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Olivia Wilde wants us all to get the hell off our phones.
That was cool!Thank you!
I had a dream about having an event to force people into a room to watch a short.
Whered the idea for this come from?
That was the big question.
I love lofty questions as starting points for creative inspiration.
Its the school nerd in me: Ah!
But how great to be allowed to make a visual poem pulling apart that question.
And Margaret was my ultimate partner in this.
She was so immediately aware of the purpose and the tone of the piece.
I wanted to make it visual and not very verbal.
Youre sitting on the subway, youre so numb, youre so isolated.
You dont respond to the subtle cues that typically connect us with a stranger.
And she told the story with her body in a way that allowed me to make it nonverbal.
Im so blown away by her.
Id give her cues, like, I just want primal.
And she found primal.
She actually herniated a disc in her neck doing that scene!
But she was better the next day because shes young.
And the youth can do that.
They heal so quickly!
Perfume Genius shows up twice onBooksmarts soundtrack and now here.
Are you guys friends?I know him now only through using his music so many times.
They have a new record coming out in May and its un-fucking-real.
Youve heard it?Ive heard it and its on another level.
Theres a song that sounds like Roy Orbison, and then theres like, generational anthems.
Im writing a script right now, and I have a playlist to help me emotionally plug in.
But Perfume Genius specifically is so cinematic and emotional.
I loved Otherside when it came out and I thought,That deserves something!
Its so bare and so discordant and so emotional and big.
I lovedBooksmartso much that I saw it three times.
How do you see its legacy unfolding in the past year or so since its release?
This grassroots movement has spread the word about it; people are still discovering it.
TodayDarren Aronofsky tweeted about itand I nearly passed away.
What did he say?He was like, top-five film of the year.
I was like, I cant breathe.
Hes one of my great, great, great idols.
It runs the gamut: older men, older women.
Thats my favorite thing about it.
Its wonderful to see that its taken on its own life.
I just want to watch it and be really proud of it.
Theres no way to compare art, its silly.
But the thing is, within this industry, which is a business, awards open doors.
And theyre very connected to how people are compensated.
Awards lead to bonuses, salary increases.
And we know women across the industry and the world are paid so much less for their work.
So Im hesitant to say, Fuck em!
Who gives a shit?
Because actually, the awards do affect opportunities and fairness for women.
In a twisted way, they matter.
How can you recognize a film for Best Picture and not award that director with the same recognition?
And she deserves it.
And so doesAlma Harel, andLulu Wang, andLorene Scafaria.
Its been an astonishing year for female directors.
Critically, womens films did better this year than mens films.
Its gotta mean that theres progress.
You want to say, Ugh, who cares, but then youre like, Dammit, it matters!
This is a movement.
And all of these things contribute to that.
Did you personally feel snubbed at all?No, I never expected any awards recognition.
It was my first movie, so I was just psyched to get it distributed.
I have friends whose first film maybe made it to a festival and they struggled beyond that point.
For your first film, all you want is like, one person to see it.
To fill a theater is like, Hallelujah![Laughs.]
To have it in thousands of theaters?
Awards on top of it isnt anything I ever expected.
But to see Beanie get nominated for that Golden Globe was a really special moment.
She departed so much from herself to play that character, and its so seamless you cant even tell.
In real life shes the warmest, sweetest, most sympathetic woman.
Theyre like my little chickens and all I want is for them to get recognition.
Kaitlyn is nominated for a BAFTA!
But in terms of the movie and myself, I havent felt slighted in the least.
Is there aBooksmartgroup chat that carries on?Yes.
You decided toweigh inon the wholeRichard Jewellcontroversy after it sort of blew up on Twitter.
I find it useful to say, Hang on, actually.
Ill speak for myself.
I felt compelled to share my opinion and remind people that I neither directed nor wrote the movie.
What?[Laughs.]
So in that way, Twitter can be like, Id like the microphone, hey.
But most of the time I use Instagram.
Im a visual thinker.
But sometimes youre like, Excuse me.
Time to speak for myself.
And then youre like, I dont want to look at it again!
Do you read your replies?No!
I think its a really slippery slope.
Has the whole thing changed the way youre looking at roles moving forward?Oh, interesting.
And I bristle at that.
We should play all types of nuanced, complex characters.
But I think when youre playing real people, theres a responsibility towards their legacy.
But unfortunately when youre not writing or directing the film, you have very little control over that.
But yeah, I think it has affected me.
I dont know exactly how yet.
But I did that movie to learn from Clint Eastwood, and Ill take those lessons into directing forever.
