Olivia Wilde returns to the screen and the director’s chair with 'The Invite,' a comedy about secrets, desire and the cracks that emerge when a couple believes they know each other a little too well. The film, in which she stars alongside Penélope Cruz and which is already generating Oscar buzz, marks the return of one of the most controversial figures in recent Hollywood history.
An actress turned director, outspoken feminist and central character in one of the entertainment industry's most talked-about sagas, the 42-year-old filmmaker has gone from being the young doctor on 'House' to embodying the contradictions of an industry that applauds women for breaking the rules, but does not always forgive them for doing so on their own terms.
If there is one thing Wilde has made clear during the promotional tour for 'The Invite,' it is her fascination with Penélope Cruz. The director and actress has even joked that she has not washed her hands since touching those of the Madrid-born star, who plays a free-spirited woman capable of turning her neighbors’ relationship upside down. The couple next door are played by Wilde herself and Seth Rogen.
The two have displayed their easy rapport throughout recent promotional appearances, with Wilde at one point describing her co-star as “the sexiest woman alive.” In one scene, Cruz unexpectedly kisses Wilde. The filmmaker has admitted that she completely lost her composure, her mind went blank and she fell hopelessly in love with her co-star.
Wilde is one of the filmmakers who has openly spoken about the difficulties she encounters when casting her films and trying to find actresses who have not undergone cosmetic procedures.
“As a director, I now am constantly searching for actresses who can still move their faces. And it’s not easy!” she said. “I don’t blame them. I’m a product of the same machine, I’m under the same pressures; I get it.”
“I just pray for technology to allow treatments that just aren’t so aggressive. Like, there’s something so medieval about all these things. Can’t someone come up with something better than Botox?” she continued.
For Wilde, the issue is also personal. In recent years, her own public appearances have been met with cruel remarks about her looks, her age and speculation about possible cosmetic procedures.
In 2026, photos of the actress became fodder for mockery on social media, particularly because of her extreme thinness. Wilde herself responded with humor, acknowledging that in those viral images she really did look “like a little dead sarcophagus man.”
On Jan. 6, 2021, the world woke up to an image that would dominate headlines for months: Olivia Wilde and Harry Styles walking hand in hand. Wilde was directing her second film, 'Don't Worry Darling,' and Styles, the former One Direction member, was one of its stars.
The couple’s 10-year age gap, the singer’s global fame and Wilde’s recent separation turned the relationship into a media phenomenon. The spiral soon became impossible to stop: Shia LaBeouf’s departure from the project, rumors that the film’s lead actress, Florence Pugh, had a strained relationship with Wilde and was unhappy with the displays of affection between the director and Styles during filming, and the supposedly viral incident in which Styles appeared to spit on Chris Pine at the Venice Film Festival.
Wilde has since acknowledged that she perhaps should have pushed back against some of the allegations. At the same time, she has recalled that she was experiencing moments of great happiness in her private life.
“ It was like a tornado was right outside the door, and if you were inside you were like, ‘It’s so nice,’” she said. “And you open the door and be like, ‘Ah,’ like a fucking like cow and a tractor would fly by.”
Wilde grew up in Georgetown, Washington, D.C., in a household where current affairs were effectively a member of the family. Her parents, journalists Andrew and Leslie Cockburn, hosted dinner parties attended by guests as prominent as Mick Jagger, Steven Spielberg and writer Salman Rushdie.
Her mother worked as a war correspondent and went on to become a renowned investigative journalist before taking her career in a different direction. In 2018, at the age of 66, she ran as a Democratic candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives, with her daughter’s public support. She lost to the Republican candidate, but her trajectory left Wilde with a powerful example of political engagement and reinvention.
The role that changed everything for Olivia Wilde, who was born Olivia Cockburn and later adopted the surname Wilde in homage to Oscar Wilde, was that of internist Remy Hadley, better known as Thirteen to both Dr. House and the millions of viewers of the medical drama.
Joining the show's fourth season turned her into an international star and one of Hollywood’s most sought-after actresses. After starring in big-budget films such as 'Tron: Legacy' and 'Cowboys & Aliens,' both of which met with limited critical and commercial success, Wilde later said she felt exploited and objectified by the film industry.
