Rebel Wilson reveals tiny salary from ‘Bridesmaids’
The number of actors who kicked off their careers with a multi-million dollar payday is extremely minute, but it didn’t take Rebel Wilson too long to begin securing larger salaries once her star continued to rise in Hollywood.
The star’s second-ever role in a feature film marked her debut in American cinema, although the pivotal part of ‘Girl in Alley’ being interviewed by a news crew in Nicolas Cage’s comic book adaptation Ghost Rider wasn’t exactly going to set her on the road to bigger and brighter things. However, Bridesmaids definitely did.
The third credit on Wilson’s big screen filmography saw her playing Brynn in Paul Feig’s aforementioned ensemble comedy. The movie recouped its budget ten times over at the box office, secured a Golden Globe nomination for ‘Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy’, and landed Academy Award nominations for ‘Best Original Screenplay’ and ‘Best Supporting Actress’ for breakout star Melissa McCarthy.
As the tenth-billed name in the ensemble, though, Wilson was hardly rolling in cash. Far from it, in fact, with the actor revealing in her memoir Rebel Rising that she was only paid $3,500 for starring in a movie that became one of the most successful and popular comedies of the 2010s.
However, she wasn’t left feeling bitter about the payday, especially when the subsequent success of the Pitch Perfect trilogy ended up increasing her going rate exponentially. Wilson admitted the paltry compensation for Bridesmaids “didn’t matter to me” in the long run, because she booked six films in the aftermath, one of which was the opening chapter in the musical franchise.
By the time the third entry rolled around, Wilson was in a position to reject a seven-figure paycheque in favour of adding an extra zero onto the end. As Pitch Perfect had made so much money for Universal, she decided that pushing the boat out and securing an even more lucrative deal was a justifiable call.
“Did I use that leverage to my advantage? Yes,” she wrote of Pitch Perfect‘s profitability impacting her negotiations. “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 ten.’ That’s a big milestone when you’re an actor.”
Entirely correctly, Wilson acknowledged that “to receive an eight-figure offer, for a woman, is huge.” $9 million is a whole lot of money, but rounding it up to a nice even ten was something she strived for to push herself into that elite bracket.
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