Rebel Wilson says her struggle with ‘overcoming shyness’ ended up inspiring her new children’s book

Rebel Wilson reveals how her struggle with ‘overcoming shyness’ ended up inspiring her new children’s book


Rebel Wilson has revealed that she used her own childhood experiences to form the basis for her debut children’s book, Bella The Brave.

The comedic actress appeared on The Morning Show from her home in Los Angeles on Tuesday to talk about the book and how she drew inspiration from her memories growing up in Australia.

‘I kind of wanted to use stories from my real life that hopefully inspire and motivate young kids everywhere,’ Rebel, 41, told Morning Show hosts Larry Emdur and Kylie Gillies. 

A page from her own life: Rebel Wilson revealed how her own past inspired her new children’s book, Bella the Brave, on Tuesday’s episode of The Morning Show

‘The first book is about overcoming shyness and it talks about a story where my mum dragged me into a local community centre to join the girl’s choir,’ she recalled.

Rebel says that experience led her to the world of the creative arts, which gave her the freedom to express herself and overcome her shyness.

The Pitch Perfect star adds that the book is the first in a series that will use experiences from her childhood.

Only the beginning: The comedic actress says that Bella the Brave is the first in a planned series of books that will use experiences from her childhood

Only the beginning: The comedic actress says that Bella the Brave is the first in a planned series of books that will use experiences from her childhood

‘It will be a series of books, but this is the first one. They will be about different things,’ she confirmed. 

‘I think the next one will be about body positivity, and then the third one about siblings.’

‘There’s so many stories that I have from my childhood to utilise, so it was hard to choose which ones go first. But I think for me, overcoming shyness really was the first big obstacle in my life,’ she added.  

'Overcoming shyness really was the first big obstacle in my life': The Pitch Perfect star recalled her experiences growing up with crippling shyness and how her mother would take her to a community centre to help her overcome it through performing

‘Overcoming shyness really was the first big obstacle in my life’: The Pitch Perfect star recalled her experiences growing up with crippling shyness and how her mother would take her to a community centre to help her overcome it through performing

The actress elaborated on her struggles with her shyness and said her face would ‘always go red’ when a teacher asked her a question at school.

It wasn’t until her teenage years that she broke out of her shell and ‘started making proper friends and having proper social interactions’.  

As she recalled these memories with Emdur and Gillies, the Bridesmaids star showed the two TV hosts a series of photos from her childhood where she is seen playing with her toys and performing in a school play. 

Rebel Wilson’s new book Bella the Brave is available now

Memories: Rebel showed Emdur and Gillies a series of photos from her childhood where she is seen playing with her toys and performing in a school play

Memories: Rebel showed Emdur and Gillies a series of photos from her childhood where she is seen playing with her toys and performing in a school play

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