Rebel Wilson spoke in Macky Auditorium at a Distinguished Speakers Board event on April 16, 2026. (Emily Doskow/CU Independent)
Actress, producer, director and bestselling author Rebel Wilson was greeted by community members in Macky Auditorium at the University of Colorado Boulder on April 15. Wilson spoke with Distinguished Speakers Board members Grace Wynne and Elle Gianola about her upbringing, career and motherhood.
Wilson pivoted from law school to acting, and said she faced tremendous rejection before her eventual success. She said it was “Pitch Perfect” that really put her on the map, but she walked a long road getting there. She spoke to the audience about the importance of finding your authentic self and staying true to it, crediting her success to not trying to be anyone else.
Audience members were greeted by the acapella group “In the Buff” outside Macky.
“You’re ready for ‘Pitch Perfect 4!’” Wilson joked, having sneaked a peek from her car before the show.
Some had come to see the star of a cult-classic movie, while others wanted to hear about how Wilson created her distinct personal brand.
“I grew up watching “Pitch Perfect” with my mom and my aunt,” said freshman Valeria Ledezma-Padilla, who brought her roommate to the event.
Wilson said she still looks back fondly on her “Pitch Perfect” days.
“I did really love singing and dancing with my friends,” Wilson said.
She shared behind-the-scenes info about the iconic scene from the first movie set in an abandoned swimming pool.
“We were all freezing, so we decided to huddle together like penguins in between scenes,” Wilson said. “It was something about that night. It really bonded us. And also, I think [Bruno Mars’ “Just the Way You Are”] is really beautiful in the movie…It was just a beautiful effort of ten girls hovering together and working as a team to get through that night.”
She sang her part from the song, which she still knows by heart.
Wilson, who is a proud Aussie, said that it was “hard yards” when she initially got into acting. She got rejected from Australia’s National Institute of Dramatic Art five years in a row while she was in law school. But eventually, after playing a few small roles, she got the call to audition for the romantic-comedy, “Bridesmaids.” She said she completely improvised her audition, which led the directors to write in a new part for her.
When the producers of “Pitch Perfect” reached out to her asking her to play Fat Amy, she said she had to choose between the small, indie film and a high-budget movie with Will Ferrell.
“There was something special about “Pitch Perfect,”” she said.
Fat Amy didn’t have a love story with Bumper in the original script, but Wilson said she and Adam Devine would keep talking when the cameras were rolling, improvising many of their scenes.
“Fat Amy was like, the seventh biggest character in the script, and I feel like I made her the second or third. And we’d just be the two stand-up comedians in the group,” she said.
In the second movie, the writers gave Amy and Bumper a love story. Wilson said that she always adds her own personal flair to whatever script she’s working with.
“You can’t just read a script. You have to add something,” she said.
Amidst a successful acting career, Wilson directed “The Deb,” which was released in 2024. Never having directed before, she figured she might as well give it a shot. Since then, she has embarked on directing a comedy TV show called “Girl Group,” which she said exemplifies the importance of being true to yourself.
“The girls think they have to transform themselves to meet the mold of what everybody likes, or thinks is cool or popular. But the message of the movie is like, when you’re being authentically you, you’re the best version of you.”
Despite all of her professional success, she said the most precious aspect of her life is tucking her three-year-old daughter into bed at the end of the night.
“I think I really shine in the bedtime story department,” Wilson said.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Emily Doskow at Emily.Doskow@colorado.edu
