The ‘Pitch Perfect’ star has been accused of lying about her age, but has proof she’s 35 been found?
Pitch Perfect 2 actress Rebel Wilson has been at the center of an identity controversy this week, after an Australian tabloid accused her of lying about her age and real name. But while the actress has so far denied the claims the evidence might now be too much for her to ignore, as another Australian newspaper has done even more digging into her past.
Wilson has been hit by rumours that she’s actually 35.
On Monday an article titled ‘Will the real Rebel Wilson please stand up?,’ appeared on the website of Woman’s Day magazine, claiming the star was actually 36 (not 29) and that her real name was Melanie Elizabeth Bownds.
An anonymous source told the tabloid, “I studied with Rebel at Tara Anglican School for Girls in North Parramatta, Sydney. But no-one knew of a Rebel Wilson. Her name is – or was – Melanie Elizabeth Bownds, and she’s 36 – she was born in 1979 and we left school in 1997.”
More: 'Pitch Perfect 2' Star Rebel Wilson Reveals She Hates Karaoke
The mag also printed pictures of what looks to be Rebel during her school days, but in each image the future star is named as Melanie Bownds. The source also hinted that Rebel has embellished details of her upbringing, describing it as a “very normal, upper-middle-class upbringing”.
According to the mag, the actress had previously described her upbringing as gypsy like and said her family lived in ‘the ghetto’. Responding to the rumours via Twitter, Wilson told her followers, ‘OMG I'm actually a 100 year old mermaid formerly known as "CC Chalice" ....thanks shady Australian press for your tall poppy syndrome x.’ Later the actress added, ‘Okay but all jokes aside now...my real name is Fat Patricia.'
But it seems the Sydney Morning Herald has done a little extra digging and confirmed that Rebel’s real age is actually 35. According to the newspaper, business records filed with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission show that Wilson was actually born on March 2, 1980, making her 35 years old.
More: Rebel Wilson Thinks Her Name Gives Her Courage And "An Edge”
As for her name, the Herald reports The Australian Electoral Roll lists her real name as Melanie Elizabeth Bownds, though she did later change her last name to Wilson. The actress has previously stated however that her real name was in fact Rebel, and that Melanie and Elizabeth were middle names she went by at school to avoid being teased.
Wilson is yet to confirm or deny the Sydney Morning Herald’s story, but her IMDB page now lists the actress as 35 instead of 29. But now that her age mystery looks to be solved, perhaps now we can all get back to focusing on Rebel’s latest role, as Fat Amy in Pitch Perfect 2, which is currently dominating the US and UK box offices.
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