A Talk on the Wilde Side: Olivia Wilde’s Booksmart, Her New Home Behind the Camera, and Her Plans to Save the World

MM: The chemistry between Beanie and [co-star] Kaitlyn [Dever] makes a huge difference. I can’t imagine the movie without that element.

OW: Oh, it would’ve fallen apart. They lived together for about nine weeks. We were actually here at the Chateau when they first met. I think the whole studio was waiting to hear what the chemistry was like. And then we sat outside and they held hands throughout lunch. And I was texting the other producers saying, “They’re holding hands! It’s so perfect.”

MM: Those final scenes when they’re looking at each other at the airport… how did you get that tear from Beanie? How many takes was that?

OW: She’s just an incredible actress. That was an intense experience because the sun was plummeting down behind the horizon, I swear, faster than it ever had. We only had 20 minutes to get that entire scene, so the crew was racing around. I said to Beanie and Kaitlyn beforehand, “OK, I’m really sorry, but this is how it’s gonna be. There’s going to be insanity and chaos around you. Sometimes it happens like this.” They said to me, “Have you ever felt like this?” So I gave them as much of my experience and wisdom as I could. I said, “It sucks, but here’s what you have to do: You have to be totally present and relaxed, and despite the insanity and chaos that’s going to be all around you I need you to sink in so deep that you don’t let anything shake you.” I have so much respect for these actresses who brought that thunder in an instant.

MM: Did you draw on anything from a director telling you something in your past?

OW: Yes, in a collective way. Good directors stay with you and make you feel very safe. That’s what good directors do, they make everybody feel safe. I’ve been thinking a lot about how sets are like construction sites. It’s chaotic, it’s loud, it’s messy. A lot of times performance feels like the 900th priority. And so actors can feel very self-conscious about being emotional, because it seems like everybody around them is thinking, “OK, let’s just get this over with so we can all go to lunch.” But we’re here to tell a story, and the actors are the storytellers. So why do we give it so little time and so little space? 

MM: Five-day weeks?

OW: Yes. We had one six-day, which is so punishing. Everyone should avoid them. But when we were turning around on shots we were rehearsing the next shot. I never sat down, nor did anyone else. And that actually energized everyone. We were under pressure in a way that was motivating. There was adrenaline. 

MM: Were you there first thing in the morning? Did you force yourself to be the “example?”

OW: I didn’t even have to force myself. I was just so excited to be there that I was always the first person. It’s funny, our AD, Scott Robertson, who is one of the best in the business, has standards just as high as mine. We’re similar in that we seem sort of chill but we have really high standards of professionalism. I asked him to set a rule that there should be no sides on the set, because when actors know there are sides around they don’t do the work. They rely on them. So when I said, “Get rid of all the crutches,” he’s like, “Wow, that’s baller.” I said, “We have 26 days and three takes for everything. We need everyone to kick ass at every moment.”

MM: Were there any technical issues where you felt yourself totally reliant on your crew? Crowd scenes are notoriously challenging, for instance. 

OW: I thought ahead about those crowd scenes, knowing that one of the things that had bothered me in films with party scenes is how crowds are shot and how action takes place within crowds. That was actually one of the first conversations I had with our DP Jason McCormick.

MM: Those Steadicam shots are special.

OW: Our operator, Chris Haarhoff, shot Birdman and Casino, so I knew we were in good hands. I wanted to get a sense that the camera was mimicking the movement of Kaitlyn’s Amy character. We had to create a sense of disorientation through a Steadicam, and also production design and locations. 

Actor Kaitlyn Dever (L) and director Olivia Wilde (R) on the set of Booksmart.

MM: Tell me about the lesbian love scene. It’s so heartbreakingly real and, to a point, and you know the point I mean… kinda hot.

OW: It was hot because of what you don’t see.

MM: How did you pull that off?

OW: I knew that I wanted it to be all about suggestion. And I wanted it to feel real. I think that when love scenes are stylized to the point where they don’t feel real, the danger disappears. Then, even if it’s sexy, you lose that visceral sense of excitement. When something feels like an idealized version of what sex is, you lose the sense of reality. So one of the things I knew I wanted even when we were creating the costumes, is I knew I wanted there to be a moment when she takes off her pants before she takes off her shoes. Because I remembered how, once I started being sexually active, I thought… movies have not prepared me for how you’re supposed to take off your clothes! In movies, suddenly everybody’s shoes are off. When did the shoes come off? How come it’s like the suggestion of pants being slightly tugged down and then everything’s perfect and naked? What about that awkwardness when the jeans are stuck on the knees? The shoes are still on, and now they’re inside the jeans, and that’s all ruining it, and then she pulls the jeans off, and she falls and suddenly she’s no longer this self-assured being, she’s a little kid. One thing I thought about when I’ve been in love scenes, is that actors get so nervous that they just kiss the whole time, because we don’t have to think if we’re just like smashing our faces against each other. In real life, there’s so much separation—whether it’s in communication or a separation that allows the tension to be stretched and then brought back together. And the other thing I knew I really wanted was to never show nudity, but to make the audience quite sure of what they thought was happening. So the shot of the underwear coming over her knees was all you needed.

MM: Why did you not want to show nudity?

OW: Because I didn’t think it was necessary. I mean, Diana Silvers, who plays Hope, is a supermodel. In another director’s hands it would’ve been crazy not to show off this girl’s incredible figure, and yet I thought we didn’t need to take advantage of that. You don’t need it. So it was never a question in my mind. I also liked the suggestion that they were in bras without underwear. It’s funny, and maybe it’s something uniquely feminine, the instinct that that is a reality that movies often get wrong. There were all these things that I thought, “Finally! I’m going to do real sex!”