Rebel Wilson Says Watching Elizabeth Banks Make 'Gangbusters'Pitch Perfect 2Inspired Her to Direct (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Rebel Wilson (left) on Sept. 14 and Elizabeth Banks (right) on Sept. 5.Photo:Sonia Recchia/Getty Images; Gotham/GC Images

Sonia Recchia/Getty Images; Gotham/GC Images

Rebel WilsoncreditsPitch PerfectcostarElizabeth Banksfor inspiring her to direct her first movie.

As the actress, 44,premiered her directorial debut,The Deb, at theToronto International Film Festivalon Sept. 14, she told PEOPLE seeing Banks, 50, take charge of 2015’sPitch Perfect 2was an aha moment for her as well as for costarsAnna KendrickandBrittany Snow, who have all since directed their own films.

“Elizabeth Banks came as a first-time female director and directedPitch 2, and that just went gangbusters. And I think we, all of us girls, kind of watched that and went, ‘Huh,’ ” Wilson says.

“It was inspiring to us that we could get out there and do it,” she adds.

Rebel Wilson and Elizabeth Banks in 2015.Anita Bugge/WireImage

Anita Bugge/WireImage

Wilson says the women allkeep in touch on aPitch Perfecttext groupand keep each other up to date on their latest projects.

“We’re talking about what we are doing and are very, very, very supportive of each other,” says Wilson. “And we are pretty different girls and I am sure the movies we are all creating are all quite very, very different.”

After directingPitch Perfect 2, Banks went on to tackle a big screen reboot ofCharlie’s Angelsin 2019 and the hit 2023 horror-comedyCocaine Bear.

Snow’sParachute, a drama about a woman struggling with an eating disorder, premiered in 2022. She also cowrote the film. Next month, Netflix launches Kendrick’s true-crime dramaWoman of the Hour, a gripping look atserial killer and rapist Rodney Alcala, who became a contestant onThe Dating Gamein the 1970s while still at large for his crimes.

Rebel Wilson and Adam DeVine in ‘Pitch Perfect 2.'.Richard Cartwright/Brownstone Prods/Gold Circle/Universal/Kobal/Shutterstock

Richard Cartwright/Brownstone Prods/Gold Circle/Universal/Kobal/Shutterstock

“I’m shocked Kendrick didn’t do a musical because she is queen of musicals,” says Wilson. Not only has Kendrick starred in threePitch Perfectfilms, but she also appeared in the musicalsThe Last Five Years,Into the WoodsandCamp.

Wilson says her directorial debuthad to be a musical: “Basically, it could only have been a musical, I think, because the amount of work and passion and love you have to put in, I think for me it could only be a musical."

source: people.com