Olivia Wilde reveals which movie was the 'highlight' of her career
Actress-turned-director Olivia Wilde has revealed which movie was the "highlight" of her career - explaining she loved her experience making The Invite because it was such a "collaborative project".
Olivia Wilde has revealing making The Invite was the "highlight" of her career.
The actress-turned-director stepped behind the camera to direct her third full-length feature - a comedy drama in which she starred alongside Seth Rogen. Penelope Cruz and Edward Norton - and she's admitted she loved her experience on the set of The Invite because it was such a "collaborative project".
Speaking during an appearance at the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerand, Olivia explained: "This film is the most incredible experience of my life because it was the most collaborative project.
"It was workshopped by the cast and our incredible screenwriters, and it’s a remake of an extraordinary Spanish film [Sentimental], which was also interpreted as Swiss-German, French, Italian and South Korean versions.
"It’s an international story, and what you will watch tonight is our offering and our interpretation. It’s our attempt to be as honest with the audience as we possibly could. For me, it was the highlight of my career."
According to Variety, Olivia added: "First and foremost, it’s a comedy. Even the most tragic things in life, and the way we ultimately overcome them, is by recognizing they didn’t just happen to us.
"There’s something about understanding the universal experience that removes shame and allows things to be funny - and survivable ...
"It is designed to be something that will bring you joy. I can’t tell you how much we laughed when we were making it. It was the most hilarious experience.
"We have to find the hilarity inside the tragic. It’s the only way."
It comes after Olivia admitted making the movie has made her so "much more romantic".
Speaking at an earlier appearance during the festival, she said: "It’s melted the cynic out of me. I have spoken to people who have been through so much with their partners, and people have been in marriages for 40, 50, 60 years.
"They told me it was a very honest depiction of their own experience of really having several relationships with the same person."
Olivia explained that she is surprised at the way The Invite has captured the imagination of younger viewers.
The Don't Worry Darling director said: "I did not think we were making this movie for all ages. I thought that this would probably hit people in a very specific part of their lives that were somewhere similar to our parts of lives, and then I’ve been blown away by meeting all these young people.
"In the States, our biggest audience is under 35, and a huge chunk of them are in their twenties.
"Their questions are not based in regret. They’re based in hope, and I have just been blown away by how advanced, how mature these audience members are in terms of the way they’re thinking about who they want to be individually, who they want to be in relationship to someone else. It’s made me less cynical across the board."
She continued: "In terms of the reality of cinema today and the theatrical landscape, in terms of romance and whether or not it’s dead, in terms of young people and their appetite for adult kinds of storytelling, this whole experience has made me much more optimistic."
