Featured Image Credit: Miikka Skaffari/Getty Images
Topics: Lord of the Rings
Thomas Bamford
Olivia Wilde has addressed the viral moment that had the internet comparing her to one of cinema's most complicated cave-dwellers.
The 42-year-old actress and director appeared at the San Francisco International Film Festival on 24 April, where she was promoting her new film The Invite.
An interview she gave to the San Francisco Chronicle at the event gained traction online after viewers noticed the camera angle wasn't doing her any favors, with commenters drawing comparisons to Gollum from Lord of The Rings.
One viewer wrote: "She looks as if she had found the one ring."
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Another noted the cameraman was doing her a huge disservice.
The clip quickly made its rounds around the internet.
On 2 May, she posted a video to her Instagram story placing her viral interview screenshot side-by-side with an image of the iconic LOTR character, with the caption: "Leave it to your brother to give you the maximum amount of sh*t."
In the clip, her brother Charlie Cockburn can be heard asking: "Olivia Wilde, do you care to address recent murders that you're a resurrected corpse?"
Her response was measured, self-depreciating and just quite funny.
She said: "Listen, that's a fish-eye lens. And I admit, is that my best angle? Was that my best-ever look? No, It's startling, it's a startling image."
She doubled down, saying: "It was a fish-eye lens. I don't know why I was so close to the camera. I didn't have to be. That's not the truth."
Her brother wasn't done, continuing to rib her.
Olivia wrapped it up with a simple clarification, stating "I'm not dead."
The Invite, which Wilde stars in alongside Seth Rogen, Penelope Cruz and Edward Norton, is her third feature as director, following Booksmart (2009) and Don't Worry Darling (2022).
The film, adapted from the 2020 Spanish comedy The People Upstairs, was the opening-night pick at San Francisco qnd recieved a standing ovation at Sundance back in January.
Wilde has spoken openly about how much her approach to directing has evolved since Booksmart.
Where her debut was a coming-of-age comedy she'd spent years developing, The Invite marks a sharper, more commercial pivot - a dinner party thriller with a cast that, on paper, sounds like the set up to a joke: Seth Rogan, Penelope Cruz and Edward Norton walk into an apartment...