- 4 weeks ago
Welcome to Hot Olivia Summer! (Judges would have also accepted "Wilde Hot American Summer.") Director and actor Olivia Wilde stopped by the Rolling Stone Studio for a chat about sex, self-confidence, two movies she has coming out over the next month: The Invite, a comedy she directed and costarred in with Edward Norton, Seth Rogen, and Penélope Cruz; and Gregg Araki's I Want Your Sex, about a performance artist who has a steamy sub-dom love affair with her assistant.
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00:00Comedies, more than I would say any other genre, benefit from the collective experience.
00:05I love horror too, I love thrillers, I love the feeling of like, you know, being very
00:09tense with other people, but I think that we've robbed ourselves of the opportunity
00:15to feel a comedy with other people and to laugh.
00:18I mean, the experiences people are having so far in theaters for this movie are just
00:22blowing my mind.
00:28Hello, welcome to the Rolling Stones studio.
00:31My name is David Feer, I'm a senior editor and critic here at the magazine.
00:35There's three rules you need to know for any dinner party.
00:38These are just basic dinner party 101 rules.
00:41You never cook a souffle, because it will inevitably go wrong.
00:45You always make sure you're well stocked with wine, because if you don't, things could get
00:49weird.
00:49And if you plan on your dinner party turning into a long, dark night of the soul, just
00:55make sure Edward Norton is there to facilitate it.
00:58Now, Olivia Wilde, filmmaker, actor, dinner party host, cinematic dinner party host, made
01:05sure that at least one of those rules, the last one, was there, and I think it's pretty
01:09key.
01:10The best way to describe this movie, a couple who live in San Francisco are having some
01:16issues, and they invite their neighbors from upstairs to have a dinner party and things
01:21take a turn.
01:22Yes.
01:23It stars Olivia, it stars Seth Rogen, it stars Edward Norton and Penelope Cruz.
01:27It is currently playing in theaters, and it's out everywhere July 10th.
01:31Olivia Wilde, welcome to our fake living room.
01:33My God, thank you.
01:34Right.
01:34It's so good to be here.
01:35The whole decor for this was like, give me the Call Her Daddy studio, but make it for
01:39people who argue about Foghat albums.
01:42Right?
01:42That's exactly what it is.
01:43Kind of nails it, right?
01:44Nailed it.
01:45Okay.
01:45Perfect.
01:46So I like to pride myself on feeling like I know a lot about movies, and I know movies
01:51that are out there.
01:52I had not heard of the Spanish film, The People Upstairs, that this film is based on, and
01:58I don't think you had either, right?
02:00I had not.
02:00You just got Will McCormick and Rashida Jones' script cold?
02:03Exactly, yeah.
02:04And then I watched the original film, which was directed and written by a guy named Seske,
02:09who actually first had written a play, directed said play, adapted his work into this film,
02:15which was called Sentimental in Spain, and then The People Upstairs here.
02:18And it wasn't massive, but it was well-loved in Spain.
02:22And it had a ripple effect, because then there were adaptations made in Italy, South Korea,
02:30Germany, France, and probably more.
02:33And then Will McCormick and Rashida Jones wrote the English adaptation.
02:39That came to me.
02:40I read it, and I thought, oh my God, this reminds me of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
02:46This could be my experience that I've always wanted, which is to have the 12 Angry Men experience
02:51Sidney Lumet created of like, let's shoot it in one room, let's rehearse the damn thing,
02:57and then let's let it evolve as we shoot it.
03:00So it was like this piece of material allowed for this opportunity that I've been looking
03:05for my whole career, which required pulling together a badass group of people, these actors
03:11who became authors of this project just as much as the rest of us.
03:16Yeah, let's talk about, before we get to your role in this in front of the camera, let's
03:20talk about assembling this cast, because it really feels like a supergroup.
03:25On paper, you think, oh, all four of these actors have kind of distinct styles, and I
03:29don't quite know how these are all going to sort of...
03:31It almost feels like a Mad Libs.
03:33It's like, wait, who's in this?
03:35We need a verb, Seth Rogen.
03:36Yes.
03:36We need an adjective, Edward Norton.
03:39No, and then when you come together, I mean, I kept using the supergroup analogy
03:42when I saw this at Sundance, because you're like, oh, they actually figured out a way
03:45to sync this.
