IMO. It helped her career, it didn’t take from her ability to play the roles that made her famous, roles she couldn’t have touched with a ten foot stick if she hadn’t fibbed but she’s still completely undermined professionally as a result.
I’d find it hurtful if telling a relatively harmless lie to bypass the glaring sexism of pop culture was pinned as my fault rather than being seen as a problem at large.
Seeing how actresses over a certain age are basically treated like garbage, I don’t blame any actress for being less than forthcoming about her age. Meanwhile actors long past their prime are consistently cast opposite women in their 20s. It is offensive.
I agree with Merritt and ell. Everybody (from men to women, old hollywood to now) lies about their age, what’s the big deal?
Also I wouldn’t want to present with someone who only had selfie talent.
I can understand the urge to pretend to be younger in showbiz, where youth is a valuable commodity for women. But on the other hand it’s kind of stupid, and lying about one’s age only contributes to ageism. Besides, how does anyone think they can get away with it in this day and age?
I like Rebel though, and support her not wanting to do anything with the Kardashians. Oprah should be ashamed of herself for supporting them.
Once upon a time, actresses could and were told by their agents to lie about their ages (among many, many other things). Seems like Hollywood hasn’t caught up with the times. In the Internet age, that’s no longer possible, even if you get the Web scrubbed. Everyone’s got your class photos they can post.
Say, are we being sexist in calling her out for lying about her age but giving a pass to actors who lie about their sexuality? It’s all done supposedly for the sake of their careers. If we are saying gay actors should be able to play straight but we understand when they keep their sexuality hidden because society has not caught on to that yet, then why can’t older actresses play younger and we also understand if she tries to keep her age hidden for the same reason? There are some double standards on this board….
Yes we should be calling those guys out too. Especially those like Travolta who aggressively put forth an image of being hetero. The public will never become more accepting if they don’t realize that many gay actors can convincingly play straight.
You have to consider the business they work in as opposed to the average person.Actors are cast largely from apperance, if say Rebel looks 25 they will cast her as a 25 year old now if they know her actual real age is 35 they might not have considered her at all. Women have such a limited window of opportunity in hollywood that women like Rebel and Chastain who come relatively late to success feel the need to shave a few years of their age to prolong their career. If there were lots of female parts for women in their 40s and so on there would be no need for them to do this would there?
Besides its not like this is something new, actresses in hollywood has been doing this from the beginning in fact in a different era they would have been told to lie about age by studios, agents and producers. Its just that we live in an increasingly more transparent society so its getting harder to get away with it.
Wait…so its OK that Beyonce lies about her age…but when a white actress does the same, its scandalous ?
Oh yeah, that’s the real issue here. Beyoncé is more than likely not actually lying about her age (her school photos seem to indicate this plus the fact that classmates have come forward saying she was in class with them). Still, she’s caught more crap about her age than ANYONE ELSE IN HOLLYWOOD.
Just stop.
Why is this a big deal? They all lie about their age.
I really dislike this chick.
SO annoyingly UNfunny
It’s hurtful for a liar to be called out on her lies? She needs to get over herself. She’s overrated anyway.
And yes, it bugs me that celebrities think they can lie about their age and other things, and the public just has to accept it.
That’s how I read it too… “You caught me in my lie and that really hurts! How dare you.”
….You guys read it right? That’s not how I saw it. She’s basically saying it’s a fairly common business decision taken on by many women in her industry and so to the target of all the hate for it is what hurts when she knows that a lot of her peers do it. She’s not wrong…we just wanna hate on her for it. It’s kinda pointless to hate on her for it no?
I think you personalise celebrities too much. It’s not like they’re looking at you directly and thinking ‘this person’s an idiot, I can lie to them.’ If you want to get outraged get angry at the media and entertainment industries that feel women past their 20’s have nothing to contribute.
She has always annoyed me. I don’t find her funny at all, in fact I think she ruined Bridesmaids.
