Rebel Wilson Went into ‘Beast Mode’ to Train for New Movie Bride Hard: ‘I Could Throw a Good Left Hook’ (Exclusive)

Rebel Wilson went into “beast mode” while training to play a bridesmaid who puts her secret agent skills to the test to save her best friend’s wedding in the new action comedy, Bride Hard.

“I often put my body on the line for physical comedy,” Wilson, 45, tells PEOPLE exclusively at the June 18 premiere of the film in West Hollywood, Calif. But whereas her past work involved “quite a lot of falls,” Wilson tells PEOPLE she had to train for the fight scenes in Bride Hard.

“I was pretty strong during this movie. I trained for a full five weeks and did conditioning for it, and then I had to be really kind of in beast mode,” she continues, “but I really enjoyed it, getting paid to almost be fit, which is really good.”

Wilson, who hit the red carpet with her stunt double Meredith Richardson while wife Ramona Agruma stayed home with their daughter, Royce, continued, “Some of the physical comedy is a lot of falls or you’re running into a wall or you’re doing something. But this was the actual fight.”

As the trailer for the movie shows, Wilson memorably uses curling irons like nunchucks, something she says is a nod to her love of Jackie Chan.

“When I lived in South Africa, basically to pass the time I would watch Jackie Chan videos and his comic timing, and I just loved all the movies. Even if they weren’t subtitled and I couldn’t even understand the dialogue, I just loved all his comedy-action scenes,” she tells PEOPLE. “They were so good. So I guess that’s why I originally picked up nunchucks, to try to be a bit like Jackie Chan.” 

Although she says she’s “not at that level,” Wilson tells PEOPLE, “I’m a little bit coordinated, but I’m no Bruce Lee, that’s for sure … I just did it kind of as a laugh, I thought.”

As she’s shared, she “only got injured just on the last night” of filming, “where a gun accidentally got whacked across my face. It’s in the opening fight sequence and my nose got split open.” 

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“So that was the one downside,” she tells PEOPLE, sharing there’s one skill she’s taking with her from her training.

“I think I could throw a good left. I’m heavily left-handed,” she says. “I think I could throw a good left hook. If needed … If we are mugged on the streets.”