Olivia Wilde praises Harry Styles for playing a supporting role in a female-led film

3rd Annual Hollywood Critics' Awards

My read on Olivia Wilde and Harry Styles’ relationship has always been a bit different than the gossip energy around them. The gossip energy veers towards “good for her” and “Harry and Olivia forever.” There’s also a dash of “Olivia deserves to be with a hot guy like Harry after Jason Sudeikis did her wrong!” Which is still kind of absurd to me, since I completely believe Olivia and Jason were having grown-up partnership issues and then Olivia dumped Jason for Harry. My read on Olivia and Harry is that he’s going to look for an exit pretty quickly as well. Still, I’ve been wrong before and I might be wrong now. It looks like Olivia has completely moved out of the LA home she shared with Sudeikis, and she’s moved into a house with Harry Styles.

Page Six doesn’t have any info besides the fact that Olivia was seen moving sh-t out of the Silver Lake home she shared with Jason. I don’t even think she was living there anymore – she either bought/rented a new place or she moved into Harry Styles’ rental. Speaking of, production has wrapped on Don’t Worry Darling, the film Olivia directed, with Harry playing a supporting role. Olivia posted a special message about Harry on her IG:

“Little known fact: most male actors don’t want to play supporting roles in female-led films. The industry has raised them to believe it lessens their power (i.e financial value) to accept these roles, which is one of the reasons it’s so hard to get financing for movies focusing on female stories. No joke, it is harrrrrd to find actors who recognize why it might be worth it to allow for a woman to hold the spotlight.

“Enter: @harrystyles, our ‘Jack.’ Not only did he relish the opportunity to allow for the brilliant @florencepugh to hold center stage as our ‘Alice,’ but he infused every scene with a nuanced sense of humanity. He didn’t have to join our circus, but he jumped on board with humility and grace, and blew us away every day with his talent, warmth, and ability to drive backwards.”

[From Olivia’s IG]

I mean, she’s right and she’s wrong. There are plenty of great actors who have no issues with working on films with female leads. There are lots of actors who refuse to play anyone other than the lead though. I’m increasingly aware of the fact that too many actors prefer to do films with zero female roles though, and it’s the weirdest damn thing. Anyway, Harry gets a cookie for playing a supporting role to a female lead, I guess. It does feel like she’s praising him for doing the bare minimum though.

Harry Styles

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

75 Responses to “Olivia Wilde praises Harry Styles for playing a supporting role in a female-led film”

Comments are Closed

We close comments on older posts to fight comment spam.

  1. Daphne says:

    Should men get a gold star for simply doing their jobs without being discriminatory towards women? Lord.

    • whateveryousay says:

      What you said. Everyone dragged her for this mess yesterday. And also brought up the fact that she’s praising someone she’s directing but also sleeping with. The ethics man.

    • Wiglet Watcher says:

      Has she praised in the past other actors for doing the bare minimum that she wasn’t currently sleeping with?

      • Tiffany :) says:

        She actually posted for everyone on this film! She made a separate post for Chris Pine, Florence Pugh, the PAs, the cinematographer, etc.

      • Cava24 says:

        The order of her posts were:

        Sunday – Florence
        Sunday – Herself (as Director)
        Sunday – Cinematographer
        Monday – Harry
        (Gets massively dragged overnight for the post elevating Harry)
        Tuesday – Chris Pine (his participation would have helped her secure funding)
        (Still getting dragged)
        Tuesday – Production assistants using photos from their own Instagrams – she did not take those photos

        Florence did a long post just on Sunday and thanked everyone but most especially the crew

      • Tiffany :) says:

        I find it kind of odd that this article just talks about the post about Harry and doesn’t mention the other shoutouts. When I saw it on another site, I felt kind of tricked. It definitely changes the context around her posts.

