Rebel Wilson speaks exclusively to RadioTimes.com about her role in the new tear-jerking film The Almond and the Seahorse. <\/p>
She\u2019s hosted the BAFTAs and starred in Hollywood comedies like Pitch Perfect and The Hustle, as well as the Oscar-winning WW2 satire Jojo Rabbit.<\/p>\n
But dramatic roles? That\u2019s something Rebel Wilson is far from used to. \u201cTo cry within a scene\u2026 I just hadn\u2019t done that in so long, like 20 years or something, from when I did serious stuff on stage in Australia,\u201d the Sydney-born actress muses. \u201cAnd it\u2019s really challenging\u2026 but the writing was so good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sitting in the plush library of a Zurich hotel, Wilson is talking about her time on British movie The Almond and the Seahorse, a tear-jerking drama that sees her play Sarah, an archaeologist whose husband, Joe (Celyn Jones, who also co-directs with Tom Stern), is unable to form new memories after he endured surgery to remove a brain tumour.<\/p>\n
A film that co-stars heavyweight performers like Charlotte Gainsbourg and Trine Dyrholm, it\u2019s been a powerful \u2013 and taxing \u2013 experience for Wilson. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to play the partner of the person that\u2019s had the traumatic injury,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Her comment stems from personal experience. For a while, Wilson dated someone who had previously sustained a brain injury after a fall. \u201cI didn\u2019t know him before the injury. So I didn\u2019t know [what he was like before],\u201d she recalls. \u201cSometimes, he\u2019d tell me something, and then he\u2019d tell me again an hour later.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thankfully, the injury wasn\u2019t as severe as the one seen in the film, but Wilson still drew from her time with this ex. \u201cI used a little bit of that for the character.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the film adapted by Jones and Kaite O\u2019Reilly from her own 2008 novel, Wilson credits Jones, as her main scene partner, for helping her through the more dramatic moments. \u201cYou just try not to bring the comedic timing into it,\u201d she says. \u201cBut you try to be open and play off the other actor.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd with Celyn and I, each scene was pretty different. And there were long scenes\u2026 so it felt improvised, in a way. But it was drama, so you\u2019ve got to bring that same kind of fun and spontaneity \u2013 just not in a comic way. It felt very fresh.\u201d<\/p>
Curiously, Wilson\u2019s move into drama was inspired by a very famous former co-star: the late Robin Williams. \u201cWe were working on Night of the Museum 3 and it was a month or two before he passed,\u201d she remembers.<\/p>\n
At the time, she was improvising a scene with Ben Stiller, and Williams was watching on the sidelines intently. \u201cIt was three in the morning. And he\u2019s like, \u2018Can I talk to you?\u2019 And I\u2019m like, \u2018Hell, yeah,\u2019 because it\u2019s Robin Williams. And he\u2019s a legend.\u201d<\/p>\n
Williams sat her down. \u201cAnd he goes, \u2018You should be doing drama. I can see it in you.’\u201d The iconic comedian, who had made his own switch to dramatic roles in films like Insomnia and One Hour Photo, even told his daughter Zelda about his conversation with Wilson.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then, after his death, Zelda said, \u2018I just wanted you to know my dad said such great things [about you].\u2019 After that, I was thinking, \u2018It would be good to do something,\u2019 but because the comedy stuff was going so well, I didn\u2019t really get any opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fortunately, Celyn Jones spotted Wilson\u2019s dramatic potential and offered her the role of Sarah in The Almond and the Seahorse. \u201cThis script came along after I did something at the BAFTAs in 2020. And then I was like, \u2018Okay, this could be a stepping stone into more serious stuff.’\u201d<\/p>\n
In retrospect, she felt hugely grateful to Williams. \u201cIt was one of those chats where I was so glad that I was there on that freezing cold night in London and got to sit with him for 45 minutes and just chat about life. I feel like very lucky that I had that experience.\u201d<\/p>\n