Rebel Melanie Elizabeth Wilson an Australian actress, comedian, writer, singer and producer admits to kissing Charlotte Gainsbourg on screen and how it opened her heart up to the idea of dating women.
The actress stars opposite Gainsbourg in ‘The Almond and the Seahorse’ has reflected on how she reassessed her own sexuality after they locked lips in the new movie, which came shortly before she met her current fiancee, Ramona Agruma.
She says: “I had kind of had a situation with a woman before, not a sexual relationship and we hadn’t kissed or anything, but then the kiss with Charlotte came up. I didn’t think it was that big of a deal or anything. Weirdly through kissing her in my professional life I thought, well, maybe I should do that for real in my personal life and see how it goes, which I did.”
The shoot took place in 2021 before meeting Ramona by the end of the year, and Rebel credits the movie – and her subsequent “experience” – with becoming more open. She added: “If I hadn’t had the experience with Charlotte or the experience with the other woman, I don’t know if I would have ever met Ramona.
“Having those experiences opened my heart up to it as a possibility. I’m grateful for those two experiences. It changed my love life completely. It’s such an awesome thing.”
The 42-year-old star revealed she knows other actresses who have had similar experiences.
She explained: “I have another actress friend who had to kiss a woman in a show and then she became a lesbian for a bit. [Laughs] And another actress I know here in America, the same thing happened.
“There’s a couple that I know of actually. It’s something I hadn’t thought of before because I had only dated men. I’ve watched shows about lesbians, like ‘The L Word’, but it just never occurred to me.
“I just thought I liked those shows. But kissing Charlotte was a big thing for me. I was so nervous that day because she’s so cool and I was really stressed.
“But it was great. Yeah, I don’t think I would have been open to Ramona without those experiences, and she’s just an amazing partner.”