That was Melissa McCarthy.
LOL!
They were both too EXTRA in Bridesmaids. Rebel more so
She wasn’t in bridesmaids….
yes she was she played Kristen Wiig roomate but she was only on for one scene or two max.
Yeah her ONE big scene ruined the whole movie, bitch please @@
Sorry, but it’s a bit asinine to compare actresses to regular non-celebrity women. Our very livelihood usually does not depend on our youthfulness (trophy wives excluded, of course). Your average teacher, accountant or hairdresser isn’t seen as past her sell-by date at age 33, nor does she risk seeing her income and professional opportunities dwindle by 35. The average woman can appeal to various labor laws if she becomes a victim of blatant age discrimination. Not so with actresses, generally. As an attorney, I’m actually hampered by the fact that I look like I’m in my mid-20s even though I’m in my 30s, and I loudly broadcast my age whenever possible to ensure I get taken seriously. I remember being 28 and lying that I was 31 because a client was contemptuous when he met me and demanded that he see another attorney in the office “instead of some kid.” That’s not the reality for your average actress. And Jessica Chastain for a while wouldn’t engage about her age and wouldn’t answer the question (though nor did she correct those reports that said she was younger than she actually was); but considering that Jennifer Lawrence at 22 or 23 was getting roles written for 35-year-old actresses that would otherwise have gone to someone like Chastain, I can’t say that I blame her. It is foolish to lie when the truth can so easily be found out, but Hollywood is fantasy. (That’s why every leading man during the studio era had his height listed as 6 feet, regardless of reality. Take Tyrone Power: His bio listed him as 6’1″ and he was at best 5’10”.) I don’t expect total honesty from image-obsessed actors, especially when they’re livelihood is so deeply impacted.
Well said.
It seems like if you truly wanted to battle sexism, you would own your age and go out for the same parts anyway, age be damned. But I suppose that’s easy for me to say when I’m not the one going up against people ten years younger for jobs where people care so much about youth.
But on what platform could she have done that? She wouldn’t have gotten the roles that made her famous if she hadn’t lied about her age.
I’m sure there’s dozens of actresses owning their age and going for younger roles anyway and making their stand but we’ll never hear about them because they’re never going to earn the professional accolades of their younger counterparts.
There shouldn’t be a backlash against her for either issue. Yes we in the real world see that as silly but when your surroundings are all about age and looks then it’s survival’s game
I’m wondering if she’s lost roles since the reveal, that would be a shame
But what’s really shameful and pathetic is having to defend yourself for a comment made about a family with no talent. If their fame was based on doing charities for good causes then I’ll be the first one in line defending them but famewhoring is neither a talent, job classification, or a reason for me or any hardworking person to acknowledge and defend
Aw poor thing. How about some cheese to go with that whine? .. Women feeling insecure about aging goes back to the Hollywood standards. If women there, the most beautiful women who are in our faces every day, arent willing to be honest about things like their age, plastic surgery (and weight), then they are doing women everywhere a disservice. This happens in the dating world like it does in HWood – women having to date older men/men dating younger women bc there is a stigma about a woman past a certain age. But us everyday women have to suck it up and be honest. I know girls who are 30 and look 25. Are they going to try and get away with telling everyone they are 25? Um no. We women need to start being proud of our age and see it as coming with experience and wisdom, instead of wrinkles, infertility and begging for commitment (or in her case, movie roles).
Hollywood roles aren’t even depicted by age. How many cast members of Glee were late 20s in real life and playing high school kids? If you look young, and are talented, you will get cast in younger roles. Her issue is not her age, it’s lack of talent.
I think she also lied about the origins of her name. Her siblings do have unusual names but it seems her birth name was Melanie but she told the press her parents were hippies who gave their kids weird names. Wilson isn’t her real last name either but tons of celebrities change their last names for professional reasons. That doesn’t bother me. But don’t lie about your actual birth name when it wasn’t even that to begin with. You can change it but don’t say “my parents named me that because…” When they didn’t.
