Olivia Wilde asks Shia LaBeouf not to quit Don’t Worry Darling in leaked footage
Director seemed to allude to tension between LaBeouf and co-star Florence Pugh in the video
A video message that Olivia Wilde sent Shia LaBeouf asking him not to quit her new film Don’t Worry Darling has been leaked.
The emergence of the video comes hours after LaBeouf denied that he was fired from the film.
Wilde had given an interview earlier this week, saying she fired LaBeouf in 2020 in order to create a “safe, trusting environment” on set, and claimed that his acting process “was not conducive to the ethos” that she demands in her productions.
LaBeouf denied this, saying that he left of his own accord as he “couldn’t find time to rehearse” with the other actors.
The video, which LaBeouf reportedly showed to US publication Variety to back-up his claims, was sent several days after he left Wilde’s movie in August 2020.
In it, Wilde can be heard saying: “I feel like I’m not ready to give up on this yet, and I too am heartbroken and I want to figure this out.”
She seems to allude to tension between LaBeouf and co-star Florence Pugh, adding: “I think this might be a bit of a wake-up call for Miss Flo. If she really commits, if she really puts her mind and heart into it at this point and if you guys can make peace – and I respect your point of view, I respect hers – but if you guys can do it, what do you think? Is there hope?”
The Independent has contacted Wilde and Pugh’s representatives for comment.
In the forthcoming psychological thriller, LaBeouf was originally meant to play Jack, the romantic partner of Pugh’s character Alice, but was ultimately replaced by Harry Styles.
This is just the latest in a series of explosive events that have surrounded the film since production began two years ago.
In April, during a presentation for the film at CinemaCon, a major entertainment industry event, Wilde (who is currently dating Styles) was presented with custody papers from her ex-partner, Jason Sudeikis.
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“In any other workplace, it would be seen as an attack,” Wilde said of the incident. “It was really upsetting. It shouldn’t have been able to happen.”
In addition, unsubstantiated rumours of a feud between Wilde and lead actor Pugh have persisted for months. Neither party have commented on the alleged disagreements, but Wilde has repeatedly praised Pugh’s work on set.
“She was really a great supporter of his as someone who was newer to a film set,” she said of Pugh working with Styles. “And he was such a great supporter of hers, as someone who understood it was her film.”
Elsewhere, Wilde was forced to deny rumours of a pay disparity between Pugh and Styles, with whom she entered into a relationship during the filming process.
It had been rumoured that Styles was “earning three times more” than Pugh. Wilde vehemently denied this, telling Variety in an email that the suggestion “upset” her.
“I’m a woman who has been in this business for over 20 years, and it’s something that I have fought for myself and others, especially being a director,” she wrote in an email to the publication. “There is absolutely no validity to those claims.”
Earlier this month, Pugh spoke out against some reactions to the film’s trailer, in which Jack (Styles) can be seen performing oral sex on her character, Alice.
She declared that she wouldn’t be commenting on the movie’s sex scenes during the press run.
“Obviously, the nature of hiring the most famous pop star in the world, you’re going to have conversations like that,” she told Harper’s Bazaar. “That’s just not what I’m going to be discussing because [this movie is] bigger and better than that. And the people who made it are bigger and better than that.”
Don’t Worry Darling is scheduled to reach UK cinemas on 23 September.