Rebel Wilson on Her New Dramatic Role, Early Motherhood, and Making Room for Romance

What have the last three weeks been like for you?

Well, I feel so lucky, because I have such great help and such a wonderful partner in my girlfriend Ramona [Agruma, a fashion and jewelry designer]. Still, this morning, I was like, do I have breakfast, or do I put on makeup? Because I don’t have time to do both. [Laughs.] The baby is so low-key, though; I just love cuddling her. She’s not doing much but pooping, eating, and sleeping, but I love playing her classic Disney songs and showing her baby flashcards.

What was it like taking on such an emotionally intense role in The Almond and the Seahorse?

It really is such a different role, because I’ve been doing the glossy Hollywood comedies. When I came to America, I was like, I’m going to be the female Jonah Hill and totally just crush it! But I actually started as a serious actress in Australia. I wanted to be the next Dame Judi Dench, but nobody in Hollywood really saw me for those roles, so when The Almond and the Seahorse came around, I was like, oh my God, it’s such a gutsy and challenging role. I felt like I had to do it to get back those acting muscles. Comedy isn’t hard [laughs], because you’re just mucking around with your friends and having fun a lot of the time, but prep for this movie was kind of torturous. It was a real acting challenge, but it was so exciting to dip my toe back into that.

Is there anything you did in particular in order to get yourself ready for the role?

Well, we filmed in kind of a depressing pandemic time. It was March of 2021, so I had to be locked down for two weeks by myself in a hotel when I arrived in London. In real life, I was also trying have a baby, and towards the end of the shoot I got the terrible news that the egg harvest hadn’t survived. My character was going through painful stuff, but so was I, and remembering that helped me to really form who Sarah was. Before making this film, I didn’t realize how common it was to have a traumatic brain injury, and I think it could have a really powerful impact on people to see that experience reflected onscreen.