As one of a handful of actresses in Hollywood who have successfully crossed over into directing, Olivia Wilde claims one of the reasons for this small number was the messaging given to children when they express an interest in cinema.
“I think for many young women, when we love movies as little girls, we’re told, ‘Oh, you should be an actress,” she said, speaking at the Red Sea International Film Festival in Saudi Arabia. “I think when little boys say they love movies, people say ‘You should be a director.’”
On the subject of female directors and the ongoing domination of men behind the camera, Wilde lay the solution with the those holding the purse strings. “Movies directed by women don’t make less money. It’s not the audience’s problem. It’s the financiers, it’s the studios. They need to take what they perceive as a risk,” she said, adding that a cultural shift was also needed.
“I think we need to raise women to believe that they are allowed to take up space, that they’re allowed to be leaders. It’s difficult to run a production, and it’s difficult for men too. But as women, we’re sort of told that we should, in many ways, constantly apologize for our existence. And as a director, you can’t do that. I think that it’s about shifting the way that we raise women to consider how they should behave and to encourage that kind of fearlessness.”
Wilde also discussed wanting to be an actress from the age of three, and then foregoing college to instead move to Hollywood at the age of 18. “But I said, if I hadn’t worked after a year I’d go back to school, and I was lucky enough to start working.” Wilde’s first job was as a casting assistant, while her first role was the TV show “Skin,” followed by “The O.C.” Her first feature as director would come at the age of 34 with “Booksmart.”
“The O.C.” would be Wilde’s first break, but it was the five years she spent starring in “House,” which she claimed was reaching an audience of 27 million per episode, that would see her profile grow dramatically. In the show, the storyline of her bisexual character Remy was considered so shocking that she said there were “insane death threats constantly coming into the studios” and extra security had to be hired. “But seeing what’s on television now, if you watch ‘Euphoria,’ the fact that that my character was shocking and groundbreaking then, it’s like, no, it’s nothing.”
Wilde also discussed the impact of fame on creativity. “The damage that does to an artist is profound, because you stop being as fearless. I think once you fear that you will be judged, you become self conscious in a way that has never been good for any artist.” she said, adding that she was lucky to have good mentors who showed her the “meaningless” of it. “I director mentor recently said to me that directors have to decide at a certain point, do you want to be a celebrity or an artist. Because of social media, it’s become even more combined.”
Part of Wilde’s transition behind the camera, which began as a producer on the 2015 feature “Meadowland,” she said was realizing that “acting is the only job where the more experience you have, the less valuable you become… with actresses, the older you get, the less valuable you become.” She claimed that rather than seeing her value reduce due to her growing wisdom and experience, she wanted to become “more celebrated” for it. “For me, it was such a boost in confidence to know that I can actually walk into a room and sell a movie, get a movie financed, because I know what I’m talking about.”
Wilde is next appearing in Gregg Akari’s provocative erotic thriller “I Want Your Sex” alongside Cooper Hoffman and Charli XCX, while her next turn as director is expected to be the feature adaptation of “Avengelyne,” with Margot Robbie tapped to star.
Wilde’s last feature — which she starring in and directed — was 2022’s psychological thriller “Don’t Worry Darling,” which became a major source of gossip and speculation over her then relationship with the lead star Harry Styles, back-and-forth claims regarding Shia LaBeouf, who had previously been cast in the role, and a series of viral moments at the Venice Film Festival (most notably, the infamous “Spitgate” incident at the film’s world premiere).
Wilde was speaking at a special In Conversation event at the 4th edition of Red Sea Film Festival in Jeddah, one of a bumper list of big names in attendance including Cynthia Erivo, Michelle Yeoh, Emily Blunt, Vin Diesel, Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta Jones, Eva Longoria, Brendan Fraser, Jeremy Renner Michael Mann, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Aamir Khan and Sarah Jessica Parker.
