Rebel Wilson opened up about what she was paid to do the Pitch Perfect movies and hinted at some behind-the-scenes drama over the franchise’s third movie.
The 44-year-old actress played Fat Amy in the series, which centered on the Barden Bellas a collegiate a cappella singing group. It also starred the likes of Anna Kendrick, Brittany Snow, Anna Camp and Ester Dean.
After being paid only $3,500 for her cameo in Bridesmaids, Rebel revealed the pay increase that she got for the first Pitch Perfect movie. However, that was nothing in comparison to her salary for the third movie.
Speaking of the third movie, Rebel hinted that it almost looked very different.
Keep reading to find out more…
In a snippet from her forthcoming memoir Rebel Rising obtained by People, the actress revealed that she was paid $65,000 for the first Pitch Perfect movie, which she booked as a result of Bridesmaids.
Although the first two movies were solid hits, there were plans to shake things up dramatically for the third movie. Rebel said that the studio wanted to hire a new cast since the original were deemed too “old.”
Hailee Steinfeld, who was introduced in the second movie, was supposed to center the new group.
“None of us original Bellas were happy about this,” she wrote. After the cast fought back, they had some negotiating power, which enabled Rebel to secure a $10 million payday.
“Cue the big bucks,” she joked. “Girl power!”
She also addressed the pay in an interview with The New York Times.
“Universal Studios are incredible, but did they make a ton of money from the ‘Pitch Perfect’ movies? Yes,” she recalled about the studio responsible for the Pitch Perfect movies. “So despite me absolutely loving all those folks at Universal, did I use that leverage to my advantage? Yes. And in the 11th hour, I go, ‘You know, that’s a lovely offer of $9 million. But I need one more to make it 10.’ That’s a big milestone when you’re an actor. To receive an eight-figure offer, for a woman, is huge. Sometimes women don’t like to talk about that. Whereas I don’t think the guys have any issues saying they get $20 million a movie.”
If you missed it, Rebel recently revealed the actor who she lost her virginity to. She’s one of six stars who have opened up about losing their virginity for the first time after they were 25 years old.