Rebel Wilson says she received 'pushback' for losing weight because she was the 'funny fat girl'

Rebel Wilson says she's now focused on being as healthy as possible. (AP: Richard Shotwell)

Australian actor Rebel Wilson says she received "pushback" from her own team when she decided to lose weight, because she was "earning millions of dollars being the funny fat girl".

The Pitch Perfect and Bridesmaids star opened up about her physical transformation and struggles with fertility in an interview with the BBC after being named one of the broadcaster's 100 Women of 2021.

Here's what she had to say.

Management were against her losing weight

Wilson, 41, began documenting her "year of health" on social media last year, and recalled the moment she told her management team she wanted to "physically transform and change" her life.

“And they were like, why? Why would you want to do that?" Wilson, who rose to fame as "Fat Amy" in the 2012 franchise Pitch Perfect, said.

Wilson said she was "earning millions of dollars being the funny fat girl". (Supplied: Universal Pictures)

While Wilson said she was "still very confident being bigger", she continued that "some of the emotional eating behaviour I was doing was not healthy".

"That was me kind of numbing emotions using food," she said, adding she believed it may have been a way of dealing "with not being a natural performer".

'I know what it's like to be a woman who is essentially invisible'

Addressing the subsequent media attention surrounding her weight loss, Wilson didn't mince words.

Wilson said she didn't understand why people were "obsessed" with her appearance. (AP: Jordan Strauss )

Adding that she knew "what it's like to be a woman who is essentially invisible to most people" because she wasn't "traditionally beautiful", the actress said it was "crazy to try to fit that".

"It’s just better to be the healthiest version.”

'It would be great if I had my own children'

Wilson has openly discussed her fertility struggles on social media, including her decision to freeze her eggs.

She said she hoped that by talking about it candidly, it would help other women experiencing the same thing.

Describing herself as the "classic example of a career woman" who "didn't even think about kids" until her mid-30s, she said "it would be great if I had my own children".

"But I don't know whether that's going to happen and so I'm trying not to have any expectation set on an outcome," she said.

"Just that I'm the healthiest I can be, I'm going to try, and what will happen, will happen."