      • Cava24 says:

        Fair point, if if was just him it would be more problematic. But her post re Florence is obnoxious and not well thought through and has an unflattering photo of Florence where the post re: Harry is much longer, is more formal, does not mention Olivia’s butt (even though it might be more relevant to Harry than to Florence) is glowing and features a great photo. The difference in effort and appreciation is really apparent.

      • Maria says:

        I don’t think it changes the context that much. The other posts were not nearly as complimentary or gushing.

      • Tiffany :) says:

        It does absolutely change the context, because as originally written it makes it sound like OW was giving kudos only to HS, when really she did the same for multiple people who worked on the movie. It’s deceptive to frame it as if the HS post was the only one.

        The post about Florence was very, very complimentary and I don’t think it was unflattering to her. It showed them huddled around the monitor, embracing each other, which is appropriate in a post where you are talking about how much you like working with someone. I don’t see how anyone could say this wasn’t as complimentary or gushing. She compares Flo to Meryl Streep for goodness sakes. How could you be more complimentary to an actress?

        “To work with an actor as talented and brave as @florencepugh is any director’s dream. I will forever be grateful for you, Flo. It was an honor to be your captain. Can’t wait for the world to see the astonishing work you’ve put into this movie. Tom Cruise run + Meryl skills = THE FLO.”

      • Cava24 says:

        Full quote:

        “To work with an actor as talented and brave as @florencepugh is any director’s dream. I will forever be grateful for you, Flo. It was an honor to be your captain. Can’t wait for the world to see the astonishing work you’ve put into this movie. Tom Cruise run + Meryl skills = THE FLO. Special thanks to no one for telling Me a I had tape stuck to my butt (editor’s note: pictured) in this moment. I LOVE YOU, DON’T WORRY DARLING ❤️❤️❤️“

        It very much centers Olivia, (and her butt). The post for Harry was about him doing a huge service to the film.

      • Tiffany :) says:

        She gives Flo tons of compliments in that post! How you can read those words and try and suggest that she wasn’t showering Florence with praise is odd to me. “Can’t wait for the world to see the astonishing work you’ve put into this movie” sure sounds like she was talking about the service Flo did to the film.

        If she’s your BEC and you need to work it out, go for it. But the HS post doesn’t really stand out from her other posts to her cast and crew when you objectively compare them. Ultimately, I think readers would be better served if the other posts were noted in the article to provide context. I stand by that.

      • Maria says:

        Yeah, no. The force of that post is sort of lost when she devotes another huge long one to the male costar who she slept with, for having the grace to “step aside” for the main actress.
        If I were Florence, I’d be annoyed.
        As far as her being our BEC, I think you’re the one taking it personally.

    • sunny says:

      The bar is so low, it is in hell.

    • SM says:

      i think it is just a part of her narrative of being such a feminist, a director doing a movie with female lead, and wow, also love and praise my boyfriend, because he is so deep and so feminist. I really dislike her.

  2. Case says:

    Something I love about the horror/thriller genre (which I think Don’t Worry Darling is) is that it’s mostly made up of films with female leads. There’s of course the problematic side that women in some of these films suffer a lot of abuse, but there’s another side to it in which this genre really explores women’s issues in a way other genres don’t IMO, and really makes space for compelling, well-rounded roles for women. I’m excited for this movie.

    And yeah, I totally believe what she’s saying that Hollywood leads male actors to believe they’re less-than if they accept playing a secondary role to a woman. I don’t know if Harry deserves all this praise for going against that, but whatever lol. She’s in LURVE.

  3. Leskat says:

    I have no idea why she’s praising him to the moon and back for just doing a role. It’s weird and gushy. He was hired to be a supporting player in this movie and he did that. Congrats? She’s undermining herself by being so effusive in her praise of him when it’s the least he can do. I love Harry but he doesn’t need a parade for doing the job he was hired for.

