A Major Pain

From The Herald-Sun‘s Confidential section:

Rotund Aussie comedian Rebel Wilson is hard at work in LA filming a major role in crass comedy Bridesmaids, directed by comic mastermind Judd Apatow and starring Little Britain comedian Matt Lucas

What’s wrong with this statement? Firstly Apatow, while producing, isn’t directing – Paul Feig of Freaks & Geeks fame is. And secondly, there’s that little word “major” describing Wilson’s role in Bridesmaids. Not having read the script, I have no idea how much screen time she’ll get, but as it’s a safe bet Confidential hasn’t either let’s just take a look at the rest of the cast (as taken from The Playlist):

The cast is an eclectic bunch that includes Wiig as the lead, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, “Mad Men” star Jon Hamm, Oscar winner Dianne Wiest (known recently for great work on HBO’s “In Treatment”) Matthew Lucas (U.K. hit comedy show “Little Britain,” Tweedledee and Tweedledum in Tim Burton’s “Alice In Wonderland”), Chris O’Dowd (“The I.T. Crowd,” the upcoming “Gulliver’s Travels”), Ellie Kemper (Erin on “The Office”), Melissa McCarthy (“Gilmore Girls”), and Wendy McLendon-Covey (“Reno:911”) all joining the film’s ensemble

[“Wiig” is lead Kristen Wiig, as seen in Knocked Up, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and Saturday Night Live, amongst others]

With that kind of name cast and no script to hand, why would anyone seriously think – let alone print – that Wilson would have a “major” role? Sure, she might impress everyone with her improv skills – which based on her TGYH work, means “look, she’s acting like a fat dumb slut!” – but again, out in the real world where you have a cast of proven talents and a supporting actor cast largely because she looks like Matt Lucas’s sister… well, the use of the word “major” to describe her role seems ill-advised at best.

We’re all used to Australian actors and comedians heading over the America to try their luck. And we’re all used to actors using social media to talk up their careers. But Wilson seems to have become something of an expert at combining the two if the amount of legitimate press she’s been getting in Australia for what certainly looks like a minor film role is anything to go by.

So here’s a bit of balance: a few months back I spoke to someone who worked at Madman, the company that released Wilson’s TV series Bogan Pride on DVD. We were talking about promotions, and I mentioned how impressed I was by the amount of effort that had gone into pushing Bogan Pride (seriously, there was a book, websites, competitions – they went all out). “Yeah,” they said, “We tried everything. People just weren’t interested.”

Keep that in mind next time you read a story about yet another tweet from Wilson: no matter what she says, no matter how hard she tries to get your attention… in the real world, people just aren’t interested.