03:46Yeah.
03:47Where it's the sum of the whole parts, and this kind of works.
03:49But you knew Seth Rogen from doing the studio.
03:52Yes.
03:53How did you bring him in, and how did Edward and Penelope get involved?
03:56Well, I knew Seth from the studio.
03:59I also knew Seth for like 20 years, because I actually auditioned for Knocked Up.
04:04Oh.
04:05And we had...
04:06For Seth's role, right?
04:07For Seth's role, yeah.
04:08That bastard got the part.
04:09But we really clicked.
04:11Like, we always knew there was something simpatico there.
04:14And then I just revered him.
04:16I just loved not only how he created his career, but also just the humanity he put into everything.
04:23He's always felt to me like an Albert Brooks, and he's now, I think, hit that place.
04:29I always also mention like an 80s Richard Dreyfuss.
04:32He has, you know, Dreyfuss, what about Bob era energy in this movie?
04:36And he's just a little less tightly wound.
04:40I'm almost, my character's a little more Dreyfuss.
04:42I feel like the jury's still out on that, but sure, I'll take your word for it.
04:45Okay.
04:45But I just, I just think Seth has this quality that is so clearly unique and kind of, it's
04:54its own thing.
04:55It's not in any way connected to like fads or trends.
04:58He's timeless in his skills.
05:00I just think he's the best.
05:02And when he created the studio, I was like, of course you guys fucking did that.
05:05Of course you guys went and had the greatest idea and did the thing that no one thinks
05:09you can do, which is to make something about the industry, but make it really, really honest
05:15and cynical and funny, but loving.
05:17And it really kind of-
05:19Yeah, there's a weird balance of like the Los Angeles eats itself genre of like showbiz,
05:25because showbiz, I don't need to tell you this, showbiz loves to like stab themselves
05:29in the chest and be like, we really hate ourselves, don't we?
05:31Yeah.
05:32We have so much self-loathing.
05:33And yet there is something about like, no, the magic of the movies and doing all this,
05:38which is why I feel like he got Martin Scorsese and you and Zoe Kravitz and like everybody
05:43to come show up.
05:44Yes.
05:44Everybody got to have fun and kind of, I think, relax and play, but it's within a very carefully
05:53constructed framework.
05:55Yeah.
05:55So when I went on the studio and I had like two days of observing this operation, I was
06:00so inspired and seeing Seth do his thing up close, I just realized all of a sudden, I
06:06was like, oh my God, he has to play Joe.
06:09He is Joe.
06:09And I became obsessive.
06:11And once I become obsessive, it's like lights out.
06:13That's it.
06:14It has to happen.
06:14And I, at that point, wasn't supposed to be in the invite, but I was putting it together
06:19to direct it.
06:20And Seth just, he brought it to life for me in my imagination.
06:24I suddenly could see it.
06:25I could feel it.
06:26And then Edward and Penelope, they, they actually were really drawn to the movie based on Edward
06:35loved the original film.
06:37He reached out to me and was like, I heard you're remaking this movie.
06:40I have to, I have to be a part of it because I love this movie and I have an
06:44idea.
06:44It turned out he had many ideas that were all, as is his want, that were all gold.
06:51And, and Penelope as well.
06:53She came on board and I've always loved Penelope as a comedian.
06:56I feel like in this country.
06:57Have you seen an official competition?
06:59That's what I was going to say.
07:00Oh my God.
07:01It's perfect.
07:01She's perfect.
07:02Brilliant.
07:03She is, she plays a female director in the funniest possible way.
07:08She's kind of a combination of so many people that I.
07:11Based on a real director specifically.
07:13But even if you don't know that.
07:14Yes.
07:15Genius.
07:15And, and actually she told me they're making a sequel, which I'm very excited about.
07:20Oh my God.
07:20Are we breaking news?
07:21We're breaking news.
07:21This podcast is officially breaking news right now, people.
07:24I think it's allowed, but I really admire her as a comedian and I admire her as a, as
07:31an actress who brings so much complexity, so much strength and warmth.
07:34It was everything I needed because that role could have easily been pretty two-dimensional.
07:39It could have been, I mean, one-dimensional, it could have been, but I wanted three-dimensional.