“I had become numb to the fact that every meeting I went on — with men and women, by the way — I was going to be judged on my physical appearance,” she said.
Wilde’s feminist commitment predates the controversies that would later put her at the center of the headlines. In 2017, when the #MeToo movement brought the industry’s abuses of power into the spotlight, she joined the growing chorus of voices calling for change. She also became one of the public faces of Time’s Up, the initiative launched by women in Hollywood to combat sexual harassment and promote safer workplaces, and spoke at the 2018 Women’s March in Los Angeles.
“This business belongs to all of us,” she said that year, advocating for an industry in which her peers could work without fear and without having to compete for opportunities that had historically been denied to them.
Wilde’s debut as a feature-film director came in 2019 with a low-budget comedy that quickly achieved cult status among a generation of moviegoers: 'Booksmart.' The film, which follows two high school students on one final night of partying before graduation, was a hit with both critics and audiences.
Wilde had long wanted to stop being just another cog in the industry and take a more active role in the creative process.
“I always assumed acting was the way in, because for many young women … they’re told, ‘You love movies — you should be a movie star,’" she told 'Variety.' "No one tells a little girl, ‘Why don’t you become a director?’ It’s just not a part of the conversation. But if a little boy says he loves movies, it’s like, ‘Maybe one day you’ll direct. Maybe you’ll be the next Steven Spielberg or Martin Scorsese.’”
“Romantic and insane.” That is how Olivia Wilde describes her first great love story, which began in 2003 when she was just 19 years old.
At Burning Man, the unconventional arts and music festival held in Nevada’s desert, the young Wilde said “I do” to her boyfriend of only a few months, filmmaker Tao Ruspoli, the son of an Italian prince. By her own account, it took only seconds for her to realize that the ceremony might have been a little too impulsive.
“Immediately, I was like, 'Wait, what the fuck did I just do?'” she remembers thinking.
The marriage ended in divorce in 2011, although the two have remained on good terms.
The same year she finalized her first divorce, in 2011, Wilde met the man who would become the father of her two children: actor Jason Sudeikis (from 'Ted Lasso'). The two met at a 'Saturday Night Live' party, where Sudeikis was working at the time, and went on to build a family with their children, Otis and Daisy.
In November 2020, after several years together and a long engagement, they ended their relationship, setting off a custody dispute that would later make international headlines. In April 2022, during a film industry convention in Las Vegas, Wilde was interrupted onstage when a person approached to hand her legal documents related to the custody case.
Although Sudeikis maintained that he had no knowledge of how or when the papers would be served, Wilde described the incident as “incredibly traumatizing.”
In her day-to-day life, Wilde is often spotted on the streets of New York wearing far simpler outfits, the kind that are easy for ordinary women to take inspiration from. The look pictured here is a perfect example: a blazer, a basic T-shirt, an oversized bag, trousers and sneakers.
It is the sort of outfit anyone might wear to the office or while running errands.
On the red carpet, Wilde has also earned international attention for her distinctive sense of style. Her looks strike a balance between understated elegance, as seen in this high-necked black Saint Laurent gown with structured shoulders, and a more daring sensibility, whether through sheer fabrics or outfits that showcase her sculpted midriff.
Tailored suits are another staple of her wardrobe, further proving her flair for sharp suiting. The architect behind a style that has grown increasingly sophisticated and eye-catching over the years is Karla Welch, who also styles Tracee Ellis Ross and Sarah Paulson.
The actress is also a favorite of fashion houses with markedly different aesthetics, including Chloé (pictured here in one of the brand’s designs), Saint Laurent, Michael Kors, Louis Vuitton and Valentino.
Her regular appearances at international fashion weeks, particularly in Paris and New York, have made her one of the celebrity names every brand wants seated in its front row.
Earlier this October, Wilde answered the call of fashion’s designer and label of the moment, stepping out in an updated tweed suit by Matthieu Blazy for Chanel. Elegant yet contemporary, the look demonstrated how her trademark bohemian, '70s-inflected style can also take a decidedly classic turn.