I assume everyone in Hollywood is older than they claim and have at least one nose job under their belt. Don’t care about her age at all.
I have never seen this woman act, but I would LOVE to see her debate any Kardashian on any topic. That is the ultimate challenge! It’s on, girl! Those vapid cat faces wouldn’t be able to talk about the weather without an assistant, publicist and lawyer.
I work as an exec in the corporate world. Age discrimination is common, period, even though any company will strongly deny. It’s no ones business but hers and I totally undestand why she would feel the need.
My mother treated her age like a state secret even when she was staying home. She definitely felt she needed to be perceived as younger when looking for jobs later on. Same reason she dyed her hair.
So basically she lied, got caught, and now she’s b*tching about the fact that she got caught. Like most of the above posters, I don’t care that she lied–I assume that 90% of Hollywood lies about this–and the fact that there’s a need to do it at all is of course very frustrating. But in this day and age, it’s extremely easy to prove that someone is lying about their age. Did she honestly think she’d never get caught?
Actresses lie because the industry is harder on them than the men. They have shorter shelf lies. So I don’t blame them for lying anymore than men lying about how tall they are. Really a stupid issue to be upset about.
It’s called the entertainment industry, not the talent industry. Kim Kardashian is in the realm of low brow entertainment and it’s absolutely ridiculous that we judge her for that because everyone enjoys some form of low brow entertainment, guilty pleasures, whatever. Her brand of comedy is just as low brow as reality television. She’s not even funny, she just says awkward things and draws attention to her figure for shock value. They both capitalize off of their looks: Kim capitalizes off of having a sexy figure while Rebel draws attention to how fat (yes, I said it) she is because it apparently makes her funny.
Also the whole sex tape argument is ridiculous. Plenty of people more famous than Kim was when the sex tape was released have made sex tapes and their careers have plummeted since (not primarily because of the sex tape, but that is another discussion). Her tape did get people’s attention but she did sl much more to remain famous. It’s such a tired argument and it’s a pathetic attempt at disparaging her. At least come up with something better. It was like 8 years ago. There are people who got famous from Oscar winning roles 8 years ago and they have faded away. So clearly she’s doing much more than that to be famous and remain in the entertainment industry. Move on.
“an older actress”…at 35??? How on earth is that old?
So she was more concerned about her age than her weight when she decided to become an actress? I think Hollywood is much more unkind to over-weight actresses than “older ones”. Or am I wrong? I always thought she had a lot of self-esteem though.
She has a terrible attitude and a chip on her shoulder and I don’t really feel sorry for her. It was “hurtful” when reporters did their job? Come on.
It’s not crazy to me that she and Chastain (and others) lied about their age — It’s crazy that they actually thought they could get away with it. I mean, seriously? This is not the 1930s.
Her shtick is keeping it real / not conforming to the Hollywood stereotype… and then she fulfils the stereotype by lying about her age. And then doubling-down by whining about how butthurt she is for being caught out.
Ageism sucks especially the sexist application of it but playing into it doesn’t help, but if you do choose to do that you should really just keep your trap shut when called on it, whereas for years Rebel slammed other people for telling the truth. Wonder if this is making her rethink the rest of her invented back story. The “tall poppy” thing is an excuse that famous Australians use when they are justifiably criticised for anything. We don’t have an issue with success but we have a low tolerance for bullshit.
There is a pic of Charlize Theron on imdb from 1987 at an event for Dirty Dancing. It lists her year of birth as 1975. She sure as hell doesn’t look 12 in the photo!
Edit: just realised the event was for the 10th anniversary so my point is moot!
My bad!
I still don’t understand how Oprah has any credibility! She brought us Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz- two of the biggest quacks in the medical field.
Am I upset that a hilarious female comedian, one that already had an enormous obstacle to success, lied to make idiot studio heads more comfortable in casting her? Um no.