Rebel Wilson has said working with Sacha Baron Cohen was “the worst professional experience” of her career.
The Australian actress has made a series of shocking claims about working with the British actor in her upcoming memoir Rebel Rising, which he has firmly denied.
The pair worked together on the 2016 comedy Grimsby, in which she played the role of Dawn – who was his character Nobby’s wife.
During an interview with The Sunday Times to promote her memoir, Rebel recalled meeting Sacha at a dinner back in 2011, following the success of Bridesmaids.
He later called her and asked if she would play his wife in Grimsby, and she said yes.
“It turned out to be the worst professional experience of my career,” she confessed.
Rebel claimed she felt “disrespected” on set, and said: “It’s one thing for someone who is fat to exploit their size for comedy, but it’s another for somebody else to humiliate you.”
The actress said she felt like her costumes were chosen to “see all the cellulite on my thighs and a top to show the fattest part of my arm”, leaving her feeling “like I was something to be laughed at and degraded because of my size”.
And while Rebel had a no-nudity clause in her contact, she alleged that Sacha asked her to film a scene where she had to run naked across a football pitch – which she refused.
“I’m sharing my story now because the more women talk about things like this, hopefully the less it happens. And hopefully fewer women have to work harder just to respect themselves,” she said.
Sacha has strongly denied Rebel’s version of events on set.
In a statement earlier this week, his rep said: “While we appreciate the importance of speaking out, these demonstrably false claims are directly contradicted by extensive detailed evidence, including contemporaneous documents, film footage, and eyewitness accounts from those present before, during and after the production of The Brothers Grimsby.”