07:46It's a good call.
07:47I really just felt lucky that they were all organically drawn to this.
07:52And then, then we gathered for this two-week rehearsal process with Will and Rashida and
08:00the six of us just tore through this thing.
08:03And we had this experience that I've always wanted to have, which is true collaboration,
08:10true workshopping of material, best idea wins, taking massive swings, trying things out,
08:16being willing to fail, trying other things, ripping things apart and putting them back
08:22together until we created kind of our own collective adaptation of the adaptation.
08:27Listen, I'm just a guy with the wizard's beard who likes the moving pictures.
08:30I don't know a lot about the industry, how the sausage is made, but this sounds like
08:33an unusual way to make a movie.
08:36Yes.
08:37And this was part of the thing.
08:38When you read the script, you were like, no, I think this is a chance to actually do
08:42this.
08:42It was also a chance to do something else I'd really wanted to do, which is shoot in order.
08:46So sequential shooting, because we could, because it was in one location.
08:51Right.
08:51And we got to shoot on 35 millimeter.
08:53How was that?
08:54That was a dream.
08:55Yeah, I can imagine.
08:55Dream come true.
08:56Let's take one step back.
08:58I do want to hear about what you guys got out of this rehearsal period, but I'm given
09:01to understand that there was originally a different actor cast in your role.
09:06You then had to be convinced to kind of step in and do.
09:09Yes.
09:09There was someone who was very graciously interested and she's a very busy person and
09:16she couldn't do it.
09:17And I thought, oh man, I'm going to have to break the news to everybody.
09:20Like that person who thought she could do it, she can't do it.
09:23But, and they all said, okay, good, finally, can you just step in and do it?
09:28And I was like, wait, what do you mean?
09:29They said, you keep giving us these names of people who could do this, but we don't
09:34understand why you're not just jumping in.
09:36And it had not occurred to me.
09:38I was like, in what world can I act across from Edward Norton and Penelope?
09:43Well, I mean, that, you know, that's a subjective question because I'm sure plenty of people
09:47would be like, you're, you've more than earned the right to act across from it.
09:50You had this like imposter syndrome about it.
09:52Right.
09:53I would have thought that maybe you had reluctance because you were also directing this and the
09:57idea of trying to like dial in as an actor and dial in as a filmmaker.
10:00I mean, completely.
10:01Everyone's done it.
10:02Edward Norton's done it.
10:03Like, but it just seems like a bit of a schizophrenic experience.
10:08Yeah.
10:09I mean, sorry if I'm offending schizophrenic people, please don't at me in the comments.
10:12I'm very sorry.
10:13Go ahead.
10:13It is, it is definitely splitting your brain in between two jobs.
10:21But for this movie in particular, it ended up being essential because we were a very small
10:27little crew and it was like one less body on set.
10:30I mean, there were no monitors.
10:31There's no like chairs.
10:32There was none of that stuff.
10:33We were all together on this set that we built on a stage.
10:36And I got to be so inside the energy of the performances that as a director, I could feel
10:44when we were on the right path.
10:46And I think that would have been harder to feel from behind the camera.
10:50I think there was this ability to witness what these actors were doing from the inside
10:55so that I could see what we hadn't yet captured on film.
10:58And I think that, yes, my imposter syndrome was both like, can I be, can I be on the level
11:06with these masters as actors, but also can I do that work while also not dropping the
11:12ball as their director?
11:13Because what we were doing from a, from a kind of logistical standpoint, just in terms
11:19of like the crew and myself was not a simple task.
11:23And I wanted the actors to feel liberated and effortless, but, but, you know, the, the actual
11:30construction of the visual style was not something that was effortless.
11:34And I wanted to make sure I could maintain that.
11:36There's a, I want to talk briefly about my favorite scene in the film, my favorite sequence,
11:41and I'm going to try to make this as spoiler free as possible, but there's a sequence involving
11:46a window.
11:46Yes.
11:47And it is a window that looks in, you can see into your apartment from your neighbor's,
11:54your upstairs neighbor's apartment and vice versa.
11:56And there is a really lovely sense of escalation that happens where it's the, the banter starts
12:03getting a little quicker.
