Olivia Wilde: Actress links success to work on 'House'
TORONTO — Olivia Wilde has a small but important role in the auto-racing movie Rush, whose cars don’t match the speed of her career.
Wilde, who got her start on television about a decade ago (Skin, The OC), made the transition into small, offbeat movies; then showed her acting chops as Hadley on the TV medical drama House.
The actress is having a banner year — at home (she is engaged to actor Jason Sudeikis) and on-screen.
Three big movies in which she appears kicked off with Rush.
“I didn’t know anything about Formula One,” Wilde said last month at the Toronto International Film Festival. “I didn’t know anything about James Hunt or Niki Lauda.
“(Ron Howard) had me in for a meeting, and I just thought the story was sensational. I love stories about athletes. ... I knew Ron would tell it well. And I also love the ’70s. So all of these factors came together, and I wanted in.”
Wilde plays Hunt’s wife, Suzy — who leaves him for Richard Burton.
“When I learned about that, it was such an interesting twist because it proved she wasn’t this long-suffering victim and conquest of Hunt’s who was left sniveling, alone and sad, with pictures of him on her wall.
“She left first — which I liked. She was like ‘I gave you a chance, but you’re making it impossible.’ And she had a very happy relationship with Burton. He left Elizabeth Taylor for this woman.”
Wilde will be seen next at multiplexes in the Paul Haggis ensemble drama Third Person — followed by the hard-to-pigeonhole Her, directed by Spike Jonze.
“They’re all sensational,” she said. “I feel pretty lucky. Third Person is a really beautiful film. It’s (expletive) heartbreaking. ... I think it’s Liam Neeson’s finest performance in a long time. Everyone was really pushing themselves to make Paul’s script come to life. ... It was one of those jobs where every day at work could wring you dry. But it was worth it.
“ Her is so (expletive) good. It’s a story about humanity and loneliness, and Joaquin (Phoenix) is so great in it; it’s such a nuanced performance. The camera is essentially on him talking to himself the entire film because he’s talking to a voice you never see — played by Scarlett Johansson, who is playing an operating system. It’s just a voice.”
Wilde traces much of her good fortune as an actress to her role as a brilliant bisexual doctor with Huntington’s disease on House.
“Wearing a lab coat is like wearing Supergirl’s cape,” Wilde explained. “Once people see you in it, they believe you’re very capable. They believe you have skills.
“I really have the writers to thank for anything that came out of that show for me because they really allowed me to show so many sides of that character, and it was a showcase for me that allowed so many different, interesting filmmakers to hire me afterward.”