Rebel Wilson makes heartbreaking admission about her difficult childhood with late father – and how it shaped her career
Rebel Wilson has made a heartbreaking confession about how her difficult childhood with her late father Warwick shaped her career.
The Australian actress, 44, admitted on Monday that there was an “infidelity” within her father that significantly affected her as a person.
“Why I have certain parts of my personality and do comedy is because my father had unreliability throughout,” she shared The diary of a CEO podcast.
‘Alcoholism, addictions and also a mentality that is a bit unreliable. There is a dark side, and if I didn’t have that, I don’t think I would be as interesting as a person.”
Wilson added that she felt like many of her famous friends had personalities that were a bit bland because they came from happy, carefree childhoods.
Rebel Wilson (pictured) has made the heartbreaking confession of how her difficult childhood with her late father Warwick shaped her career
“I have friends in the industry who had great childhoods. To me they seem very vanilla in their work. They’re just not that interesting.’
In her new memoir Rebel Rising, she opened up about the physical abuse she suffered at the hands of her father, including an incident where he threatened to “choke and strangle” her.
In the book, Rebel recalls that her father Warwick, who died in 2013, once had a violent outburst when, as a 12-year-old, she begged him to buy her a Slurpee.
The Australian actress, 44, admitted on Monday that there was an “intransigence” in her father that had a major impact on her as a person. (Pictured: rebel [left] with her father [third from right] and family in the 90s)
The pair were in the car with Rebel’s sister Liberty when their father lost his temper after they kept asking him to buy them drinks, saying he would ‘strangle’ her if she kept talking.
She wrote: ‘He turns around violently, as if he wanted to strangle me every now and then. He is furious. It’s like a switch has been turned on.’
The actress recalled another incident during her childhood, when her father reportedly punched her in the face after he thought she had wet the bed.
“Why I have certain parts of my personality and do comedy is because my dad had unreliability all over the place,” she told The Diary Of A CEO podcast. ‘Alcoholism, addictions and also a mentality that is a bit unreliable. There is a dark side
Rebel told how she and Liberty had moisturized their faces with washcloths in bed to try to cool down on a particularly hot night.
The Bridesmaids star came up with the idea of wetting both mattresses in the hope that this would help them cool down faster.
But when their father entered their bedroom he thought the couple had wet the bed and Rebel said he immediately lost his temper and became a ‘red-headed giant’.
She wrote: ‘He brings his palm to his cheek and hits me with the full force of a strong, stocky grown man as I lie there on the wet mattress. Wrap. Wrap. Wrap.”
In her new memoir Rebel Rising, she opened up about the physical abuse she suffered at the hands of her father, including an incident where he threatened to “choke and strangle” her.