Olivia Wilde‘s main goal as a director is to make sure that her actors are safe.
So, when it became clear that Shia LaBeouf, the original star of “Don’t Worry, Darling,” could be a threat to safety on set, she fired him right away.
The studio said that LaBeouf left the project in 2020 because of scheduling problems, but Wilde says it was a different story. “I say this as a big fan of his work: His process didn’t fit with what I want in my productions,” she told Variety, which was the first time she talked about the decision in public. “His process seems, in some ways, to require a fighting spirit, and I don’t think that makes for the best performances.”
“After this happened, I found out a lot about his behavior that really bothered me,” Wilde said. In the months after LaBeouf quit the movie, his ex-girlfriend FKA Twigs sued him for sexual battery, assault, and emotional distress. LaBeouf then broke up with CAA, the agency he had been with for a long time, and went to a treatment center.
Wilde Wants Florence Pugh To Feel Safe And At Ease In “Very Vulnerable Situations.”
Wilde didn’t say exactly what red flags LaBeouf sent up for her, but she did say that he didn’t have the supportive energy to make co-star Florence Pugh feel comfortable while filming vulnerable scenes in Don’t Worry, Darling.
“For our movie, what we really needed was very supportive energy. I knew that in a movie like this, I would be putting Florence in situations where she would be very vulnerable. My top priority was to make her feel safe and supported “Wilde said. There are some steamy scenes in the upcoming 1950s suburban thriller, including one between Pugh and Harry Styles that made the internet go crazy when the trailer came out.
Styles joined the cast after LaBeouf left. He was Wilde’s first choice for the lead role, but he turned it down at first because of his world tour. Wilde says she wishes LaBeouf well in the future, but she doesn’t feel bad about what she did. “I think the best way to get people to do their best work is to make sure they feel safe and trust each other.”
“At the end of the day, it’s my job to protect the production and the cast,” she said. “That was what I was supposed to do.”