Rebel Wilson Says She Reveals 'Deepest Secrets' in Upcoming Memoir Rebel Rising (Exclusive)

Rebel Wilson is telling all like never before.

PEOPLE can exclusively reveal the cover of the Pitch Perfect alum’s upcoming memoir Rebel Rising, which is out April 2.

“I've been writing the book for the past 18 months because when I write, I have to be totally by myself and isolated,” Wilson tells PEOPLE. “It's just been this secret thing I've been doing by myself for 18 months. It's so exciting now that it's done.”

Wilson, who is currently in Australia filming her directorial debut The Deb, says she “underestimated how much work it really is” to write a book about her own life.

“I think the first few chapters were really s---,” she says. “Then the editor was like, ‘This just doesn't sound like you.’ So what I started doing is I just sat there by myself as if I'm just telling the story to a friend. I just kind of found my writing style — as if I'm sitting opposite my friend, telling you all my life's deepest secrets, which is a bit scary."

Though she admits the candid nature of the memoir can be “very embarrassing,” Wilson thought to herself: “If I'm doing it, I'm doing it full out.”

Rebel Rising follows her unconventional journey toward achieving success in Hollywood and gaining self-acceptance. Wilson opens up about her fertility issues, weight gain and loss, sexuality, overcoming shyness, rejection and more.

“When I first started in the business and coming up in Australia, and then in Hollywood, you play a little bit of the persona of yourself, which is you but it's just sometimes a bit exaggerated for comic effect or a bit heightened,” Wilson explains.

However, she says that “there are other levels of my personality, like I am extremely shy, which most people don't quite get until they meet me in a certain situation."

“That was my first hurdle that I had to overcome,” Wilson says. “I know a lot of people think I'm exactly like my characters like Fat Amy … but then there are just other sides.”

For instance, the Senior Year actress and producer says “a lot of people are shocked when they find out I've got a law degree, or that I lived a year in Africa.”

The book will also feature stories about Brad Pitt and memories with her Pitch Perfect costars.

“I was a fan girl before I came to Hollywood, and I always like hearing people's stories about the run-ins with celebs,” Wilson says of sharing her own Hollywood stories.

Wilson also looked through her old diaries for inspiration. “It was crazy to see my mindset and to see where I was at at those different ages, like 16 or 23, or getting rejected from all these drama schools and just being completely rejected, being an actor, and then thinking, ‘Oh, is this really what I should be doing with my life?’ To have those original letters and diary entries — interesting to go back and remember.”

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As for how life as a new mom to 9-month-old daughter Royce Lillian, whom she shares with fiancée Ramona Agruma, influenced which stories she included, Wilson says it's "just my storytelling in my way."

“She'll probably be really embarrassed [someday.] ‘Oh, my God. Mom, why did you write that?’ ” says Wilson with a laugh.

Of her decision to write the memoir (reportedly a multi million dollar deal): "There's a lot of stories and personal stuff that I've never ever talked about. The book is this forum because it's me just sitting down telling my own story, and that was the right forum for some of these more emotional things.”

Rebel Rising is out April 2, 2024.