    • Cava24 says:

      +1

      She’s managed to make him look bad by over-praising him-he doesn’t necessarily think he went above and beyond but she makes it sound like that’s a generalized opinion. It’s so bad. A

      Her post about Florence Pugh (Oscar nominee and star of the film) is not nearly as gushy, and Olivia manages to mention her own butt and wear a sweatshirt from a restaurant Harry’s manager’s family owns (merch!) in it. The photo of Harry is cinematic and cool, the photo with Florence is not especially flattering (and is somewhat about Olivia – given that she is in it and it tracks to the image she wants to convey of herself – that everyone loves her and she’s great).

      Olivia also posted about herself (“Happy Place!”) with some set pictures of her doing cool looking Director Things.

      She posted about Chris Pine at 6:00am this morning, LA time (she may not be in LA though) as damage control but she is getting dragged all over for this.

      Her ego in all of this is insane. I kind of liked them together initially but looking at her social media and recent interviews has been erm, informative.

    • Jellybean says:

      True and it isn’t as though he is a leading man anyway.

    • Tiffany :) says:

      She did a separate post praising each main member of the cast, a post for the PAs, a separate post for the cinematographer, Chris Pine, etc. It wasn’t just Harry that got a shout out.

      • Cava24 says:

        The order of her posts were:

        Sunday – Florence
        Sunday – Herself (as Director)
        Sunday – Cinematographer
        Monday – Harry
        (Gets massively dragged overnight for the post elevating Harry)
        Tuesday – Chris Pine (his participation would have helped her secure funding)
        (Still getting dragged)
        Tuesday – Production assistants using photos from their own Instagrams – she did not take those photos

        Florence did a long post just on Sunday and thanked everyone but most especially the crew

    • clomo says:

      Harry’s a likable guy it seems, hmmmm.

  4. fani says:

    It was inappropriate/unprofessional of her to start a relationship with someone who was working for her. It would have been classier to have waited until the shoot was over. Although he has been famous for a while, publicly he has been relatively drama free. She sucked him into a whole lot of drama.

    • Case says:

      It takes two. *shrugs* He (as, frankly, the far more famous of the two) could’ve equally said that it’s not appropriate for them to start a relationship while filming but he didn’t. It’s no more her fault than his if it comes across as unprofessional or causes drama. She didn’t suck him into anything he didn’t agree to.

      • Jellybean says:

        I disagree. In this situation she is the one with the power.

      • Cava24 says:

        Well, as Director and Producer on the film she should actually be enforcing some relationship boundaries. They have the same personal obligations but her professional obligations are more managerial.

    • Girl_ninja says:

      You had it right in your first sentence, inappropriate/unprofessional. Class has nothing to do with it. It was such irresponsible behavior as the boss to become involved during the making of the film.

      It was an abuse of power. Periodt.

      • fani says:

        Thanks – Additionally, imagine how uncomfortable it was for the rest of their colleagues. I once worked on a team where the boss had goings on with an employee, very gross.

  5. Girl_ninja says:

    She is thick in the thirst huh?

    I hope it works out for them all. Especially the kiddos.

  6. Lexy says:

    Harry invented Male Supporting Roles apparently. Weird take, specifically because Chris Pine is right there. I hate the way she worded this, that someone like Harry, who has been in one film for like 10 minutes, allowed Florence (an award winning actress) to star in a movie. Like, he needs to work his way up! He didn’t do this out of the goodness of his heart?

    I don’t think they’re moving in together. Harry signed on to a British LBGTQ cop movie filming in April and Olivia is directing a gymnastic movie in Atlanta too. I don’t see this going the distance either. This relationship is really weird to me and so public.

  7. Lunasf17 says:

    Lol the bar is so freaking low for privileged white dudes. I’m kind of side eyeing the move out of your house with your ex and jumping into Harry’s home if that’s what the situation really is. Are her kids staying over there too half the time? Seems like a messy situation and I think Harry is going to bow out soon.

  8. Darla says:

    LOL These are the kinds of things you, well, “enbiggen”? that’s a word now right? in the first throes of passion/love.

