Rebel Wilson Shares Her Awful First Acting Headshot on Late Night, Laughs About Her "Feral Hair" and Sporty Side

"Looking at that headshot, would you think that girl would get hired?" the How to Be Single star asks

By Zach Johnson Feb 09, 2016 2:16 PMTags

Rebel Wilson didn't always look like the glamorous movie star she is today.

The How to Be Single star stopped by NBC's Late Night Monday, where she told Seth Meyers about her show business beginnings. "A lot of people look at me and think I'm stupid, but no. I graduated from a school that's kind of like the Harvard of Australia," she said. "By second year I was already on TV, and I was famous for playing this gang girl who was like real gangsta...and then people would see me at law school, and I'd try to pretend to be studious. I'd wear glasses and, like, try to write notes and stuff. People would be like, 'Is that...?' It would just confuse the hell out of people. They're like, 'How did she get in here? Shouldn't somebody kick her out?'"

Wilson graduated with degrees in law and arts from the University of New South Wales in 2009. "I have never practiced—like defended any real criminals—but I feel like it could be really funny if I did. I could make jokes," she said. "The jury would really like me. I could get anybody off, I think."

Two years out of college, Wilson booked a breakout role in Bridesmaids. She starred in a short-lived series for ABC, Super Fun Night, and continued to appear on the big screen in films like Pitch Perfect, Pain & Gain, Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb and Pitch Perfect 2. In a way, Wilson can't believe she booked such high-profile roles, given how she looks in her first headshot.

"You went to the Harvard of Australia and you thought this was OK?" Meyers asked.

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"I know!" Wilson said. "So, I'm like 18 or 19 here, holding a softball mitt, and just in case you didn't know I was sporty, a softball. I don't know what's happening with my feral hair. I'm also wearing the world's thinnest gold chain. Maybe that's because, like, 'Maybe I can be classy.' But, just so you know my gangster, ghetto roots, we've got the graffiti in the background." Meyers joked, "There's so much going on and there's so few acting parts where this works."

"Like, what was I auditioning for?" Wilson asked. "A reboot of A League of Their Own?"

Meyers joked, "It's sort of like a more street League of Their Own."

"When I first said I was going to become an actress, like nobody thought that it would ever happen. Looking at that headshot, would you think that girl would get hired?" Wilson asked. "No!"

"It's usually one of those things where you're like, 'Nobody believed in me and I proved them wrong.' But this is a case where you look at this and go, 'Nobody believed in me, and right they were. It's crazy now to look back that I have succeeded based on my early decisions on a headshot,'" Meyers told the Aussie star. "You outgrew it very well. Congratulations on that."

"Thank you. I feel like I'm growing into my looks, which is weird, because most people are their hottest at age 18," Wilson said. She then joked, "I got better at modeling, as well, with age."

"There's not a lot going right," Meyers said. "We haven't even talked about the posture!"

(E! and NBC are both members of the NBCUniversal family.)

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