Olivia Wilde discusses Bradley Cooper’s unwavering support when she directed ‘Don’t Worry, Darling.’

September 6, 2022September 6, 2022 Editor

About starring in and directing Don’t Worry Darling, Olivia Wilde said Bradley Cooper encouraged her, telling her it would be “really wonderful”

Olivia Wilde claims Bradley Cooper provided valuable assistance as she directed and performed in Don’t Worry, Darling.

Wilde, 38, discussed the creation of the upcoming thriller with Maggie Gyllenhaal for Interview Magazine, including why she decided to appear in the film and her connection with the film’s major protagonists, Florence Pugh and Harry Styles.

When asked why she chose to star in as well as direct the film, the Booksmart filmmaker kept it simple: “It was out of necessity,” she responded, explaining that the production “essentially ran out of money and I needed someone who would take a pretty low pay.”

The casting director suggested her for the job after failing to find the perfect individual. “The funny thing is, when I asked my director friends how that experience would be, I just happened to question a number of males, and they all replied, ‘Oh, it’s so amazing,'” she says. Wilde told Gyllenhaal, 44, the director of The Lost Daughter.

Cooper, 47, who starred in and directed 2018’s breakthrough film A Star Is Born and is presently working on double duty in Maestro, was one of those directors. “Cooper was a huge supporter,” Wilde added. “He said, ‘It’s going to be very amazing to be able to direct from behind the scenes.'”

After deciding to do it, Wilde realized the task wasn’t as easy as they made it out to be. “All of these men had done this in comfortable shoes, and I swear part of it is that I was in a f—- bustier and heels and a wig,” she said. “They were coming at me doing these necessary but frustrating touch-ups at every second, and I was like, ‘I need to be at the monitor, I need to be in charge.’ I found that to be really hard.”

But Wilde doesn’t regret her decision. “I did find that being in solidarity with the actors felt important,” she said, noting that she wasn’t “just the director in comfortable sweats sitting over there in the air-conditioned video village.”

Chris Pine, according to Wilde, “probably agreed to make the movie at first. as a favor to an old buddy, and then he really took it and ran with it,” noting that she’s known him for “like, 20 years.”

“She’s tremendously gifted,” Wilde said of the 26-year-old Midsommar actress. “She was so determined to find the most realistic rendition of every moment. She also knew that my true purpose was to write a love story between her and Harry that seemed so genuine that people couldn’t help but fall in love with them as a couple.”

Wilde said that they are both “extremely nice individuals,” which helped them “differentiate a performative love from an authentic love” in the movie.

“With Harry, who’s obviously a musician, it was like there was no other option for him than to work as hard as possible and to commit to the scene as hard as possible,” Wilde said of the singer, 28. “He never holds back.”

“Oftentimes when it’s not your scene, and you’re in a supporting role, people give 80 percent,” she added. “But even if he was way off camera, he was so there for everyone, and for the crew and production. The tone that he set was just a very positive force.”

Don’t Worry Darling hits theaters on Sept. 23.