Olivia Wilde has revealed that she felt “liberated” after her 2022 film Don’t Worry Darling was trashed by critics because it reminded her “how fickle” the movie industry can be.
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The movie was the second feature film from Wilde, following on from the widely acclaimed 2019 indie comedy Booksmart.
Starring Florence Pugh, Chris Pine and Harry Styles, the 2022 blockbuster was overshadowed by speculation that there was tension between Pugh and Wilde, rumours that Pine and Styles did not get along, and backlash towards the director’s brief romance with the ‘As It Was’ singer.
When it hit the box office, it struggled to reach the same heights as its 2019 predecessor and was largely panned by critics – leading to it sitting at just 38 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes.
Now, speaking to Variety about her upcoming third feature film, The Invite, Wilde has looked back at the harsh reception to Don’t Worry Darling and revealed that she isn’t as affected by the negative response as some may assume.
She told the outlet that while she “doesn’t know if anyone ever feels totally without nerves”, seeing the low ratings for her second film helped her stop worrying so much about what people think.
“I reached a level of un-self-consciousness that only comes from recognising that the only way to achieve anything worthwhile is to throw yourself into it completely,” she said. “The risk is the thing. It is the reward.”
“I believe in early failure. There were a lot of early bumps, and I think that taught me to have level-headed expectations for Hollywood,” she continued. “Booksmart was a blessing, but it also creates a certain expectation for yourself when it comes to connecting with the audience, and you forget how subjective it all is.”
“My next movie has a 38 on Rotten Tomatoes, and I’ve been reflecting on how healthy it is to be reminded of how fickle it all is,” Wilde added. “[I’ve] already been through the thing that strikes fear in the heart of directors. ‘What if they don’t like it?’ Once you’ve survived that, there’s liberation.”
The director has spoken about the rumours of friction between herself and Florence Pugh recently too, and told The Cut that there was never “a screaming match on my set”, despite what some people are saying on social media.
Before then, Wilde said that she sees her short-lived relationship with Harry Styles as “wholesome and sweet” despite the “parasocial” backlash online, and Chris Pine also denied that his co-star Styles spat on him, saying that the singer and actor is “a very, very kind guy”.
Don’t Worry Darling was given a four-star review from NME, with Alex Flood acknowledging how the gossip surrounding the cast overshadowed the film itself. “It is, admittedly, quite hard to watch Don’t Worry Darling and not think about the accompanying gossip,” the review read. “What we’re trying to say is a really quite good film has been overshadowed needlessly. And that’s a real shame.”
Wilde’s new film, The Invite, arrives in cinemas on July 3 and stars the director herself alongside Penelope Cruz, Seth Rogan and Edward Norton.