It seems that for Wilde, neither in fashion nor in life, much is beyond reach.
Success may have taken its time, but Monica Barbaro has firmly established herself as one of Hollywood’s most promising talents. After years of searching for her breakthrough, the 36-year-old Californian first drew widespread attention as a fighter pilot in 'Top Gun: Maverick' before winning over the industry with her portrayal of Joan Baez in 'A Complete Unknown,' a performance that earned her an Academy Award nomination. Now, with high-profile projects on the horizon such as the much-anticipated 'Artificial,' a romance with fellow actor Andrew Garfield, and a personal style that balances sophistication with effortless ease, Barbaro has become one of the names worth watching, both on and off the screen.
Acting was not part of Monica Barbaro’s earliest ambitions. Her mother, a professional dancer, enrolled all three of her children in ballet classes. Although she discovered through small school theater productions that acting was her true passion, her family’s encouragement led her to focus exclusively on ballet. She enrolled in the dance program at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, one of the most prestigious performing arts schools in the United States, and initially approached acting only through elective courses.
Today, with the dream she first nurtured as a teenager finally fulfilled, Monica Barbaro is grateful for what dance brought to her craft as an actress. “Dance gave me a completely different way into character. People reveal themselves through their body language,” she said. In the photograph, taken in 2018, the actress wears a floral dress by Brock Collection.
Monica Barbaro logged more than 40 hours of flight time to portray a military pilot in 'Top Gun: Maverick,' her first major role in a big-budget Hollywood production. During filming, she even shot some scenes aboard a two-seat F/A-18, enduring forces of up to eight Gs, and went so far as to earn her pilot’s license. All in pursuit of meeting the exacting standards set by Tom Cruise, who, she says, has become one of her most important mentors in Hollywood. "He'll see a person, see their potential and just bring out the best in them," she said of Cruise.
The role that definitively established Monica Barbaro as one of Hollywood’s most exciting breakthrough talents was her portrayal of Joan Baez in 'A Complete Unknown,' the Bob Dylan biopic starring Timothée Chalamet. Barbaro sings and plays guitar herself in the film, despite not knowing a single chord when she landed the part. After months of intensive preparation, her portrayal of Baez emerged as one of the film’s standout performances, earning her first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Chalamet later explained that the filmmakers were looking for an actress with gravity and quiet power, someone capable of holding her own opposite his Dylan and even intimidating him slightly. Although the Oscar ultimately went to Zoe Saldaña for 'Emilia Pérez,' the nomination confirmed that Barbaro had moved beyond the status of rising star to become one of the defining talents of a new generation of actors.
Parallel to her professional breakthrough, which unfolded amid the awards ceremonies and industry parties surrounding the Oscars, the California-born actress embarked on her first high-profile public relationship. In January 2025, entertainment media began reporting rumors of a romance with actor Andrew Garfield, best known for films such as 'The Social Network.' Those rumors have gradually been borne out by the couple’s repeated public appearances together. Although both have been notably protective of their privacy, Garfield has spoken warmly about Barbaro, calling her a “supremely talented” actress. “I think she is truly incredible,” he said. “I could wax lyrical more, but I'll leave it there.”
In July 2025, the couple made their first official public appearance together at the Wimbledon Championships in London. They embraced the tournament’s traditional aesthetic with coordinated all-white looks, and Barbaro opted for an outfit by Ralph Lauren.
Fate would have it that their romance also blossomed on a film set, as both are part of the cast of 'Artificial,' the highly anticipated new film from Luca Guadagnino, the director of 'Call Me by Your Name.' Widely seen as a potential awards-season contender, the film is based on the story of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, and the turbulent days surrounding the brief dismissal and subsequent reinstatement of its controversial chief executive, Sam Altman, who is played by Andrew Garfield. Monica Barbaro, meanwhile, portrays Mira Murati, the company’s former chief technology officer and one of the most influential figures in the artificial intelligence industry, widely regarded as a pioneering leader in the field.
“[Andrew Garfield] is one of the best actors of his generation, our generation,” the actress has said of her co-star. “I just learned a lot from his approach to the material and to developing character, and I felt very fortunate to get to witness that in real time.” Barbaro has also said that working alongside him pushed her to raise her own game. She said she thought: “Oh shit, I really have to step up my game and make sure I'm a proper, legitimate scene partner.”
