Olivia Wilde has said that acting in “shitty movies” helped her become a director.
The actor and filmmaker, who will next be releasing her second feature as director Don’t Worry Darling, recently commented on how her acting roles informed her career.
In conversation with fellow actor-turned-director Maggie Gyllenhaal for Interview magazine, Wilde said: “I’ve made like 5,000 times more shitty movies than you have.”
“I’ve been in some really bad ones, and now I think, ‘I did those to learn all the cautionary tales that would help me define myself as a director: how I will never speak to a crew, how I will never speak to actors, how I will never schedule a movie.’ All of that comes from those bad experiences,” she added.
The actor pushed back, alleging he had quit the role of Jack Chambers (now played by Harry Styles) opposite Florence Pugh.
LaBeouf’s departure from the project in 2020 was originally cited by the studio as a “scheduling conflict”, until director Wilde claimed to Variety that she fired him in order to create a “safe, trusting environment” on set.
“I say this as someone who is such an admirer of his work,” Wilde said. “His process was not conducive to the ethos that I demand in my productions. He has a process that, in some ways, seems to require a combative energy, and I don’t personally believe that is conducive to the best performances.”
LaBeouf then responded: “You and I both know the reasons for my exit. I quit your film because your actors and I couldn’t find time to rehearse.”
Don’t Worry Darling will be released in UK cinemas on September 23.
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