Olivia Wilde, the director of Don't Worry Darling, has responded to the rumors that she didn't direct the entirety of the film. Coming to theaters on September 23, the film is the sophomore directorial feature of the actress, who made her debut with the 2019 teen comedy Booksmart. Don't Worry Darling takes a very different tenor, presenting a psychological thriller that follows 1950s housewife Alice (Florence Pugh) as she and her husband Jack (Harry Styles) move into a tight-knight, but creepy company town run by the mysterious Frank (Chris Pine), the founder of something known as the Victory Project. The film's ensemble cast also includes Wilde herself, KiKi Lane, Nick Kroll, and Eternals star Gemma Chan.
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Don't Worry Darling has unexpectedly become a lightning rod of controversy and drama in the month leading up to its release. Rumors have been flying about an alleged feud between Pugh and Wilde, purportedly because Wilde started dating Styles during production of the film while she was still married to Ted Lasso star Jason Sudeikis. Whatever the reason, it is true that Pugh (who is currently in the middle of filming Dune: Part Two) will be performing a drastically reduced amount of press for the film. Controversy continued to dog the cast and crew at its premiere at the Venice International Film Festival this week, as Pugh arrived late without making eye contact with Wilde, added to by a video that seemed to show Styles spitting on Pine while taking his seat before it was debunked by reps. Another rumored result of Wilde dating her film's star is the persistent rumor that she was so wrapped up in Styles that she neglected to direct certain scenes of the film, with either Pugh or the cinematographer stepping in to take over.
Speaking to Vanity Fair about the rumors, Wilde shot them down while criticizing their inherent misogyny. She said that "it is very rare that people assume the best from women in power," praising Pugh's performance and explaining that she gave the actress space on set, not because of a feud or being too attached to her boyfriend, but because she needed time to herself to process such an intense character. Read her full quote below:
It is very rare that people assume the best from women in power. I think they don’t often give us the benefit of the doubt. Florence did the job I hired her to do, and she did it exquisitely. She blew me away. Every day I was in awe of her, and we worked very well together. It is ironic that now, with my second film—which is again about the incredible power of women, what we’re capable of when we unite, and how easy it is to strip a woman of power by using other women to judge and shame them—we’re talking about this.
The idea that I had five seconds in the day to be distracted by anything is laughable. I was there before everyone. I was there after everyone. And it was a dream. It’s not like this work was not enjoyable. It was just all-encompassing.
[Pugh's character is] going through a cataclysmic existential breakdown, while everyone else is at a dinner party like, "La-di-da," smoking cigarettes. My tendency is to be everyone’s best friend and to socialize, and I think she often just needed the time and space to focus, so the way I supported her was to give her space and to be there if she needed anything. Florence was very focused on turning out that performance, which I can assure you took all of her energy.
This particular rumor has come from a series of rather confused, specious claims, much like a lot of the Don't Worry Darling drama. However, the idea that Wilde didn't direct the film likely comes from a misinterpretation of a quote that is just an unverified rumor in and of itself, involving Pugh feeling left out and needing to direct herself while on set. This quote, even if it proves to be true, was most likely meant to refer to the fact that Pugh had to calibrate her own performance with few notes from Wilde, rather than literally getting behind the camera and directing shots.
Whatever happened on the set of Don't Worry Darling, which may never become public knowledge, there is little doubt that Wilde actually directed the film. Similar claims never surfaced about her directorial debut on Booksmart, for one thing. There is no real reason to believe that she is incapable of helming a project, whether she is experiencing friction with the cast after the fact.