Olivia Wilde has addressed the "baseless" rumours about her feud with Don't Worry Darling star Florence Pugh.
The filmmaker and British actress have long been dogged by speculation that they didn't get along while making the psychological thriller. Their appearance at the Venice Film Festival earlier this week made matters worse as they didn't pose together or appear to share eye contact when the film received a standing ovation, while Florence has barely mentioned Wilde or the movie on social media.
Addressing the rumours before the premiere, Olivia told Vanity Fair magazine, "Florence is one of the most in-demand actresses in the universe. She's on set on Dune. I gather that some people expect for her to be engaging more on social media. I didn't hire her to post. I hired her to act. She fulfilled every single expectation I had of her. That's all that matters to me."
After the drama surrounding their Venice press tour, Olivia added, "Florence's performance in this film is astounding. It's just baffling to me that the media would rather focus on baseless rumours and gossip, thereby overshadowing her profound talent. She deserves more than that. As does the movie, and everyone who worked so hard on it."
According to one rumour, Olivia neglected or alienated Pugh because she was so smitten with their co-star Harry Styles. Olivia and Harry are now dating.
Responding to the claim, the 38-year-old insisted that "the idea that I had five seconds in the day to be distracted by anything is laughable."
However, she noted that she often gave the Black Widow star space to focus on her character's headspace.
"My tendency is to be everyone's best friend and to socialise, and I think she often just needed the time and space to focus, so the way I supported her was to give her space and to be there if she needed anything. Florence was very focused on turning out that performance, which I can assure you took all of her energy," Olivia shared.
Reflecting on the drama surrounding her movie, the Booksmart filmmaker told the magazine after Venice, "No amount of internet bullying can cause me to question my belief in a movie made collectively by so many brilliant people. We worked too hard, and went through too much together, to be derailed by something that really has nothing to do with filmmaking."
