Being famous for the production rather than the plot, Olivia Wilde’s Don’t Worry Darling has been stuck in controversy since its casting. The film stars Little Women fame Florence Pugh and Harry Styles.
Based in the 1950s, in the town of Victory, California, the film focuses on a young couple, Alice and Jack Chambers. The mystery revolves around the company Jack works for, which ends up captivating Alice into figuring out the truth behind her utopian life.
Controversies surrounding Don’t Worry Darling
The first controversy that the movie went through was the casting of Shia LaBeouf as the lead. The Transformer star was eventually dropped for Harry Styles, which lead to conflicting accounts of the actor’s departure.
While Shia LaBoeuf contended that he wasn’t fired, but had quit, Olivia Wilde on the other than stated that the actor’s work ethic wasn’t something she was comfortable with, further stating:
“His process was not conducive to the ethos that I demand in my productions. He has a process that, in some ways, seems to require a combative energy, and I don’t personally believe that is conducive to the best performances.”
Olivia Wilde also butted heads with the female lead of the film. In an interview with Harper’s Bazaar, Florence Pugh explained her issues with the film, stating that she didn’t want her appearance in the film to be reduced to just sex scenes, which were heavily showcased in the promotional campaign, she said:
“When it’s reduced to your sex scenes, or to watch the most famous man in the world go down on someone, it’s not why we do it. It’s not why I’m in this industry… That’s just not what I’m going to be discussing because [this movie is] bigger and better than that.”
Florence Pugh won’t be attending the premiere?
Reports suggest Florence Pugh won’t be attending the press conference of Don’t Worry Darling at the 79th Venice Film Festival on September 5 as she’s absent from the festival’s schedule. Fans believe her absence is because of the filming of Dune 2, in which she plays Princess Irulan Corrino.
But many have argued otherwise, believing the reason to be her beef with Olivia Wilde and this action indicating that she has severed ties with the director. Despite the actor’s insistence that there’s more to the movie than just sex, the director has been advertising otherwise, stating to Variety:
“I think it’s integral to the story itself and how the audience is meant to connect to them.”
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Furthermore, there are also rumors suggesting a pay gap between Harry Styles and Florence Pugh, But Olivia Wilde responded by asserting that there’s no truth to the claims that the Dunkirk actor was paid substantially compared to Florence Pugh.
Source: Twitter
