Olivia Wilde was honored as one of the Elmagazine’s Women in Hollywood celebration in Los Angeles on Monday night, and during her speech she revealed some of what she experienced during Don’t worry, honey pretrest and its consequences.
The Warner Bros. film, of course, was at the center of many stories about the complicated relationship between Wilde, her co-stars Florence Pugh and Harry Styles, and Shia LaBeouf, who originally played the role of Styles. The drama reached its peak in Don’t worry, honeypremiere in Venice, where the internet was convinced Styles was spitting on actor Chris Pine.
“I was an actress who started producing and finally worked up the courage to start directing, and I wouldn’t have started any of this at all if I knew Twitter was going to be invented,” Wilde noted during her speech at the Getty Center. “But here I am and it’s a real thrill to have what is arguably the greatest job on the planet.”
The director admitted that sometimes it is not easy to move on. “Sometimes it’s tempting to excuse ourselves from the burning hellfire of misogyny that defines this business and say, ‘Goodnight, good luck, I’d rather eat glass for a living,'” she said, but added that women in the entertainment industry don’t let each other down, and recently received encouragement from other Hollywood ladies in the form of “a firm squeeze on your shoulders and an intense look in your eyes and a defiant, ‘Don’t let them screw with you.’ And it’s always really tempting to say, ‘Well, if I didn’t know things were bad before, I do now.'”
Wilde said that at events such as ElWomen in Hollywood – where she was honored alongside Ariana DeBos, Anne Hathaway, Issa Rae, Zoe Kravitz, Sydney Sweeney, Sigourney Weaver and Michelle Yeoh – she felt “motivated to keep fighting through hellfire. In a way, all the challenges are part of it, aren’t they, the real badges of honor are just something that has to be done.”
“Let’s face it, you’re not a woman in Hollywood until you ask to be placed in a medically induced coma until your media tour is over. Until then, you’re just a woman living in or around the Hollywood area,” she continued. “I love my life, I love my job, what more could I ask for,” quipping she would only add a solo cover instead of being one of the eight honorees.
Two of her film’s stars were also present to mention the frenzy surrounding its premiere: Nick Kroll, who hosted the event, and Kate Berlant, who presented Wilde with her honor.
“For those of you who don’t know me, I’m probably best known as the least interesting part of Don’t worry, honey pretend,” Kroll joked, later adding, “Spoiler alert, the movie has a big surprise twist ending with the reveal that we had a great time making it.”
As Wilde teases, “it may surprise you all, but the hardest part of Don’t worry, honey experience was actually trimming Kate’s jokes because they were so funny and we weren’t trying to make it funny,” Berlant also came to his director’s defense, noting that what has been lost in the media frenzy is that the film is a box office hit.
“I don’t know how it feels to have that kind of tabloid attention, it seems absolutely terrifying,” Berlant continued. “I would be reduced to ashes myself, indeed. But Olivia handles it all with such grace and charm and courage that I’ll never get over it.”