Rebel Wilson: 'I got fatter to be funnier'

Actress Rebel Wilson decided to put on weight so she would be funnier than her co-star.

The 36-year-old is best known for her role as Fat Amy in hit movie Pitch Perfect, but long before she got her Hollywood break, the Australian had already decided her size could be the key to her success as a funnywoman.

As she wrote her first play, Rebel cast herself alongside an actress who was bigger than her, and was dismayed to find she was getting more laughs from the audience.

"I was like: ‘Oh. That girl’s getting a lot of laughs, a lot easier than me. What is it?’ Because I don’t think there’s much difference in talent," she recalled to Britain's The Telegraph. "And I remember distinctly thinking: ‘I think it’s because she’s fatter’. And then, I don’t know if it was mega-conscious, but I thought: ‘How can I get more laughs? Maybe if I was a bit fatter…’ And then suddenly I was fatter, and doing comedy.”

Rebel refuses to let her curves get in the way of her ambition, and the same goes for her age, after she was accused by a number of Australian publications of lying about how old she is.

“Hollywood IS age-ist," she said. "That’s why people do crazy s**t to their faces – out of desperation to look younger. But I think my career is based more on my personality, so it doesn’t really matter.”

However the accusations didn't stopped Rebel filing legal action against Bauer Media, the company which owns titles Woman's Day, The Australian Women's Weekly, New Weekly and OK! back in May (16).

Rebel claimed the magazines had made her out to be a serial liar, leaving her "humiliated and embarrassed" and "gravely injured in her feelings, credit and reputation".

The actress is suing for special damages as she believes her reputation has been damaged, with contracts being terminated after the articles appeared, as well as her missing out on other potential roles because of the lies.