    Oh he’s the most feminist man ever! I’ve done this, I’m ashamed to say. Then I learned. But the learning part is no fun.

  9. JayBlue says:

    I like Harry, he seems nice and harmless, but he never lasts long in relationships. Hope Olivia isn’t expecting too much of him…

  10. Hey says:

    So unprofessional, so badly expressed. I do think he will run away soon.

  11. Yasmina says:

    One of my besties (her name is Harleena, to give credit here it’s ACTUALLY due) has a quote for this: “Don’t praise a fish for swimming.”

  12. Pull the Other One says:

    Praising a man for doing the bare minimum and being decent. How groundbreaking. I wonder if she’s either on her way to or already in London, so that she can see her kids. Which is probably why she had all of the bags. But of course, they want to make it appear as if she’s moving into Harry’s house. That’s a much juicier headline that gets way more attention. It’s why they held the photos and didn’t post the articles until after she made the post. Everything about this is so contrived and planned for maximum PR. But clearly, it’s working like a charm.

    • Lexy says:

      Yeah, they’re definitely doing too much with this relationship. My question is why wouldn’t they keep this on the low for now, and then come out publicly closer to the movie? It’s a long way from now to when the movie comes out.

      • Keisha says:

        Because they got busted when they went to that friends wedding and had no choice but to own up to it.

      • Pull the Other One says:

        @Lexy, publicity, plain and simple. How many people knew about this movie before they called the paps to photograph them at the wedding? And how many people do you think would pay attention to it when it gets released? It generated buzz for the movie, it brought more traffic to Olivia’s social media, and it got Olivia especially a lot of attention. Good or bad, people are still talking about her. Even if they break up before the film is released, they can bring this back up to create buzz around the movie again. Buzz that would never have existed had they not gotten “caught” together way back when the film was being made.

  13. Wilma says:

    Harry is a cool person who doesn’t need being fluffed up. Olivia must be pretty smitten, because this is rather teenager like.

  14. Rivkah says:

    i woukd be so pissed if i was Florence Pugh

    • Cava24 says:

      Florence has not acknowledged any of Olivia’s posts, including the one about her. She may do it now, there is some damage-control happening (I don’t think Harry’s manager usually gets up at 6:30am to “like” posts on IG but he did just that with Olivia’s post about Chris Pine today) and the studio may (seriously) ask her to do something. Florence has been on her IG on and off, she’s seen all of this.

      • whateveryousay says:

        I hope someone told her about herself it was not the reaction she was expecting that was for sure. People pointed out there’s ton of men out there doing supporting roles so what is she going on about. My God. You have Stanley Tucci just running around and being the best supporting Meryl Streep in how many movies? He did that in Easy A too. He is often not a lead.

      • cassandra says:

        @whateveryousay

        Stanley Tucci is one of my (fingers crossed) unproblematic faves and I hope he stays that way

    • Mette says:

      This looks so bad, I wonder if Jason Sudekis hacked olivia’s account as some weird revenge plot. And really, is Harry ready to be step daddy to two kids? Doubt.

    • Bath Lady says:

      Is she stan’ing Sam Taylor Johnson?

      *I know little of either sitch. Just a casual observation.

    • Tiffany :) says:

      Why, she made a separate post praising Pugh (she did one for main cast, PAs,cinematographer, etc., but this article doesn’t mention those).

