Actress Rebel Wilson has come forward for the first time with a story about being sexually harassed at the hands of an unnamed male co-star.
Wilson told People magazine that several years ago, this co-star called her into a room and “pulled down his pants” before asking her to perform a lewd act—all, in front of his friends.
“It was awful and disgusting, said Wilson. “And all the behavior afterwards — this was all before #MeToo — where they kind of tried to destroy me and my career. If it had happened after #MeToo, then I could have just blasted them.”
Wilson, who holds a law degree from the University of New South Wales, knew based on her professional training to document what had happened. “I called my rep. I got certain things in writing about what happened,” she said. “Definitely amongst industry circles, I made sure people knew what happened.”
The actress would ultimately look to “be a professional” by finishing out the movie where she’d encountered her harasser—though she notes that she would “never” do that, should a similar situation come up today.
“I thought even complaining to my agency was a big step. And to complain to the studio. I found out I was like the fourth person to complain about the guy. Such gross behavior, but a lot of women have had it way worse,” Wilson shared. “If it happened again, I would probably stand up for myself even more just because of the bravery of the other women that have stood up and now allowed me an opportunity.”
Wilson can currently be seen in the Netflix film Senior Year, which has her playing Stephanie, a 37-year-old woman who awakens from a decades-long coma and decides to go back to high school, both to earn her diploma and to become prom queen. Up next for the actress is the drama The Almond and the Seahorse, from directors Tom Stern and Celyn Jones.
