Rebel Wilson addressed that whole “actual age” thing
Very funny lady Rebel Wilson caused a small stir last year when one Australian magazine reported (and remember: Wilson is from Australia) that the actress was lying about her real name, and her age too. Wilson, being Wilson, thought this was absolutely bonkers, and instead of getting mad about the whole situation, turned it into a pretty funny joke.
Now, a year later, she’s bringing up her age, and the fact that anyone would accuse of her of lying about it is ridiculous. But then again, that’s what it’s like to be a woman in Hollywood right now. It’s a conversation we’re so tired of hearing again and again, and we’re bummed the topic of women and their age and what it means must be brought up —but we’re glad Wilson does, because she has some really good points.
“An actress has [an] age and can play within that, so why does it matter what her actual age is? I don’t get that,” Wilson explains in a brand new interview for FLARE magazine. “My movie [Pitch Perfect] was No. 1 and [the Australian press] tried to find anything they could that was bad on me. The most they could find out is that I stopped saying my age in press articles.”
She continues, explaining (and not that she HAS to), “It’s a business thing because you don’t want to be like, ‘Oh, I’m 29, about to be 30 coming to America, great.’” Wilson continued. “That’s not a positive thing to do when you’re an actress in Hollywood.”
Not disclosing your age to the press isn’t a bad thing, or even a good thing, it’s simply a choice that one person makes, and that’s what Wilson chose to do. Besides, Wilson is pretty easy to Google, you know?
Of course, this isn’t the first time a famous woman’s age has been prodded and dissected. Roundups that show how “well” women have aged are infinite. X-Files‘ Gillian Anderson was just shamed for her age in a tabloid. Hopefully with more celebs like Wilson pushing back on this gross trend, we can one day stop seeing women (and men!) be questioned and bugged about their age.
