.png){kind=logo}
2 hours ago
2
Olivia Wilde says modern film lacks authenticity in its approach to sex - despite filling one of her own with a series of raunchy moments.
The actress divided fans with the 2022 release of Don't Worry Darling, notable for its casting of novice actor Harry Styles, his subsequent offscreen romance with Wilde and a series of intimate sex scenes with onscreen love interest Florence Pugh.
But Wilde, 41, believes intimacy has been watered down in contemporary film, to the point where it is no longer deemed authentic by a younger audience.
Responding to a recent poll that suggested many young cinema-goers no longer wish to see sex in film, she told Variety: 'I think Gen Z's pretty smart, I would never dare say they don't understand anything.
'I think they understand a lot more than the rest of us, so I don't know where that's coming from.
'It's interesting. I think that the way sex has been portrayed in film for a long time hasn't been particularly realistic. I think there's been this movement now towards authenticity, which is really good, so I choose to interpret that statistic as Gen Z saying we don't want to see inauthenticity anymore.
Olivia Wilde says modern film lacks authenticity in its approach to sex - despite filling one of her own with a series of raunchy moments
The actress divided fans with the 2022 release of Don't Worry Darling, notable for its casting of novice actor Harry Styles and his intimate sex scenes with Florence Pugh
'We want to see real relationships and we want to have things that feel more genuine.'
Don't Worry Darling was underpinned by a series of raunchy scenes, including one in which Styles performs oral sex on Pugh as she reclines across a kitchen table.
Wilde, who made her directorial debut with the comedy Booksmart in 2019, previously discussed the complications of making the film amid the pandemic.
She told Variety: 'It definitely affects that exact ingredient in the process, that camaraderie. It definitely makes it more difficult.
'You have to really focus on everybody’s eyes. Everyone is communicating so differently, and there’s a lot of gesticulating.'
The film sparked a bidding war among 18 studios who were all keen to acquire the project with New Line Cinema winning the auction.
But she was forced to cut some scenes out of its first theatrical trailer in order to gain approval from the Motion Picture Association.
She told the Associated Press: 'There's a lot that had to be taken out of the trailer. The MPA came down hard on me and the trailer at the last second and I had to cut some shots, which I was upset about because I thought they it took it up another notch.
The actress was forced to cut some scenes out of its first theatrical trailer in order to gain approval from the Motion Picture Association
Don't Worry Darling was underpinned by a series of raunchy scenes, including one in which Styles performs oral sex on Pugh as she reclines across a kitchen table
'But of course we still live in a really puritanical society. I do think the lack of eroticism in American film is kind of new.
'Then when it comes to female pleasure, it's something that we just don't see very often unless you're talking about queer cinema.'
She added: 'You know, it's interesting because in a lot of queer films, the female characters are allowed to have more pleasure. Audiences aren't as puritanical as corporations think they are.
'And yet people get upset. I mean, people are upset with me already over this. I think it's a testament to the film. We want to be provocative. The idea is not to make you feel safe.'
English (US) ·