Rebel Wilson on-set secrets as Welsh director shares what it was really like working with her

Welsh actor and director Celyn Jones has opened up about the experience of working with Hollywood star Rebel Wilson on the film, The Almond and the Seahorse. The film itself, which Celyn has also co-written, marks a difference to how audiences are used to seeing Pitch Perfect actress Rebel, who is well known for her comedy roles.

Its release comes weeks after the publication of Rebel's controversial new memoir, Rebel Rising, in which she said working with Sacha Baron Cohen on another project was the "worst professional experience" of her career, which made her feel "humiliated". Read more here.

Of her latest project, Celyn, 44, described how Rebel was “nervous” before taking on the role in the film, which was partly shot in Wales and follows the lives of two couples who deal with their loved ones who suffer from anterograde amnesia. The star, who grew up on Anglesey, explained: “She was nervous coming into it because she was concerned about the emotion of the piece, and she wanted to do it really, really well, as she'd done so much prep for it. It helped being in it [as her co-star as well as a director] so we could react and be there for her, and hopefully allow her to relax and not be too carrying too many pebbles in her backpack. She was super collaborative. When she was on board, she was totally on board, and she really made herself available for the film.” Try WalesOnline Premium for FREE by clicking here for no ads, fun puzzles and brilliant new features.

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Celyn, who himself has previously won a Bafta Cymru for ITV serial killer drama Manhunt in 2019, added: “I find it really exciting that [Rebel] wants to try something new. The big stars seem to stay in their lane more, or the lane that they're most known for. I love [Rebel’s] audience coming to this project and watching her grow and try something new. Also for the character, as she goes through the mill in this. She really has to carry the weight of the world and the situation.

“She's quite a tough character, quite a frank character. She's always trying to hold it together. She's forced to be more straightforward, more blunt than other people. So having Rebel play the character brings another element to it, a depth to it, a richness to it, a heart to it, a humour to it. There are moments in the film where she improvises and uses a bit of her comic skills and abilities, and it really takes flight.”

Rebel Wilson isn’t the only big name to appear in The Almond and the Seahorse. The cast, whom Celyn calls “amazing”, also features Charlotte Gainsbourg (Independence Day: Resurgence, The Pale Blue Eye), Meera Syal (Goodness Gracious Me, The Kumars at No. 42), and Trine Dyrholm. Super Furry Animals’ Gruff Rhys is the composer of the film.

The Almond and the Seahorse, which premiered at Zurich Film Festival in 2022, is a project that is very close to Celyn’s heart. Prior to working on the film he’d previously been involved in a stage adaptation of the original play, which was written by Kaite O'Reilly. Reflecting on this he said: “[The play] had this unique effect on the audience and a unique effect on me. I remember thinking that this is a story that I'm not done telling.”

In the film, which Celyn co-directs with Tom Stern, he plays Joe who following the removal of a brain tumour, is unable to lay new memories. “He’s constantly in the moment. He’s like a goldfish. Rebel’s character Sarah has no future neurologically with the person she loves. They're very, very real conditions. It's a drama. It's an emotional film but it's also full of hope and love. If I can find a more succinct way to say it, it's about heart damage just as much as brain damage, and it's about surviving love.”

The truth behind The Almond and the Seahorse has never been more proven than at the film’s premiere when people with real life brain conditions came to watch the film. Discussing this Celyn said: “The reactions to the film are from people who've been affected by TBI (traumatic brain injury) or all various neurological conditions, be it dementia or Alzheimer's, any of those conditions. They're writing us these beautiful notes and getting in touch and just saying, ‘Oh my gosh, I've never seen my story in a film before. I've never seen myself represented’. The uniqueness, the pain, but also the absurdity and the hilarity of these situations, which you just don't expect because there's another version of this film where you might just zone in on the condition. It could be a film and story about the condition, but this was never going to be that. It was about the debris after the chaos. It was about the relationships picking up of the pieces, which I think is really moving and poignant and unique.”

Considering how Celyn both acts in and directs The Almond and the Seahorse, as well as co-writes it, you might think that he found it challenging but in fact, the project was always going to be like that for him. “It was unique because we filmed right in the height of Covid and time was tight and budgets were tight. Every day there were all these restrictions and changes, so in a way we had to be really adaptable, flexible, so fleet of foot that it helped that I had so many hats on because it meant we can make these decisions quickly."

The Almond and the Seahorse is now in cinemas. For the latest TV & Showbiz news, sign up to our newsletter.