12:04The velocity picks up, the editing starts becoming a little choppier, not in a bad way,
12:08obviously, but like you really feel this kind of like screwball worrying kind of coming up.
12:13And I'm just curious about how you guys were able to figure that out, how you were able
12:17to figure that out as a filmmaker and an actor.
12:19How are we going to build this?
12:20The art of awkward tension that escalates and builds and builds and builds until there's
12:24this huge payoff.
12:25That was a real benefit of shooting in order.
12:27I have to say, because we could sense when the energy needed to shift, when the tone needed
12:33to kind of follow a slightly different rhythm.
12:36And I say we, because it was really not only the actors, but it was almost a matter of the
12:42crew kind of improvising with us.
12:45You could feel when the energy needed to take another turn.
12:48Certainly when we were putting the script together in rehearsals and we were aware of
12:52the benefit of surprising the audience and taking them down one path and then taking a
12:57sharp left turn, we knew we wanted that shift.
12:59But while we were actually in production, Seth and I would say, okay, now that we've had
13:06that moment of energy down here, we need to take it up or we've been up here.
13:09We need to take it down.
13:10Let's find a way to do this next scene in a way that drives the energy slightly differently.
13:15But that scene in particular, what I love now is sitting in theaters and feeling the audience
13:22not expecting it and then feeling themselves kind of run off the tracks with the train in
13:27the way that we intended, right?
13:29And so there becomes, the comedy of errors becomes a little bit more of like a dramatic
13:35comedy of errors and the tension becomes a little more dangerous, we hope.
13:40But it was...
13:40Dangerous is a good word for it.
13:41Dangerous is good.
13:43We really like, we really plugged into something that felt outside of ourselves.
13:48I have to say, it sounds so hokey, but sometimes you feel you are responding to what the movie
13:54wants to be.
13:55And that's what happened.
13:56Well, in the spirit of therapy, let's talk more about that.
14:00Because I was lucky enough to talk to Will and Rashida a couple of weeks ago, and they
14:05were talking about being on set and kind of rewriting this almost in real time where you
14:09guys would have these rehearsals or more like workshops, it sounds like, where you were
14:13sitting around a table and discussing your own relationships, discussing what you thought
14:17made for a healthy relationship, discussing all these different things that then sort
14:22of made it into the film.
14:24I think Seth in his New York Times interview said that like two-thirds or half of the film
14:28were kind of made in the weeks leading up to shooting.
14:32Yes, for sure.
14:32So did you guys get something out of that?
14:35I mean, you actually had a celebrity therapist as a consultant, so I'm assuming this was therapeutic.
14:39It was extremely therapeutic.
14:40It was very vulnerable and really fascinating because you don't often realize how subjective
14:47the idea of a healthy relationship is until you sit with other couples or other people
14:51and hear what they consider to be normal.
14:54And then you realize like, wait a minute.
14:55And we were all in very different places in our lives, but had shared a similar amount
15:02of relationship therapy, like we had all been overly heavily therapized.
15:08And you're right, in the two weeks leading up, that's when that like real restructuring,
15:12rethinking of it happened.
15:14And then once we were on set, it was really the cast just improvising and responding to
15:20who we all knew these characters were at that point.
15:23But the two weeks leading up was when it was very, very much a sharing session that allowed
15:27for people's personal anecdotes to make it in there.
15:29And man, a lot of the stuff that's in the movie is based on stories that people shared
15:34about their own lives.
15:35And some of the funny, silly stuff, like all this fascination Edward's character has with
15:40rugs is based on a friend of his.
15:43There's so much that is just based on real life that we wanted that specificity, which
15:50I think audiences can feel.
15:51It feels authentic when it's specific.
15:53Yeah.
15:54I saw this at Sundance.
15:56I was lucky enough to be at the premiere for this.
15:57And I started thinking about this film and then your previous film.
16:00And look, you can you can like Don't Worry Darling or you can dislike it or you can roll
16:06your eyes at the hypocritical, toxic discourse that was around it that distracted from the
16:10movie.
16:10That's your call.
16:11But you can't say it's not ambitious.
16:13You can't say it isn't a big film with a lot of different sets, a lot of different
16:17ideas.
16:17It has scale.
16:18It has scope.
16:19And then you look at this film and it's four people.
