Rebel Wilson may be the funny girl fans know and love, but her childhood and years spent with her parents – namely father Warwick Wilson – weren’t stress free. Amid the release of her book, Rebel Rising, readers are wanting to know more about the actress’ parents, her relationships with them both and where things stand today.
Who Is Rebel Wilson’s Mom?
Rebel calls Sue Bownds her mom, and the two share an obviously close bond. Not only has Sue watched her daughter accomplish a fruitful acting career, but has embraced every ounce of being a grandparent to Rebel’s little girl, Royce Lillian.
Before she entered retirement, Sue worked as a professional dog handler, dog show judge and breeder in Australia. In addition to Rebel, she has three other adult children: daughters Liberty and Annaleise and son Ryot.
Who Is Rebel Wilson’s Dad?
Rebel’s dad, Warwick Wilson, shared a complicated relationship with his daughter. Amid the release of her memoir, the actress sat down with People to discuss the experiences she went through at her father’s hands, noting that he had anger issues and could be physically violent.
“I think it probably led to not having good self-worth, and also thinking you had to be good all the time, being a good girl and not being naughty,” Rebel shared. “I was not naughty in any way because I think I was fearful.”
Rebel’s father died at the age of 62 in 2013, and she gave readers insight into the letter she wrote to him after his passing. She slipped the note in his pocket.
“To dear Dad, I’ve said a lot that you were never really part of my acting career, but on reflection, you were and are,” Rebel wrote to Warwick, who died of a heart attack. “There’s a cheekiness, a dodginess and entrepreneurial-ness, a darkness, a creative-ness, a bravado-ness that comes from you and your side of the family.”
“I thank you greatly for that. I’m sure you didn’t mean to bring so much pain to Mum and us kids. You didn’t mean to lose your temper and do spiteful and hateful things,” she continued. “I want you to know that I forgive you. I will strive to find love, I will no longer be afraid of it. Your daughter, Rebel xoxo.”
What Happened Between Rebel Wilson’s Mom and Dad?
Sue didn’t tolerate the behavior she and her children were experiencing at home forever, and as Rebel recalled in her memoir, Sue kicked Warwick out of the house in the late 1990s.
“Mum finally kicked Dad out of the house on Valentine’s Day 1997,” the Pitch Perfect star wrote. “She’d finally mustered the courage after all those awful years and wised up to the fact that she deserved more. I was so proud of her. It must’ve been extremely difficult.”
What Has Rebel Wilson Said About Her Dad?
While Rebel went through levels of abuse thanks to her father, she admitted to People that their relationship “wasn’t so black and white.”
“At one part, it is easier because he’s passed away,” she said when asked about how she felt about opening up about their tumultuous dynamic. “And I wonder whether I would’ve had the courage to do it if he was still here… [so] it’s a little bit easier, I guess, in that respect that he’s not.”
She continued, “There were all these other things — the sadness that I felt when he did pass away so suddenly, and how tragic that was, and how I have regrets. It surprised me by writing [the memoir], sometimes, the empathy I felt towards him and thinking about his life and his struggles.”
