Rebel Wilson has revealed that she auditioned for the next James Bond film after producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson hosted the 2022 BAFTA Film Awards.
The ‘Pitch Perfect’ star is currently at Cannes Film Festival to make his directorial debut“The Deb,” a big-screen adaptation of the titular Australian musical comedy. Diversity caught up with Wilson to discuss his turn in the director’s seat, and his no-holds-barred hosting duties at the BAFTAs, where he redeemed the british royal family,
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Wilson explained that he had to rattle off some Bond-related jokes with the producers before the awards, which put them in direct contact and eventually led to an audition.
“Auditioning for Bond was really cool,” Wilson said, stressing that the role she went for was not actually James Bond, but another character in the film. The audition took place last year, though the star has been shy about whether or not she landed the gig.
The next installment of the popular franchise is currently in the scripting stage. Broccoli and Wilson told last year Diversity that finding a new Bond “isn’t just about casting an actor for a film. It’s about reinvention.” The often-discussed frontrunner for the role is Aaron Taylor-Johnson.
Wilson said that hosting the BAFTA Awards was one of the “most difficult events” he had ever done, due to last-minute changes to the script hours before the start of the show.
“It’s one of the hardest gigs,” Wilson said, “because two hours before, (they were like) ‘Let’s change everything.’ So I had to get up there and put on my wings. There was a lot of ruckus in that show. Some people don’t come and then they change the order of the show.
Wilson continued: “I don’t think people understand because when they see the show they don’t know that two hours before (the ceremony started), half of it was thrown out and I had to start again. I Literally going into my dressing room at the Royal Albert Hall, ‘What do I write? What do I write?’ I was fortunate enough to have a live theater background.
The Australian actor will take over the director’s chair for “The Deb”, which is being produced as an independent feature backed by billionaire investor Len Blavatnik and produced by Unigram and AI Films.
Regarding his decision to look outside the studio system for his directorial debut, Wilson stated that his experience with previous films inspired him to try something different.
“As a business woman, I think I was – I don’t want to say the word victim – but I’ve been in situations where you’re asked to defer fees and then it’s sold to a streamer. is, and you never see any profit or any upside.
Wilson said his 2022 film “Senior Year”, which he also produced, was viewed by 89 million unique Netflix users in its first 10 days on the platform. She put her law degree to good use in negotiating a licensing deal with Netflix.
“[It’s]wonderful, but as a producer, you don’t get any upside from it,” Wilson explained. “Not many people know that I have a law degree and I am quite an entrepreneur. So as a business woman, I was like for this project (‘The Deb’), I was really able to do it financially. I can film in Australia and then I have 50% share in the film. For me, it was a very tempting offer and I am very happy that I got a chance to partner with Unigram and AI and achieved 50/50… I thought it was a good deal.”
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