16:22I mean, there's a lot going on.
16:23Don't get me wrong, but there's four people in one apartment other than a couple of scenes
16:27outside while you're shopping and Seth's coming home.
16:30Yeah.
16:31And it feels very concentrated.
16:32I'm just wondering if after having made Don't Worry Darling, which did seem like it was a
16:37very like arduous process to make it, you wanted something simpler.
16:41You were looking for something that was a bit more concentrated.
16:44Absolutely.
16:45Absolutely.
16:45You know, I always think about after Mike Nichols made Catch-22, just massive production,
16:50he then went and made Carnal Knowledge.
16:52And Carnal Knowledge isn't as intimate and one, you know, location-based as ours.
16:56But the idea was he wanted to get back to relationships.
16:58He just wanted to get back to people relating to each other and characters relating to each
17:03other.
17:03And that's really what I felt.
17:05I wanted to kind of get out of the way of the actors, get out of the way of performances
17:10and say, can you just allow relationships and human beings kind of interacting, can you
17:17allow that to be interesting enough?
17:19And what happens when you strip away all the kind of bells and whistles, which I love the
17:24bells and whistles.
17:25I love action.
17:25I love car chases.
17:26I love magical realism.
17:28I love it all.
17:29But this was like tying my hands behind my back and just saying like, can I still tell
17:33the story without all the stuff?
17:36And boiling it down is actually really satisfying.
17:40And it's a great kind of gut check in terms of like, what do you really like to say?
17:46What do you really like to do?
17:47What are you interested in as a storyteller?
17:50And for me, it's just watching people relate to each other.
17:54Yeah.
17:54There's a few things I find.
17:56And this is even more as I get older.
17:58But like, I just really, I find it fascinating to just watch people talk on screen when it's
18:04done right.
18:04Like, obviously, we can think we can both think of examples where you're sort of like,
18:08when are they going to cut or what I would give for a car chase or a ninja fight in
18:13the
18:13middle of this long conversation that just seems to be going nowhere.
18:15But, you know, the greatest gift that the movies have ever given us is a close up.
18:20And when you've got somebody, a really good actor saying really great lines, really connecting
18:25to somebody else on screen, there's nothing more compelling about it.
18:28Exactly.
18:29And I always think, you know, if you're going to make a movie, particularly if it's an
18:32adaptation, you better understand why you're choosing this medium.
18:36Like, why not a book?
18:37Why not a play?
18:38If it's because you want the audience to have a visceral connection to these characters,
18:44you want them to feel like they're telepathically connected to them, then a movie is a really
18:47good idea.
18:48And the camera has a very special skill, which is that it brings you into the emotional
18:53space.
18:53You can illustrate subtext in a way.
18:56In this film, we really embrace music in that sense.
18:59But certainly the cinematography, Adam Newport-Bara, the first thing he said to me was, we're going
19:03to turn faces into landscapes.
19:05And the audience will think they've been on this journey when we have not left this very
19:11small space.
19:12It's funny, Paul Thomas Anderson talks about, they go, why are you filming your films in
19:1670 millimeter, you know, when it's something like one battle after another, when there's
19:20so many shots that are just a close-up of, like, an actor or a close-up of a face?
19:24And he's like, why wouldn't you shoot that in 70 millimeter?
19:28Why wouldn't you want that blown up on the biggest canvas possible?
19:31That's where it happens.
19:33That's where the magic is right there.
19:35Yeah, and that's also, like, where film has evolved to.
19:37I mean, we didn't start out this way.
19:39It used to be, you know, that we were presenting these scenes in a much more theatrical sense.
19:45We were in wides.
19:45And there's skill in that that is masterful when you look at the, you know, the greats
19:49that kind of began this work.
19:52But now we've gone through this evolution and we are now able to really bring people
20:00into a very different kind of space with performances.
20:03And when you have actors as good as these people, like, why wouldn't I put you right
20:07up in there?
20:08And I mean, every time I watch the film, I notice something else they're doing because
20:13there's just so much complexity to the choices they made.
20:17I'm glad that you brought this up, this bringing people to a space here, because you went really
20:21hard in the paint to get this a theatrical release.
20:24Hell yeah.
