Olivia Wilde has addressed the viral moment that left fans both concerned and, in some corners of the internet, unkind, after a red carpet clip sparked comparisons to Gollum.
The 42-year-old filmmaker found herself at the centre of online debate following her appearance at the San Francisco International Film Festival, where a close-up video, viewed more than 10 million times, showed her looking unusually wide-eyed and gaunt, prompting a wave of speculation and commentary.
Rather than ignore the noise, Wilde chose to respond in her signature self-aware style, taking to Instagram Stories to poke fun at the moment and set the record straight. Sharing a light-hearted clip filmed by her younger brother Charlie Cockburn, she addressed the viral reaction head-on. As he joked, 'Olivia Wilde, do you care to address recent rumors that you’re a resurrected corpse?' she couldn’t help but laugh.
'I don’t know why I was so close to the camera; I didn’t have to be,' she said, wrapping herself in a blanket and grinning at the absurdity of it all. 'Do you have any more questions?' Before signing off, she delivered the ultimate deadpan response: 'I’m not dead.' Alongside the video, she added: 'Leave it to your little brother to give you the maximum amount of s***,' leaning into the humour of the situation rather than the criticism.
The actress also pointed to the distorting effect of a fisheye lens as the likely culprit behind the unflattering footage, a reminder of how quickly a single angle can take on a life of its own in the social media age. At the event, she appeared effortlessly chic in a crisp white T-shirt paired with a flowing black satin skirt featuring an asymmetric hem and subtle train. Her hair was pulled back neatly with a bow, completing a look that felt understated, elegant and entirely her.
She was attending the festival to promote her latest project, The Invite, a dark comedy she both directed and stars in alongside Seth Rogen, Penélope Cruz and Edward Norton. Produced by A24, the film follows a dinner party that spirals wildly out of control and is already generating buzz ahead of its June 26 release.
