Movie Awards Season has only just begun, and there’s already a pick for the most controversial entry. It’s Don’t Worry Darling, Olivia Wilde’s hotly anticipated follow-up to Booksmart. Over the last few weeks, the film has been hit with one mini-scandal after another. Did Wilde fire original key supporting player Shia LaBeouf, or did he quit? Did Wilde have a falling out with her main star, Florence Pugh? Can Harry Styles act? It’s all a mess, and during a predictably awkward press conference during its premiere at the Venice Film Festival, the director did her best to sidestep the “tabloid” issues.
As per The Hollywood Reporter, handlers at the presser reportedly shot down proposed questions from journalists about LaBeouf and Pugh. Instead, most of the questions stuck to the costumes, the sets, the cinematography, etc. Only at the end did someone get in a question about the absence of Pugh, who announced she would skip the conference but still attend the premiere.
Well, I just tried to ask Olivia Wilde a question about Shia LaBeouf at the DON'T WORRY DARLING press conference, but the festival wouldn't let me. #Venezia79
— Alex Ritman (@alexritman) September 5, 2022
Wilde did her best not to pour gasoline on an already raging fire, calling Pugh “a force, and we are so grateful that she’s able to make it tonight despite being in production on Dune.” (Indeed, she arrived in town while the presser was still going.) She added, “I can’t say enough how honored I am to have her as our lead. She’s amazing in the film.”
Then she tried to dismiss all the elephants in the room, saying, “as for all the endless tabloid gossip and all the noise out there, I mean, the internet feeds itself. I don’t feel the need to contribute. I think it’s sufficiently well-nourished.”
https://twitter.com/tatianabethia/status/1566740763043586048
THR reported that they tried to ask a question about LaBeouf specifically, only to be told that Wilde “already answered that” in relation to “Internet noise.”
Is this all nonsense and Don’t Worry Darling is some stunning masterpiece? It would hardly be the first great film to face terrible press in its lead-up. Perhaps everyone will go back to talking about all the film’s hot sex. Whatever the case, the film hits theaters on September 23.
(Via THR)
