Olivia Wilde struggled with feeling “disconnected” as the rumor mill swirled during her viral, incendiary press tour for “Don’t Worry Darling.”
On Wednesday’s episode of “Call Her Daddy,” Wilde dug into how the press tour of her 2022 film – from reportedly being served divorce papers from ex Jason Sudeikis onstage at CinemaCon, to then-boyfriend Harry Styles spitting on Chris Pine at the Venice Film Festival premiere – left her questioning how to handle the situation.
She told host Alex Cooper she “never felt more disconnected from the person that people were talking about” but still managed to enjoy what was actually going on in her life.
“There was all this public madness, but my private life was very far from it and very actually kind of like wholesome and sweet,” Wilde said. “I had a lot of like real joy and love and happiness during that time. It was like a tornado was right outside the door, and if you were inside you were like, it’s so nice.”
Watch the full interview below:
That said, it became hard for Wilde to just sit back and listen to the rumor mill churn out one story after another. She told Cooper she wanted to address everything all at once and then be done with it – but was advised not to.
“It was so hard because I wanted to be like, ‘Can I just talk to people? Can I just go and say like, that’s not true. That’s not true,’” Wilde said. “And he was like, ‘No, that won’t help.’ And that was really hard. I was also responsible for, you know, promoting a movie. I was responsible for the movie. I was like, ‘It’s not about me. It’s about this movie that everyone worked so hard to make.’ And I felt like I was working on behalf of hundreds of people who had worked through COVID to make something really difficult. And I felt frustrated that I couldn’t defend myself. But it also felt like, OK, it’s not about you, not about you just get the movie out.”
She added: “The pummeling that I took was so insanely disproportionate.”
Wilde is gearing up for her next film’s release. She both starred and directed “The Invite” which also boasts Seth Rogen, Penelope Cruz and Edward Norton in the cast and follows two couples – one on thin ice, another passionately in love – who convene for dinner.
“The Invite” not only has earned extremely positive reviews but also was the center of 72-hour bidding war before landing at A24 in an eight-figure deal.
