Rebel Wilson has claimed she lost out on a big role in Bridesmaids due to one advantage Melissa McCarthy had over her.
If you’re a fan of the 2011 comedy – which, let’s face it, most people are – you’ll know that Wilson isn’t missing from it altogether.
Wilson features in Bridesmaids the role of Brynn; Annie’s roommate who shows off a pretty grotesque tattoo of a ‘Mexican drinking worm’. However, she’s not a character who makes it into the bridal party.
One of those roles instead went to McCarthy, who had previously landed roles in The Back-up Plan and Gilmore Girls.
McCarthy starred as the foul-mouthed Megan, and it was this role that Wilson actually auditioned for when she put herself forward for the movie.
She spoke about the experience while on stage at the London Palladium on Monday (April 29), The Mirror reports, when she revealed she had auditioned ‘for the Melissa McCarthy role’.
Melissa McCarthy played Megan in Bridesmaids. (Universal Pictures)
However, she claimed she never stood a chance at beating McCarthy to the role.
“They were always going to give it to Melissa because she was their friend,” she claimed.
Instead, Wilson ended up getting the role of Brynn because the creators of Bridesmaids allegedly thought she looked like Matt Lucas, who had already been cast in the role of Annie’s other roommate.
She recalled: “So I come in and start improvising and it went on for and hour. You know an audition is good when it goes in for an hour… so I got the call and they said ‘You got the part!’ And I went, ‘What, the role?!’ And they went ‘Not that role.
“You really look like Matt Lucas’,” Wilson continued in her recollection of the event. “He’s this British comedian and he’s already been cast in the film so we’re just going to add you in as his sister.’ So I’m like, ‘Alright!’”
Rebel Wilson was left disappointed with her role. (Universal Pictures)
“I was like, I guess it’s OK but I really wanted the Melissa McCarthy role…” Wilson continued. “They were like ‘You’ve been cast in a Hollywood film’ and I was like ‘Yeah, but I don’t really have a role’.”
Bridesmaids director Paul Feig has previously spoken about McCarthy’s audition for the movie, which he described as a ‘religious moment’ for him.
“It actually took me 30 seconds to realise it was even funny,” he said, per The Guardian. “She made the decision to play the character kind of guy-ish, like, ‘We’re gonna go out and make a man sandwich’.”
McCarthy added that the role of Megan was a ‘great part’.
UNILAD has reached out to representatives for McCarthy for comment on Wilson’s claims.
