Olivia Wilde

Olivia Wilde (birthname: Olivia Jane Cockburn) is part of a fascinating wave of young female actors transforming themselves into filmmakers, joining the ranks of such acclaimed writer-directors as Greta Gerwig. After directing a short film in 2011, Free Hugs, as well as two 2016 music videos for Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros and Red Hot Chili Peppers, Wilde served as producer-star on writer-director Sarah Daggar-Nickson’s drama, A Vigilante (2018).

These were prepared for her acclaimed directorial debut, Booksmart (2019), starring Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever, earning Wilde a selection among Variety’s Directors to Watch at the Palm Spring Film Festival and the Best First Feature Award at the 2020 Independent Spirit Awards. Wilde directed her second short film, Wake Up (2020), starring Margaret Qualley, and premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. Olivia Wilde’s highly anticipated second feature is the psychological drama, Don’t Worry Darling (2022), starring Florence Pugh, Harry Styles, Chris Pine, Gemma Chan, and Nick Kroll, and premiering in competition at the 79^th edition of the Venice Film Festival and released by Warner Bros.

Olivia Wilde’s film acting career began in 2004 with a supporting role in the 20^th Century Fox rom-com, The Girl Next Door, with Elisha Cuthbert, Emile Hirsch, and Timothy Olyphant. More supporting roles included Conversation(s) with Other Women (2005) and Nick Cassavetes’ Alpha Dog (2006), until Wilde began to be cast in co-starring roles, in John Stockwell’s Brazil-shot thriller, Turistas (2006), with Josh Duhamel and Melissa George; a little-seen adaptation of Don Winslow’s The Death and Life of Bobby Z (2007) with Paul Walker and Laurence Fishburne; Tao Ruspoli’s Los Angeles drama, Fix (2008), with Shawn Andrews; Paul Haggis’ action thriller, The Next Three Days (2010), with Russell Crowe, Elizabeth Banks, Liam Neeson, and Brian Dennehy; Joseph Kosinski’s reboot, Tron: Legacy (2010), with Garrett Hedlund, Jeff Bridges, and Michael Sheen; the political satire, Butter (2011), with Jennifer Garner, Hugh Jackman, Ty Burrell, and Rob Corddry; the Universal Pictures rom-com The Change-Up (2011), with Ryan Reynolds, Jason Bateman, Leslie Mann, and Alan Arkin; Jon Favreau’s fanciful Cowboys & Aliens (2011), starring Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford, but a rare box-office failure for director Favreau.

Olivia Wilde joined writer-director Andrew Niccol for the sci-fi film, In Time (2011), with Amanda Seyfried, Justin Timberlake, and Cillian Murphy. Wilde co-starred with Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Irons, Dennis Quaid, and Zoe Saldana in The Words (2012), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Wilde served as executive producer (her first producing credit) and starred in filmmaker Joe Swanberg’s comedy-drama, Drinking Buddies (2013), with Anna Kendrick and Ron Livingston. Wilde joined Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, and Rooney Mara (including the voice of Scarlett Johansson) in Spike Jonze’s acclaimed Her (2013), nominated for five Oscars including Best Picture and winning Best Screenplay.

Wilde was cast opposite Steve Carell, Steve Buscemi, Jim Carrey, Alan Arkin, and James Gandolfini in The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (2013), followed by Ron Howard’s true-life Formula One drama, Rush (2013), with Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Bruhl, and Paul Haggis’ drama, Third Person (2013), with Liam Neeson, Mila Kunis, Adrien Brody, and James Franco, the latter two premiering at the Toronto Film Festival. Wilde co-starred in a string of critically lambasted movies in 2014 and 2015, though the horror film from Blumhouse, The Lazarus Effect (2015), with Mark Duplass and Donald Glover, was a box-office success.

Olivia Wilde was the leading star for the first time (as well as executive producer) in Reed Morano’s directing debut, Meadowland (2015), premiering at the Tribeca film festival and co-starring Luke Wilson, Juno Temple, Elisabeth Moss, Giovanni Ribisi, and John Leguizamo. Another poorly reviewed, Toronto-premiering film co-starring Wilde was Dan Fogelman’s melodrama, Life Itself (2018), with Oscar Isaac and Mandy Patinkin, but a solid triumph followed with Wilde joining Clint Eastwood for his award-winning drama, Richard Jewell (2019), starring Paul Walter Hauser, Sam Rockwell, Oscar-nominated Kathy Bates, and Jon Hamm.

Olivia Wilde was featured in the Sundance indie, Daryl Wein’s and Zoe Lister-Jones’ apocalyptic How It Ends (2021), starring Jones, Helen Hunt, and Fred Armisen. In an extremely busy 2022, Wilde juggled making Don’t Worry Darling with acting gigs, including playing Lois Lane (in her first voice performance) in DC League of Super-Pets and joining the large ensemble of Damien Chazelle’s Jazz Age Hollywood drama, Babylon, starring Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie. Wilde’s third feature is set to be Perfect (date to be announced), a biopic of 1996 Olympic gymnast, Kerri Strug, with Thomasin McKenzie. She is also attached as director to an untitled future Marvel/Sony Pictures movie that will reportedly be “female-centric.”