THE HUG STILL looms large in her mind. That's partly because it was so unexpected, partly because it was a show of support and fellowship from another woman, and partly because the woman was Helen Mirren. As Olivia Wilde herself might say, holy fuck. "She held me and said, 'We're all very proud of you," Wilde tells me. "I was like, 'Does she think I'm someone else? She thinks I'm someone very impressive who's done something important."
It was this past April in Las Vegas. Wilde was at CinemaCon to unveil the first trailer for her sophomore movie as director, the rich, unnerving psychological thriller Don't Worry Darling with Florence Pugh and Harry Styles. She was about to go onstage at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace and make her pitch to the industry at large and movie theater owners in particular. She had never even met Mirren before, and here she was being embraced in solidarity by not just an Oscar winner but a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
I ask Wilde what she thinks Mirren meant. "I took it to mean, in this community, anyone who steps forward and says, 'I'll tell a story and I will get a film made that gives actresses opportunities to have great roles..." She doesn't finish the sentence, maybe out of modesty. "That's what I hope she's proud of." If Mirren had known what Wilde went through to make the movie-let alone the nasty surprise that awaited her when she walked on the stage moments later-she'd have hugged her even harder.
WE FIRST MEET at a pottery class in North London. I asked if we could start our interviews somewhere other than a restaurant, and Wilde gamely suggested this. She's running very slightly late, so she texts: "Julie! Hi it's Olivia! I'm on my way. Tube strike made getting a car a bit of a clusterfuck but I will be with you by 11:05. X."
This story is from the October 2022 edition of Vanity Fair US.
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This story is from the October 2022 edition of Vanity Fair US.
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