For years, Monica Barbaro struggled to find her place in an industry that seemed unsure how to categorize her. The daughter of an Italian American father and a mother of Mexican, English and German descent, she has spoken about being repeatedly encouraged to lean into her Latina heritage in ways that felt inauthentic to her. At the same time, she feared the opposite risk: “neutralizing of myself to not offend anybody.” As a child, she endured racist taunts; as an actress, she sometimes lost out on roles because she was deemed not “ethnic enough.” Rather than choosing between labels, Barbaro has embraced the space in between. "I don't belong in either" — as in either side of her parentage — "but I do belong in this mixed territory."
The actress describes herself as “a romantic and a workaholic.” “I’ve never given my life over to it, which, as a woman, I’m quite proud of. But there’s also the other side of that coin, which is: You can get to a point in your life where you wake up and you look around and you’re sort of like, Oh, have I been self-protecting by [adopting] so much autonomy and independence? I’m definitely shifting some of that perspective now,” she told 'InStyle.'
After graduating from university, with neither steady work nor savings to fall back on, Monica Barbaro moved back across the country to her hometown of San Francisco. There, she spent nearly a decade juggling minor television roles and commercial work, far from the sudden, youthful breakthroughs enjoyed by some rising stars. She had to wait until 2022, when Tom Cruise came calling and changed the course of her career. That same year, her rising profile earned her an invitation to Vanity Fair’s Oscars after-party, where she attended wearing a design by Elie Saab.
Monica Barbaro has spoken openly about why she is uncomfortable using her appearance as a selling point on screen or showing more skin than a story genuinely requires. “One of the very first things I did was a project that I lost the job because I wouldn’t be topless in it,” she told the U.S. edition of InStyle. At the time, she was a background performer with a small, non-speaking role and could not see any narrative reason for the nudity. In the end, she was rehired on her own terms, with her shirt buttoned up. “I’ve not gotten naked in anything I’ve done because I haven’t worked on something where that would be a necessity to the story,” she added.
Her style evolution over the past few years has been striking. Her fashion résumé now includes a series of looks that feel both contemporary and effortless, among them the oversized white suit she paired with a Jacquemus handbag when she was photographed strolling through New York last winter.
Last year, Monica Barbaro attended the Met Gala for the first time, further cementing her rising status within the industry. For the occasion, the actress once again turned to Dior, embracing the glamour of the 1950s and the New Look silhouette with the maison’s iconic Bar jacket, leather gloves and a boater hat. She seemed to belong to another era, while proving herself perfectly in tune with the event’s dress code.
Although she says her everyday uniform tends to be simple and classic, built around Levi’s jeans, loafers and T-shirts, Monica Barbaro knows how to command the attention of the fashion press when promotional duties call. One of her most recent and most daring looks was this ensemble by designer Sandy Liang, which she wore in New York while promoting 'One Night Only.'
“I love to play dress up. I take red carpets as an opportunity to play, in whatever way feels fitting for the project I'm promoting,” she told the U.S. edition of 'Vogue.' In the image, Monica Barbaro wears a striking white gown from Jonathan Anderson’s new era at Dior.
Precisamente en el rodaje de la cinta fue fotografiada luciendo un atrevido minivestido de lentejuelas color esmeralda de Alex Perry con muchas papeletas para convertirse en uno de los más icónicos de su trabajo en pantalla.
The actress has developed a close relationship with Dior, one of her preferred labels for red carpets and high-profile events. Naturally, she is also a regular guest at the fashion house’s runway shows. For the brand’s Autumn/Winter 2024-25 presentation, she chose this striking white dress, a look that neatly encapsulates her style duality: sensual and romantic in equal measure.