      • Cava24 says:

        The order of her posts were:

        Sunday – Florence
        Sunday – Herself (as Director)
        Sunday – Cinematographer
        Monday – Harry
        (Gets massively dragged overnight for the post elevating Harry)
        Tuesday – Chris Pine (his participation would have helped her secure funding)
        (Still getting dragged)
        Tuesday – Production assistants using photos from their own Instagrams – she did not take those photos

        Florence did a long post just on Sunday and thanked everyone but most especially the crew

      • Lexy says:

        I’m not trying to be rude, Tiffany, I guess I just don’t understand how it changes the context. I’m not judging that she made a post about Harry, because like you said she did a post for everyone. I’m judging what she wrote, which was congratulating Harry on not being sexist and doing the job he was hired to do. He “allowed” Florence to be the star. Considering Chris Pine is in the movie too, a man who has been a supporting actor for a very long time, it’s weird. It’s also weird because Harry hasn’t earned a lead role yet, so why are we excited for men to do the bare minimum? And I’ve heard that she’s shading Shia, but why? She hired him originally, even though he’s had abusive claims for years. And Olivia has worked with him before.

        Of course Hollywood needs to be better for both POC and Women, but this wasn’t a progressive step. Olivia has been incredibly fake woke/white feminist in the past, so her tone deaf post isn’t shocking to me.

      • Tiffany :) says:

        It changes the context when readers think she just did a post about HS, when she really did a post for multiple people. It sounds odd to single out 1 person, not odd when you are doing a post for everyone.

        I think people would be surprised at how many men are guided away from doing roles in films considered to be a “woman’s film”, where the lead is female. It is sad that it still needs to be considered a virtue, but when it is rare, that’s what it is. Film sets incite power struggles, and maybe Harry was especially giving as an actor (showing up instead of stand-in when doing overshoulder shots to give Flo someone to play off of, communicating with Flo about what she needed in a specific scene, etc.). Just because Pine has done a great job in his career, maybe she saw work habits of Harry’s on this film that she wanted to applaud? Maybe she wanted to give the public a heads up that many actors are not this way?

        To be honest, multiple friends of mine know OW through different circles, and everyone says she is very kind and supporting and a great friend…so this seems totally genuine from my perspective, not “fake woke”. She’s cheerleading her cast and crew, because she appreciates their work.

      • Cava24 says:

        We may have to just disagree on the tone and content of the posts, the one for Pine was probably a corrective after the whole thing blew up last night. Even kind, supportive people can get their heads up their own bums a bit, if you look at her social media even before now and how she positions herself, it’s more than a bit. It is nice to know that she is a nice person though, I definitely did not think she was evil, just a bit clueless and into herself.

  15. Evenstar says:

    He’s only been in one other movie, he’s a complete newbie. And yet he’s “aLlOwInG” Oscar-nominee Florence Pugh to take the spotlight?? Olivia needs to take her head out of his *ss.

    • Sesame says:

      Preach! Like, basically this dude has acted 10 min in an ensemble prior to this movie. I don’t even get how he’s been listed for all these lead roles prior. Weird trajectory.

  16. grabbyhands says:

    I’m embarrassed for her. We get it, Olivia – you really love your new boyfriend.

    The bar here was so low it is pretty much on the floor. How does a man who is pretty much brand new to actual acting deserve such slavish praise for deigning to be in a female led movie? It’s his job. He “allowed” Florence Pugh to shine?? He has a SUPPORTING role! SHE is a Oscar nominated lead actress.

    The whole thing is annoying and pathetic.

    • Emmy Rae says:

      Seriously. This is his 2nd role, right? How big of him to not demand to be the lead. Maybe he needs more than 1 movie to study the craft, even if he could get top billing in something just cause people know who he is.

    • Cava24 says:

      I think Olivia’s the one with the issues with letting Florence have the spotlight, not Harry.

  17. Jellybean says:

    Consider the film Arrival. That had a very strong female role and a secondary role for a man which was intentionally low key, even to the point that there could be no suggestion of romance in case it gave away the ending. Renner did not want to work at the time and the role was niether interesting or challenging. He did it solely because Amy Adams asked him to support her and he thought it was a fantastic role for her. What he got in return was criticism that he was a waste of space and anyone could have played the part. I guess some people are given credit and some aren’t- whatever fits your narrative.

