The 36-year-old actress-turned-director touched on not tolerating bad and negative behavior on her sets. This comes after replacing Shia LaBeouf with Harry Styles in her upcoming film, Don’t Worry Darling.
She first explained how some “terrible advice” another actor-director gave her made her create her “no a**holes policy.”
“Someone, who’s a very established actor and director in this industry, gave me really terrible advice that was helpful because I just knew I had to do the opposite,” Wilde told Emerald Fennell during Variety‘s “Directors on Directors” series. “They said, ‘Listen, the way to get respect on a set, you have to have three arguments a day. Three big arguments that reinstate your power, remind everyone who’s in charge, be the predator.’ That is the opposite of my process. And I want none of that.”
“The no a**holes policy, it puts everybody on the same level,” she elaborated. “I also noticed as an actress for years how the hierarchy of the set separated the actors from the crew in this very strange way that serves no one. I think actors would actually like to know more about, ‘What’s happening there when you’re pulling my focus? What is that lens change?’ But the idea of, ‘Don’t bother the actors and keep them separate and don’t look at them.’ I think it makes everyone quite anxious.”
In September in was announced that Styles was replacing Shia LaBeouf in her upcoming film, which centers on an unhappy housewife in the 1950s.
Reports later surfaced that LaBeouf was fired from the set after clashing with the cast and crew. The news also came after his ex-girlfriend, FKA Twigs, accused him of being abusive during their relationship. FKA, whose real name is Tahliah Debrett Barnett, filed a lawsuit against LaBeouf in December, accusing him of “relentless abuse” including sexual battery, assault and infliction of emotional distress. LaBeouf responded to her claims in emails to The New York Times, writing in part that “many of these allegations are not true.”
Meanwhile Wilde told Vogue in November that she did a “happy dance” upon confirming Styles’ involvement in Don’t Worry Darling after LaBeouf exited the movie. Wilde and Styles have since sparked a romance and were photographed holding hands and attending a wedding together last month.
A source recently told ET that Wilde and Styles are doing just fine balancing their relationship and their professional responsibilities. According to the source, it is important to Wilde that the vibe on her set is professional, collaborative and fun.
“She really creates a little community. She wasn’t joking when she said she has zero tolerance for a**holes,” the source noted, adding that the couple’s relationship was not a secret on set and wasn’t going to get in the way of doing their job.
