She’s in her mom era.
Rebel Wilson plays Juliet’s mother in the new musical drama flick “Juliet & Romeo” (hitting theaters Friday, May 9).
“Seeing me in these Hollywood glossy comedies, you wouldn’t expect me to do a turn as Lady Capulet. But I was a new mother when I got offered this role, and Lady Capulet’s like an iconic Shakespearean mother – normally played quite villainously, although I tried to give it a little bit more empathy,” Wilson, 45, exclusively told The Post.
The movie musical is a re-imagining of the famous Shakespeare story, starring Wilson as Lady Capulet, “The White Lotus” star Jason Isaacs as Lord Montague, Clara Rugaard as Juliet, and Jamie Ward as Romeo. Sir Derek Jacobi plays The Friar. The story includes a more uplifting ending.
The “Bridesmaids” actress welcomed her daughter Royce via surrogacy in 2022. She later tied the knot with girlfriend Ramona Agruma in Sept. 2024.
Wilson, who is also known for playing the character “Fat Amy” in the “Pitch Perfect” movies, made headlines for undergoing a weight loss journey in 2020.
“Sometimes as an actor you just want to do something a little bit different,” Wilson explained.
“I actually had auditioned for the ‘Elvis’ movie – the Baz Luhrmann one – to play the mother in that,” she added.
She explained that the Oscar-nominated 2022 movie starring Austin Butler, “flew me in and did all the aging prosthetics on my face. And then, they said I still looked too young to play Elvis’s mother at the time.”
Wilson said, “And so, it was just really cool to play Juliet’s mother in this [movie], completely against type.”
Previously, Wilson often played “the wacky friend” or “the wacky roommate” rather than “the mom.” She also played a single woman in 2019’s “Isn’t It Romantic,” co-starring Liam Hemsworth and Priyanka Chopra.
“When I lost weight in 2020, that weirdly made me more versatile as an actress,” Wilson told The Post.
“Even though I had the same skills….I think people see you differently and can imagine you more easily in different roles.”
She’s “not sure” that she would have taken the “Juliet & Romeo” role if she “wasn’t a mother.”
Having her child has changed her “fundamentally.”
“I don’t put myself first. By being an actor, being a performer, as part of your job, you’re a bit self-absorbed. You just have to go the opposite once you have a child,” the Australian actress told the Post. “I can’t just leave the house. I’ve got to be always thinking about my daughter and what’s good for her. And I think that’s changed me in a really positive way.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever felt that kind of love – just this love where you just do anything for it,” she gushed. “I’m very family-focused now, and before I was 100% work, pretty much.”
She praised her wife, Ramona, as also being an “amazing mother.”
“It’s hard work, but it’s great.”