American audiences will be able to watch an English-dubbed version of “Ramayana,” a Hindi film based on a South Asian epic tradition, in theaters in November 2026. The Sanskrit “Ramayana,” or “Journey of Rama,” is an epic poem that was composed sometime between 400 BCE and 400 CE. The epic follows Rama, an exiled prince […]
“This is a very disturb¬ ing movie, made by some pretty disturbed people.” That was how Chris Carlo, owner of one of the first theaters to screen Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer in 1990, described John McNaughton’s feature debut. Made four years earlier, the film had become a cult classic before it ever reached a movie theater. Carlo programmed it for midnight screenings where audience members often walked out, unable to endure its violence.
Although they lost almost all their savings in Bernie Madoff’s multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme, the marriage of Kevin Bacon, 68, and Kyra Sedgwick, 61, who have been together for 38 years, survived with their New York apartment and their farm in Connecticut intact. It was there that the pandemic lockdown found them, and there that they hatched a film together, with the help of their two children, who came from the West Coast: Travis, a composer drafted into acting by the demands of the script, and Sosie, who has already established herself as a film and television actress.
Fifty years later, Carrie White is returning to American high schools. Prime Video’s new series revisits the bullied teenager who became one of horror’s defining figures, first in Stephen King’s novel and later in Brian De Palma’s 1976 adaptation. But there is one image that remains impossible to escape: Sissy Spacek, drenched in blood, staring directly into the camera after unleashing her telekinetic powers. For several generations, the role has been synonymous with Spacek. Now, as a new actress takes on Carrie, we look back at what became of the 76-year-old performer who brought to life some of the most memorable characters of 1970s and 1980s cinema.
Spacek was 26 when Brian De Palma cast her as a high school student in 'Carrie.' The film changed her career forever, earned her first Oscar nomination and secured her a place in the cultural imagination that remains remarkably intact 50 years after its release. The actress says that teenagers still approach her today to show off tattoos of the outcast heroine. Incidentally, unlike Carrie, Spacek was her high school’s prom queen.
Born Mary Elizabeth in a small rural town in Texas, Spacek acquired the nickname “Sissy” from her two older brothers, a name by which she would eventually become known around the world. Following the death of one of them, she left home one summer for New York with an actor cousin in an attempt to escape the family tragedy. She abandoned plans to attend college and, under the stage name Rainbo, tried to make it as a folk singer in late-1960s Manhattan. It didn’t work out. Her record label dropped her, and Spacek decided to enroll in acting school instead.
Terrence Malick’s cult classic 'Badlands' marked Spacek’s first leading role in a feature film and became her breakthrough. She played a teenage girl who runs away with a rebellious young man she has just met, played by Martin Sheen, and becomes a fugitive after her father rejects the relationship. The film won the Golden Shell at the San Sebastián International Film Festival, and Spacek, who had been studying acting for only a matter of months, emerged as an unlikely Hollywood star: an anti-diva whose red hair, freckles, diminutive stature and youthful appearance set her apart from the era’s conventional screen icons.
The film also changed her life in another way: it was on the set that she met the love of her life, production designer Jack Fisk. After first crossing paths in 1972, the two married a couple of years later and have now been together for half a century, making them one of Hollywood’s longest-lasting couples. They have two daughters, Schuyler and Madison, and both remain active in the industry. Fisk's recent production design credits include 'Marty Supreme,' 'The Revenant' and 'Killers of the Flower Moon.'
Spacek became one of the defining stars of the New Hollywood era, a movement heavily influenced by the French New Wave and Italian neorealism. Beginning in 1977, the Texas-born actress received five Oscar nominations in less than a decade. Among her most memorable performances from that era are 'Missing,' directed by Costa-Gavras; 'The River,' opposite Mel Gibson; and 'Crimes of the Heart,' alongside Jessica Lange and Diane Keaton.
Spacek won her first and only Oscar in 1981 for 'Coal Miner’s Daughter,' the biopic of country singer Loretta Lynn. Lynn had risen from humble beginnings in rural Kentucky, marrying at 13 and becoming a mother of four before the age of 20. In a twist of fate, when Spacek was trying to launch a music career years earlier, a record label turned her down because her voice sounded too much like that of another artist on its roster: Loretta Lynn. That very similarity would later help earn her an Academy Award. Spacek performed all of the songs in the film herself and even received a Grammy nomination for her work.
