Rebel Wilson talks ‘90s culture and life behind the camera in ‘Senior Year’

At a May 4 virtual college roundtable, actor Rebel Wilson met with several publications from around the country to reveal how she balanced serving as producer and lead actor in the new Netflix film “Senior Year.” Photo courtesy of Netflix

In order to motivate the dozens of cast and crew members to keep filming in the Atlanta summer heat, actor and producer Rebel Wilson sought a way to keep spirits high around the set. She soon learned the answer was simple: churro food trucks. 

“If morale was low, especially on a Friday, I knew we had to bring in a couple of food trucks,” Wilson told The Panther. “We might have ice cream; we might have churros. To keep up the vibe, we’d sometimes pump a song out of the speakers and just let everybody move about. Those were my two main tricks.”

With churros in hand, grooving to “C’est La Vie” by B*Witched, Wilson served as both producer and lead actor on “Senior Year,” a Netflix original film which revamps the classic ‘90s high school comedy. Wilson sat down with three college publications from around the country May 4  to discuss her role in the film, whether it be boosting morale around set or assisting in dance choreography with her experience from the “Pitch Perfect” series.

“Senior Year” follows cheerleader Stephanie Conway in 2002 at the top of high school social hierarchy as she fantasizes about cementing her popular status by winning prom queen. However, after a failed cheerleading stunt, Stephanie falls into a coma for 20 years and wakes up as a 37-year old woman. 

Feeling unfilled by her abrupt end to high school, she decides to re-enroll only to find the social landscape has drastically changed.

In order to channel a shallow, popularity-driven cheerleader, Wilson turned to advice from co-star Alicia Silverstone, who played a similar character — queen bee Cher Horowitz — in the 1995 film “Clueless.”

“For me, ‘Clueless’ was such an iconic film, like one that I watched obsessively,” Wilson told the group. “It’s weird, because when I looked at (Silverstone) back then, I never thought I could play a character like that. I never thought I’m that type, so it was really interesting when (Silverstone) came on set, just to talk to her about the process of making that film and the gossip behind it.” 

Wilson, who graduated high school in 1997, described the ‘90s as a fun time in terms of fashion and pop-music, which is evident in the movie. She even declared that ‘90s fashion and culture is making a comeback.

“I’m sitting here in Central Park, and I see a girl wearing pants like what TLC used to have back in the day," Wilson said. "I don’t know why (the ‘90s are making a comeback), but maybe it’s because we just had a pandemic and people want to reminisce about happy times.”

The film is the directorial debut for British television director Alex Hardcastle, a close friend of Wilson’s. After collaborating on the first episode of “Super Fun Night,” Wilson noted that Hardcastle had directed for “every big comedy show on TV” and should try his hand at feature films. She complimented Hardcastle on his organization around set and his openness to collaborate with Wilson on the musical sequences. 

“I’m so glad that (Hardcastle) got to do this, and he absolutely knocked it out of the park,” Wilson said. “Directing is the biggest job in any movie — like they are the captain of the ship — and he crushed it and made it so fun. I know he’s going to get tons of movies when this comes out and crushes because he deserves it.”

Because the film has a 20-year time jump, Hardcastle and Wilson had to work hard to find an actor to play the 17-year-old version of Stephanie. After an extensive search, they landed on actor Angourie Rice who has credits in the “Spider-Man” trilogy and “Mare of Easttown.” 

According to Wilson, Rice had to acclimate to playing a comedic role and understanding Wilson’s thick, Australian accent. To establish a sense of continuity between the teenage and adult portrayals of Stephanie, Rice also carefully analyzed the way Wilson played the character in her older years before performing her own scenes.

“She is such a stunning actress," Wilson told the audience. "She would watch the dailies and just watch how I would do the scenes. I don’t know how she did it. She’s very studious and was able to analyze my timing. Then I watched the movie, and I was like, ‘Oh she did it!’ She did a really good job, and I’m so proud of her.”

In order for Wilson to manage both of her roles as actor and producer, she worked with producing partners Todd Garner and Chris Bender who handled any issues on set and oversaw adherence to the film’s production schedule.

“Sometimes during filming, I’m just like, ‘Okay, I am the lead actress and I really have to focus on that,’ and (Garner and Bender) would take a lot of the dramas, which there basically weren’t any (of) on this movie,” Wilson said. “We would do script meetings with the director on Saturday. I was doing dance rehearsals on Sundays. Then Monday through Friday, sometimes I’d have to go have a nap in my trailer because it can get a lot.”

As she navigates her roles both in front of and behind the camera, Wilson hopes the next step in her career will lead her into the directing chair. “Senior Year” will be released May 13 and will be available on Netflix.