20:24Which, on the surface, you'd be like, well, it's a comedy with four movie stars and this
20:29should not be a hard sell.
20:30And yet it is, which brings us to a bigger issue.
20:33So I'm just curious, since I have you here, other than studios being far more interested
20:38in just doing IP films would have a built-in fan base, and the entire star system that actually
20:44minted stars to be able to make this comedy, and show business being broken in general, why
20:49do you think comedies are such a hard sell in terms of theatrical release right now?
20:53I don't know.
20:54I don't know why the studios think the audiences don't want to see comedies in theaters.
20:58I don't think it's based in the audience.
21:00It is fascinating to see how people have relegated the comedy to something that does not need
21:06a theatrical, doesn't need a big screen, and mostly doesn't need film.
21:09And when you say, like, well, we want to shoot this on film and put it in a theater, people
21:13think, like, well, that feels unnecessary.
21:15It's not something massive in scope, and it can be felt the same way at home.
21:20Obviously, it can't.
21:21And comedies, more than I would say any other genre, benefit from the collective experience.
21:28I love horror, too.
21:29I love thrillers.
21:30I love the feeling of, like, you know, being very tense with other people.
21:33But I think that we've robbed ourselves of the opportunity to feel a comedy with other
21:40people and to laugh.
21:41I mean, the experiences people are having so far in theaters for this movie are just blowing
21:45my mind.
21:45And my favorite anecdote so far is that we end the film, the end credits are the demo
21:51version of Our House, which is Graham Nash singing with Joni Mitchell.
21:54And there's a part of that after the second verse where Graham Nash messes up and he goes,
21:59shit.
21:59And it's my favorite part of the demo.
22:01And somebody wrote on Letterboxd that they said the shit out loud as they were sitting
22:08in their seat.
22:08And another person, a girl across the aisle, said it at the same time.
22:13And they looked at each other.
22:14And then they met up and shared a burrito after the movie.
22:16You're kidding me.
22:17And I was like, this is the reason we made this movie, for those two to split that burrito.
22:21But I mean, like, where else do you get that experience?
22:25Live music.
22:25You get this experience of meeting strangers and you're moved together.
22:29But why has the comedy been taken out of the theater?
22:32I don't understand it.
22:33I think it's shifting.
22:35I feel it shifting.
22:36I hope so.
22:37Yeah.
22:38We're here talking about The Invite.
22:39And I don't know whether a lot of people know this or not, but we're about to start a
22:44hot Olivia summer.
22:46Because The Invite is out now.
22:48Yes.
22:48And it goes wide in a couple of weeks.
22:50We already got that business out of the way.
22:53Greg Araki film that you're in called I Want Your Sex.
22:55I'm curious because I saw both these films at Sundance when they premiered.
22:59And they're in weird conversation with each other.
23:02They are.
23:02Yeah.
23:03Unintentionally.
23:04Right.
23:04Which one came first?
23:05I Want Your Sex.
23:06I shot it while I was prepping The Invite.
23:10So I was, you know, for me now, acting in another person's movie, I like to say it's
23:16like espionage because I'm just buying on other directors and like,
23:20learning from them, trying not to steal their secrets.
23:23With this tiny spy camera, just taking like little.
23:26But I really love, you know, directors never get to see each other work.
23:29We operate in silos.
23:31And so I have this fun opportunity to go and observe other people.
23:35And Greg Araki is his own thing completely.
23:40And he sticks to that, which I have such admiration for.
23:43That movie is very different in every way.
23:46But you're right.
23:47They're in conversation because it's also talking about sex in a way that is
23:54challenging what has kind of happened to the larger conversation about sex,
24:00specifically in this country.
24:02But I think beyond, Greg has a very specific take on what he thinks generationally is happening
24:07with people having sex or not.
24:09The Invite is a little bit more about, I think, like what happens when we don't talk about it.
24:17And that there are, you know, people contain multitudes.
24:21They also contain a multitude of sexual fantasies they don't talk about, even with their partners.
24:26So it was only after I made them both that I was like, oh, wait a minute.
24:30They're absolutely a double feature.
24:33It was funny to have a lot of conversations about those two films at the festival because
24:38there were some people that were very uncomfortable talking about it.
24:42And then some people that were like, fucking finally.
