Olivia Wildehas a clear policy when directing movies: no ass—- allowed.
The actress-turned-director is now filming her second directorial projectDon’t Worry Darling, a thriller starring Florence Pugh and Harry Styles. Though Shia LaBeouf was originally cast in Styles' role, PEOPLE recentlyconfirmedthat Wilde had fired him from the movie withVarietyreporting that his attitude on set clashed with Wilde’s policy.
InVariety’s latest “Director on Director"series, Wilde chatted withPromising Young Womandirector Emerald Fennell,a recent Golden Globe nominee, about her now-famous rule.
“The no ass—– policy, it puts everybody on the same level,” Wilde, 36, explained. “I also noticed as an actress for years how the hierarchy of the set separated the actors from the crew in this very strange way that serves no one. I think actors would actually like to know more about, ‘What’s happening there when you’re pulling my focus? What is that lens change?’ But the idea of, don’t bother the actors and keep them separate, and don’t look at them. I think it makes everyone quite anxious.”
Olivia Wilde.Kevin Winter/Getty
Wilde came up with the rule after getting some questionable advice before directing her first movie, the critically-acclaimed 2019 comedyBooksmart.
“Someone, who’s a very established actor and director in this industry, gave me really terrible advice that was helpful, because I just knew I had to do the opposite,” she explained. “They said, ‘Listen, the way to get respect on a set, you have to have three arguments a day. Three big arguments that reinstate your power, remind everyone who’s in charge, be the predator.’ That is the opposite of my process. And I want none of that.”
Jon Kopaloff/WireImage; Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
PEOPLE couldn’t immediately reach a rep for LaBeouf.
LaBeouf addressed the allegations in several emails toThe New York Times, saying he was in no position “to tell anyone how my behavior made them feel.”
“I have no excuses for my alcoholism or aggression, only rationalizations. I have been abusive to myself and everyone around me for years,” he wrote toThe Times. “I have a history of hurting the people closest to me. I’m ashamed of that history and am sorry to those I hurt. There is nothing else I can really say.”
source: people.com
