Preview - Olivia Wilde - Allure Magazine October 2011
Dating, divorce, weight:
Olivia Wilde isn't afraid to chat about the rumors. Check out these exclusive behind-the-scenes photos from her cover shoot with Carter Smith in Malibu. For more of our interview with the actress, pick up the October issue of Allure, on newsstands September 20.
Olivia Wilde says that some tabloid stories about her personal life are outrageous. Since filing for divorce from Tao Ruspoli, a film director who is an Italian prince, last March, she has been linked with Justin Timberlake, Ryan Gosling, Chris Pine, and even prizewinning author Salman Rushdie. "Isn't that hilarious? I mean, in order to be dating all the people they think I am, I'd need four vaginas!" the actress says. "It's impossible!" Here, Wilde poses in a silk dress by BCBG Max Azria.
Wilde, who eloped when she was 18, makes no attempt to sidestep the subject of her divorce, calling it "the most difficult thing I've ever dealt with." However, she doesn't seem to have regrets. "I got married at a very young age, so I sort of jumped into a stage of adulthood prematurely," she says. "I learned quite a lot."
The Allure shoot was on the grounds of a Malibu house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright's grandson. Hairstylist Ken O'Rourke made Wilde a wreath out of flowers from its surrounding fields. At the end of the day, Wilde kept her makeup on and headed to a screen test, saying she'd wear the wreath out afterward.
In October, Wilde stars as the mother of Justin Timberlake's character in In Time, a film in which people stop aging at 25. The actress welcomed the chance to play the role because it was a challenge. "We were rehearsing, and I remember the director saying, 'No, stop! It looks like you're going to make out.' 'Nope—that looks like you're going to make out, too.' We were like, 'Oh, God,'" she says. "I had to find a way to think of him as my son." In the end, Wilde tried to defuse any sexual tension by picturing Timberlake as a toddler. "He's got these incredible blue eyes, so I imagined him as a little baby Justin. And he was able to transfer a lot of his feelings about his mom onto me," she says. "We're both total acting nerds."
"I wanted her hair to look ethereal," said O'Rourke. He massaged mousse into Wilde's hair, then blow-dried it to add volume. He curled random pieces, pulling the curls apart with his fingers to make them look "free and more romantic." He finished with shine spray.
Makeup artist Makky P. wanted to create a look that was "beautiful and well-blended." To do this, he pressed a shimmery pale pink shadow on Wilde's lids and slightly up over the crease. He then brushed a peachy bronze highlighter down the bridge of the actress's nose and along her chin and added a matte pink blush to her cheeks. To keep the overall look natural, Makky topped a sheer pink lipstick with a light layer of clear balm. Here, the actress poses in a cashmere turtleneck by Tse.
To this day, Wilde credits a particular casting agent she worked for with giving her some of the best advice of her career, after Wilde showed up to the office wearing a turtleneck the same day she had an audition elsewhere. "She was like, 'A, people don't wear turtlenecks here. B, why are you not showing any skin?' And I said, 'I'm not going to sell my body to get a role; it's about the acting.'" Wilde laughs at her own naïveté. "She was this very powerful, wise 60-year-old woman, but at the same time aware of how this business works. And she's like, 'Sex sells. Go put on a tank top.'"
Early on in her career, Wilde admits that she briefly lost her way. "I went through this kind of A Star is Born transformation, where they made my hair very blonde, and I got very skinny, and I was like, 'And now, I fit the mold!'" she says. "If I could tell young actresses anything, it would be to just be yourself through and through. I mean, really be hard-core about sticking to your identity, because what makes you unusual is what's going to assure your success." Here, Allure's creative director, Paul Cavaco, makes last-minute adjustments as Wilde poses in a dress by BCBG Max Azria.
"I gained a lot of weight after my divorce, and there was this sense of, wait, hold on, you don't look like you did before. Are you going to be up for the same roles? Do you need to be put in some sort of weird labor camp to lose all your weight?" Wilde says, half-laughing.
Wilde admits that being single can be unsettling: "I find that commitment is very relaxing, and the process of searching for a partner in life inevitably keeps you at this level of insecurity," she says. "You're like this heat-seeking missile, just trying to figure out where to plug in." Here, Makky P. touches up Wilde's eye makeup.
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