The greatest tragedy of Spacek’s life came when she was just 17. Her brother Robert, only a few months older than she was, died of leukemia. Spacek was just beginning to work at the time and, despite the devastation, managed to turn that trauma into a source of strength throughout her career.
Spacek and Fisk married in Santa Monica in a ceremony so private that their dog was their only witness, and so informal that both wore jeans. The actress credits the longevity of their relationship to the constant collaboration between them.
At the height of their fame, Spacek and Fisk left Hollywood behind and moved to a farm in rural Virginia, determined to raise their daughters away from red carpets and the glare of the spotlight. There, they raised horses and grew their own vegetables, while Spacek returned to acting only for roles that truly resonated with her. In 2001, she earned a sixth Oscar nomination for her performance in 'In the Bedroom.'
Their daughters have followed their parents into the film industry as well. Schuyler Fisk became an actress and, while she never came close to matching her mother’s level of fame, she has enjoyed a steady career in American television and film. Madison, meanwhile, learned the ropes from her father and has worked in the art department on a number of feature films, following in his footsteps as a production designer.
One of the best-known stories from 1970s Hollywood is how Spacek landed the role of Carrie. As close friends, George Lucas and Brian De Palma held joint auditions for their next projects, 'Star Wars' and 'Carrie,' respectively. Spacek auditioned for Lucas’s film, while Carrie Fisher also took part in casting sessions connected to the horror movie. In the end, the roles found their way to the actresses who would make them iconic: Fisher as Princess Leia and Spacek as Carrie White.
Spacek’s performance left such a deep mark on popular culture that screenwriter and producer Mike Flanagan, who is once again adapting 'Carrie' for Prime Video, has said it was the biggest hurdle in casting the role anew. According to Flanagan, most of the 1,400 actresses who auditioned for the series arrived trying to imitate Spacek’s iconic performance. The part ultimately went to Summer H. Howell, whose reinterpretation of Carrie has drawn widespread praise from critics.
Although she was never associated with method acting in the way her contemporary Robert De Niro was, Spacek’s approach to her craft also relied on total immersion in her characters. For '’night, Mother,' in which she played a daughter struggling with suicidal thoughts, she would spend weeks inhabiting a deeply depressed emotional state until filming wrapped. It was none other than Jack Lemmon who warned her that if she remained so committed to despair, she might end up being consumed by it herself.
Jennifer Lawrence, Jessica Chastain and Emma Stone — whom Spacek once advised never to hide her freckles on screen again — are among the younger generation of stars who have publicly expressed their admiration for the 76-year-old actress. Stone, who also worked with Spacek on 'The Help,' has reunited with the veteran actress for 'The Catch,' the new film directed by Stone’s husband, Dave McCary.
At 76, Spacek appears to have settled on a definition of happiness far less ambitious than the one Hollywood usually sells. In a 2022 interview with 'Esquire,' when asked how she managed to remain so upbeat, she said happiness is overrated and that we need to be content and simply be.
When motherhood came calling, Spacek had little doubt about what should take priority. She even turned down the role that would eventually go to Debra Winger in 'Terms of Endearment' because she did not want to be separated from her daughter Schuyler, who was only a few months old.
Tom Cruise's new climate film Digger is turning into the "biggest flop of his career" and could lose $150m in a "historic disaster", leading Warner Bros to try a bold new marketing strategy: implying Americans are dumb.
Kevin Dupzyk’s profile of Sam Rockwell, a “legendary scene-stealer” now in his fourth decade of work, is a crisp and entertaining one-act, with journalist and actor holed up in a spare Manhattan greenroom. Dupzyk studies Rockwell while Rockwell studies the room, testing the durability of his own idiosyncratic observations—about Red Bull and loss and rain—to see what they might yield in a conversation with a stranger. Dupzyk had wanted to “gin up some action for this story,” but it’s strangely compelling to watch Rockwell’s gaze prowl the room, to see what lodges in the filter of his creative process.
Rockwell is a good tennis player. And like any good athlete, he trains. For as much as he appears to get by on natural charm and charisma, he is an actor’s actor, a true believer, in his words, an “acting nerd.” Research. Running lines. Exerci—
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