Olivia Wilde responds to 'Don't Worry Darling' drama, shifts focus to film's message
Olivia Wilde is addressing the drama behind her recent film "Don't Worry Darling."
In an interview with Elle for the magazine's 2022 Women in Hollywood November issue, Wilde, who directs and stars in the movie, talked about her "disappointment" over the conversations about the film offscreen instead of the film's message.
"This film is trying to ask questions, but [it's] 'Let's just focus on this sideshow over here,' " Wilde said. "Having been a known figure for a while … makes me well-equipped to have a Teflon exterior. But it also means that you're under a different kind of microscope."
The film, which came in at number one its opening weekend in September, has been at the center of tabloid gossip regarding fan speculation about what happened behind the scenes, including a rumored feud between Wilde and the film's leading star, Florence Pugh.
"It's brought my attention to the media and how it pits women against one another," said Wilde, who praised Pugh's work in "Don't Worry Darling." "She's so generous in her acting in every scene. She makes everyone around her better."
Wilde added, "Florence had a really wise comment that we didn't sign up for a reality show. And I love that she put it that way, because it's as though the general public feels that if you are making something that you're selling to the public, you somehow have accepted that your life will be torn to shreds by a pack of wolves. No, that's actually not part of the job description. Never was."
Harry Styles, Chris Pine and Gemma Chan also star alongside Pugh and Wilde in "Don't Worry Darling," which is about a picture-perfect 1950s community called Victory, an experimental company town that houses the men who work on a top-secret project. The film's underlying theme centers on women's rights and feminism.
"I'm very curious about our collective complicity in [upholding] the patriarchy," Wilde said. "I found myself seeing a lot of content that was struggling to address feminist issues and instead becoming either really simplified or overly didactic. I had no interest in making a feminist parable that was judgy or that defined men as bad and women as good. I was much more interested in tha tense space where we recognize our own participation in the system that objectifies us."
Wilde is one of eight stars featured in Elle for creative and cultural contributions in music, film and television.
Elle's 2022 Women in Hollywood November issue hits newsstands on Nov. 1, 2022.