  18. Chris says:

    This is just plain weird praise and embarrassing. I’m sure it’s a problem amongst many Hollywood male power players, but supporting male roles have existed before this. Um Chris Pine, Aaron Taylor-Johnson was even asked about it for Anna Karenina, Bo Burnham in the recent Promising Young Woman, Tom Hardy in MadMax, etc. I mean these actors are just doing their jobs. Jfc giving Harry, a relative newby actor credit for this is embarrassing. If I were him, I’d be seriously embarrassed. This all feels so unprofessional. I always think it’s weird when directors get involved with actors on their projects when it’s ongoing. It’s always a bit weird when someone starts sleeping with their boss.

  19. Sandra says:

    Just don’t get this relationship at all. From either side. Is it a relationship? Not so sure. She seems so immature in the way she’s handling everything so publicly and why would Harry even?
    Girls gotta get her act together!

    • Cava24 says:

      She’s so bad at this she is actually making him look bad. And, (as others have said), pulling focus off the film and onto their relationship.

  20. Lightpurple says:

    This breakup is going to be spectacular

  21. Midge says:

    I can’t even put in the energy to read this post because I have zero interest in her. I will note that it’s annoying when a woman who’s been told she has nice eyes and then lives by bizarre over the top eye makeup. Take it down a notch, Livi.

  22. JaneDoesWerk says:

    Ugh this grossed me out for a few reasons related to professional ethics and the celebration of the bare fucking minimum, it’s not charity he’s getting paid FFS. But I also just want to point out that it’s Harry Styles. He’s not some A list actor in high demand. This isn’t the same situation as Chris Pine in Wonder Woman. Chris Pine has a chit ton of options and roles being offered to him and he chose to take on a supporting role in a female driven action film. Harry Styles? Not so much.

  23. Keisha says:

    I love that she tried to be funny with her last sentence about “his ability to drive backwards.”

    This is just embarrassing.

  24. Amanda P says:

    She completely lost me at wearing “The Future is Female Ejaculation” tee shirt to work and then posting about it on social media! Cool shirt; wear it on your own time. Completely inappropriate for anyone in any work environment by all definitions of sexual harassment, and somehow manages to be even worse because she was the boss.

    • Cava24 says:

      And it may have been a reference to her starting the relationship with Harry. Or may have looked like one to people on set once they went public (it apparently was not a secret on set).

    • tsk says:

      how is a tee about female ejaculation sexual harassment? lol

      if it’s just text, then it’s fine? unless it shows a picture of a vagina or something then I don’t see the problem with it?

      I don’t go around reading ppl’s shirts and I’m not the only one, so I doubt most people would notice.

      • Cava24 says:

        If a male director or producer wore a tee shirt on set that said “The Future is Male Ejaculation” she would be all over her Twitter talking about toxic male culture in Hollywood and calling them out for it because it would make a lot of women on set feel uncomfortable and diminished. And she would be right.

      • Cava24 says:

        And, as producer, she would not let a man on her set wear a shirt that said “The Future is Male Ejaculation”. No way.

        (And she knows full well that she would get treated very differently for wearing the shirt if she wasn’t hot)

  25. Bath Lady says:

    Is she stan’ing Sam Taylor-Johnson?
    *just a casual observation;

  26. Kerfuffles says:

    I can’t belief she actually wrote that Harry was ALLOWING Florence to have the spotlight. Oh the yikes.

  27. 2lazy4username says:

    If I was Harry, I’d be so embarrassed by this. Yikes.

  28. Truthiness says:

    That is a pretty sweet ride, the black convertible. Is it a Tbird? I love it.

  29. The Recluse says:

    She is exhausting. That’s all I got.

  30. tsk says:

    It’s funny that idc about them individually at all and dislike them actually, but as a couple… I like them? It doesn’t seem toxic, both of them know where they stand… he’s having fun and she’s having fun with her young beau and sticking it to her ex-husband (who sounds a bit pathetic from what I’ve seen of him lmao). As long as this doesn’t become Dicaprio syndrome it’s fine.