The ribald sex scenes were shot before the Charlie Hebdo massacre, in which Islamic extremist murdered four Paris cartoonists for making jokes about Islam.
In an interview with The Weekly conducted last December, Rebel said no offence was meant, and that none should be taken.
“It’s MA15-Plus and it’s scandalous,” she said, of her performance as Dawnie in Grimsby, a film made by her friend, Sacha Baron Cohen.
“One hundred per cent, you will not be disappointed in the outrageous nature of that movie.
“Just so you know, it’s not actually me that’s naked in that film. That’s the body of a South African burlesque dancer
“Anyway, Sacha has said I might need extra security when the movie comes out. There is a scandalous bit, quite controversial, where I wear a burqa.
“Obviously, I don’t mean any offence to Muslims. I asked my Muslim friend, ‘Do you think this is alright, to tell the joke we’re telling?’
“And she said yeah. But she’s pretty liberal and lives in New York. So who knows? But it is a joke and no offence meant.
“But however bad it is,” Rebel continued, “I’m following it up with being a full-grown, female panda in Kung Fu Panda III, which is a proper family movie.”
Rebel’s comments, which appear in this month’s issue of The Weekly, were made before the Charlie Hebdo massacre, and before the Sydney Lindt cafe scene.
Freedom of expression – including the freedom to make jokes – is considered a sacred human right in the US. It was raised by several Hollywood actors during last week’s Golden Globe awards.
The Cecil B. de Mille award winner, George Clooney and his wife, human rights lawyer Amal, wore #Je Suis Charlie badges to the ceremony, as did Helen Mirren and Kathy Bates.
Clooney addressed the matter during his acceptance speech, saying: ‘We will not walk in fear.’
However, Sony bowed to pressure and cancelled the release of one of its movies, The Interview, earlier this year, after its servers were hacked, apparently by a deeply offended North Korea.
The film centres on a plot to assassinate the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un.
Wilson is one of Hollywood’s brightest new stars, having burst into consciousness with an hilarious performance as Fat Amy from Tasmania in Pitch Perfect just two years ago.
Now she can barely move for the scripts being thrown her way.
In her interview with the Weekly, Rebel says she’s particularly proud to be “the first Australian woman to really break into comedy in the US. I think I can say that I am and that’s been amazing.
“I mean, at first, they were intrigued, like, ‘How does a girl like you [not being a size four] become an actress?’ Then they were like, ‘But actually, we have nobody else like you’. Because I write, I produce and I’m an actress, and I had a background in improv and stand-up, and I had all the bases covered.
“So, of course, I’m still learning, but they were like, ‘For somebody so young, you have so much experience and we can use that’.”
Besides being one of the busiest actors in the game, Rebel is arguably one of the most intriguing. Her name really is Rebel (one of her siblings is called Ryot, as in Riot); she was raised in a family of dog breeders (despite being allergic to dogs) and she is related to Walt Disney (which gives her special privileges at Disneyland.)
