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‘It’s About Shifting…’: Olivia Wilde Thinks Female Directors Should Be Allowed To ‘Take Up Space’, Hopes For Cultural Shift
In a recent interview, Olivia Wilde highlighted the disparity between male and female filmmakers and how inferiority has been embedded in young girls’ heads since childhood.
Olivia Wilde thinks it is easier for actors to transition into directorial positions than for actresses. Although some women have crossed the horizon, she hopes to see a major cultural shift. The actress elaborately touched on this topic at the Red Sea International Film Festival in Saudi Arabia and explained the narrative is embedded in a person from childhood.
"I think for many young women, when we love movies as little girls, we're told, 'Oh, you should be an actress," she said. "I think when little boys say they love movies, people say, 'You should be a director,'" Wilde added.
She also addressed the domination of male filmmakers who have been in the industry for a prolonged time while hinting at the solution. The Don't Worry Darling actress believes that financiers holding the purse strings are the reason why women-helmed films don't do well.
"Movies directed by women don't make less money. It's not the audience's problem. It's the financiers, it's the studios," she said. Wilde added that a cultural shift is needed where the financiers will be able to invest in the vision and take the risk without gender bias.
“I think we need to raise women to believe that they are allowed to take up space, that they’re allowed to be leaders,” the In Time actress said. Leading a production is difficult even for men, but women are made to believe they constantly need to apologize even for their “existence,” which makes it difficult for them to lead.
“I think that it’s about shifting the way that we raise women to consider how they should behave and to encourage that kind of fearlessness,” Wilde added.
The actress also discussed wanting to be an actress at the age of three and skipping college to pursue the Hollywood dream at 18. She gave herself a one-year buffer; if nothing had worked out, she would’ve returned to continue her studies. “I was lucky enough to start working,” she recalled.
She first worked as a casting assistant before getting her first acting gig on the TV show Skin and later on The O.C. In 2019, the romance-comedy Booksmart marked her debut as a director.
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