24:44Finally, we're getting movies that are coming back to like the kind of bygone era of films
24:49when you could make them about adults doing adult things, which includes adults having
24:53consensual sex, some of which may or may not involve pegging.
24:58Yeah, that's right.
24:59Which, again, no judgment.
25:00Weirdly, both movies involve pegging.
25:02Both movies involve pegging.
25:03Only one of them shows it.
25:05That's my common denominator.
25:06We'll let people figure out which one is which.
25:08That way it doubles your ticket sales.
25:10Yes.
25:10Why do you think sex is still considered this weird hot button issue in terms of how it's
25:15portrayed on screen?
25:16It's funny because then you look at like heated rivalry, right?
25:18We are in this age where people are much more open, at least in the streaming world, I guess.
25:24But maybe that's because you're at home.
25:26Maybe people are still afraid to take this out into public.
25:29Maybe there is a sense that this is something that still we like.
25:33It's all fine as long as it's behind closed doors.
25:35When no, actually the joy of sitting with people and sharing the shock and recognition of self
25:42is the fun of it.
25:44And it is a bygone era because you think of like Paul Mazursky, you think of Bob Carroll,
25:48Ted Nallis, and it was the perfect way to send up the world of like, you know, enlightenment
25:55and therapy and like Esalen and all these things.
25:59But it was also very relatable and like bonding for people.
26:04So I think that the idea of sexuality is not something people are uncomfortable with.
26:11But I think the idea of sharing those conversations in a public forum is something that we still
26:15feel a little bit like nervous about, but the nerves are what make it fun.
26:19Just one last question before we go.
26:20And thank you so much for stopping by the studio here.
26:22From the outside, it seems like it would be very easy to be like, oh, Olivia Wilde's about
26:26to have a moment, right?
26:29And I'm wondering from your perspective, if you feel like these two films coming out at
26:34this particular moment, at this particular moment in your career, do you feel like some
26:38sort of corner's been turned as a creative artist?
26:41Do you feel like you've sort of hit a different space?
26:45Like, do you feel more confident in what you're doing now?
26:47I definitely feel more confident.
26:49I think that it is also just age.
26:51I really think there's something great that happens with age.
26:53And particularly if you've been lucky enough to work in one field for a while, I've been
26:57doing this for 20 years.
26:59I feel a sense of, of just real curiosity about things without the, the kind of white
27:07knuckled anxiety about making it.
27:10Like, I think you spend a lot of the beginning part of your career just hoping to have the
27:14chance, right?
27:15You're like, just like, let me on screen.
27:17Let me do this.
27:17Let me try.
27:19Then you, you, if you're lucky, you get to a point where you're like, okay, now what do
27:24I actually want to learn?
27:26What do I want to say?
27:27And I feel, I feel much more interested in the, the kind of, um, the conversation of
27:35it, like the process of it, as opposed to proving something with any sort of result.
27:40I also think once you go through peaks and valleys, you hit this place that just feels
27:45much more interesting, which isn't so based on, um, response.
27:51It's, it's based in just in the experience of it itself.
27:54And honestly, just age, getting older is great.
27:58There are, uh, pitfalls.
28:00I mean, I can say this as an 87 year old man, there are some pitfalls.
28:03You look amazing for that age.
28:05Sure.
28:05Like, you know, your joints hurt.
28:07It's a little, you're a little stiffer in the morning, getting up, you know, your bones
28:09creak, but yeah, the, uh, the combination of accrued wisdom and experience and to be able
28:16to look back and be like, well, those were mistakes.
28:18At least I won't make those ones again to try and learn from them.
28:21Like there's, it's invaluable.
28:23Didn't Miles Davis say it takes you a long time to learn to sound like yourself?
28:26I think there's a sense of like, you finally know what your own sound is.
28:33And, and I, I, I admire people who know that when they're 24, you know, like some people
28:38can like turn 24 and make Citizen Kane.
28:40Others can't, and I think for, for me, I, I really, I have, I, I feel the sense of having
28:48matured into a place where I kind of understand what I do and, uh, I'm having a lot more fun
28:55with it.
28:55I feel very relaxed in it and I just hope I get to keep going.
28:59Keep going.
29:00Okay.
29:00Thanks so much for being here.
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