(audience cheering) - [Kelly] Looking stunning!
- Thank you, you too! - Looking very rock and roll.
- I love this, that is so cool.
- Thank you! Okay, I love this too,
but this is my favorite. - [Olivia] Wow!
- I got it from Josh Brolin, it was from The Goonies!
- No, what? Casual.
- [Kelly] It's from The Goonies!
- Oh my gosh, cool!
- I told him, I was like,
I'm gonna make it a necklace,
and I think he probably thinks I'm a stage five clinger now
but I just loved The Goonies as a kid.
Anyway, welcome back to LA! - Thank you, thank you.
(audience applauds) I love being here.
- You spend your time between here and London, right?
- Yes, been going back and forth and it's good.
- How is that with kids?
- You know what? They're great, they have each other.
I have a eight-year-old and an almost six-year-old,
which I know is - Oh, it's similar!
- Similar to you. - Yeah, exactly.
- And they're best friends and so
- Mine are too. - They have been bouncing
around the world together their whole lives
and they're rolling with it.
- What's important about that,
and I don't know if you say this,
is I always tell them like,
Look, you're each other's buddy,
you're each others' constant.
You might be with daddy or you might be with mommy,
but you're always gonna be together.
So look out for each other.
- I'm so grateful they have each other like that.
- Yeah and my kids have been traveling
since they were young too, and I think it's helpful.
They love it. - Oh, yeah!
- They don't think anything of it.
- Yeah, it's cool!
I think it makes them really adaptable
and they meet friends really easily now
and I think it's been good for them.
- I think so too. Yeah, it makes them very adaptable.
- Yeah, thank God. - We're both single parents.
It can be taxing I feel like, but what is your take on it,
as far as single parenting? I'm interested.
- You know, it's tough.
I think reshaping a family is tricky
and the one benefit is, it's allowed for
some really deep conversations with my kids,
like about emotions and about happiness
and about what family means and love.
It's actually allowed me to get to know them
in a different way and my priority is them.
- Amen, yeah. - That's what it is.
As long as they're happy and they're healthy then...
My ex and I, we agree on that,
they are everything to us.
I think that there's so many families who are
blended in different shapes.
- Oh my god, I'm from one!
And I have one right now, it's hard.
- [Olivia] It's hard but I just-
- It's doable. - It's doable.
If you can surround them with so much love,
then it's okay, but it's tricky
cause we're not doing it in private.
- That's what I was gonna lead to, I know.
My thing is, it's hard enough in general,
and I've been through divorce
with my family as a kid, a couple times.
It's hard enough, but then you do it in the public
and it's like, Okay, so everyone thinks they know
the entire story. That's super fun.
(both chuckle)
Cause you're trying to guard,
so you can't talk about it too much,
especially with children.
Any time you have any kind of separation with children,
it's so hard because you're trying to help their heart.
That was the hardest part for me.
It's already devastating
when you split from someone you love, right,
and your family kind of does this different thing.
That's already devastating enough,
but under a microscope of everyone's advice
and scrutiny and shame, that's super fun.
- Yes, and shame.
- You really wanna help control
the narrative for your kids, right?
You do a good job saying,
Look, mommy and daddy love you.
You are safe and everything is gonna be okay.
Family is family.
But when the world is forming their own narrative
and when you can't control it
and your very private, personal, complex breakup
is reduced to tabloid fodder and headlines...
When I realized I just had to stop trying to correct
incorrect narratives, I just had to realize...
- Oh, you're yelling into the wind.
- Just let it be and focus on them.
In a way, it's like they've helped me get through it
because I just return to them
and if they're okay, then I can be strong for them.
(audience cheering)
- We're back with Olivia Wilde, y'all!
Her new film is called Don't Worry Darling.
It opens this Friday and it's a great movie
to see in the theater with a group of friends, just sayin'.
You gotta check it out.
For those who don't know about the film,
could you explain the premise?
- It's about a woman who may or may not be losing her mind
and she's starting to question her reality and she lives
in this absolute paradise of 1950s Palm Springs.
Everything is beautiful,
everyone's happy, everyone's having martinis
and everyone's just partying all the time.
She's deeply in love with her husband,
but she starts to feel like either she's going crazy
or something is very wrong with this world. Oh.
- I literally was watching it by myself,
obviously my kids weren't watching with me,
and I was like, What? Every few minutes.
- It's like a good juicy thriller.
I love reading juicy thrillers
and it is that kind of satisfying, twisty turny...
I had such a great team on it.
I had an amazing cinematographer, so it looks incredible.
The music, the production design.
We recreated these 1950s- - The costumes, the makeup.
- It's a kind of delicious movie to take in.
The performances, cause I had this amazing cast,
the performances are all great.
- Florence? - I know, Florence Pugh.
- You were almost gonna play that role though, right?
- I was gonna play the role like early, early on
and then I saw Midsommar with Florence.
Then I met her and I was like,
that's it, lights out, she's our lead.
She's outstanding. I mean, she's unbelievable.
We're so lucky to have her as a lead.
She's the heart of the film,
she's also like an action hero,
as you could see in the end of the movie.
She's incredible.
- Well I've seen her in another movie, Black Widow.
She yeah, she can do action.
But also, one of the cast is Harry Styles.
- Yes, he's great.
- So Harry is, he's this huge entertainer.
(audience cheers) (Olivia claps)
Tell me what that's like,
cause having such a huge entertainer that people know
from a different form of entertainment.
What was that like directing someone like that?
- I think musicians are always good.
I think there's something about music
where you guys have to commit-
- Have you seen From Justin to Kelly?
(both laughing) This is not true.
- The thing about musicians is like, you guys commit.
- [Kelly] We do. - You can't not commit.
I used to direct music videos
and I used to be amazed that musicians,
every single take, they'd go for it, you go for it!
It's like you can't not,
and I think that's why directing musicians and dancers, too
and athletes, like they go for it,
and Harry was no different.
It was so professional and so committed
and such a joy and the whole cast.
I had like the coolest ensemble.
Chris Pine, who's so good in it.
- God, Cr...Whatever, I'm not gonna say anything
what I was gonna say. I don't wanna ruin anything.
Wow, just crazy.
I was like, Okay! - [Olivia] He's so good.
- Everyone is so good!
- And we were going through it-
- It's nice when chemistry just happens like that.
Like it happens, you know?
- It was like in the middle of the pandemic-
- That's fun to work in. - And we were all in a bubble
and never saw anyone's mouth,
and it was really amazing because everyone just bonded.
We knew we wanted it, we were so lucky
to be making art in the midst of what was
a difficult time for everybody.
We had each other's backs and we pulled it off.
Now we finally get to...
This is like three years of my life making this movie
and now it's like, Here world!
- [Kelly] That's what's so weird about it.
It takes so long to finally long come to fruition.
- It takes so long and we really wanted to get it right.
- Job well done. - Thank you.
- You got it right, it was just so good.
- We're lucky, we get to come out in theaters
and so many movies don't, and now it's a director's dream.
But I'm aware when audiences go out
and they're gonna spend money on a ticket
and they're gonna get a babysitter
and they're gonna go to the theater,
I want it to be an experience.
I want it to be a ride.
I want them to feel like they had a fun time.
- I would've enjoyed that.
I was in my house alone, but I would've enjoyed hearing...
Cause you get the gasps, right?
You get the like, Oh! From the whole audience.
That energy is really cool.
- That's the best, I love it.
- It's so good. - I'm really excited
people will get to go and have that experience together.
We're lucky to be able to go together to theaters again.
This one is a real movie movie
that makes you feel that satisfaction
of the communal theatrical experience.
- But by the end of the film, you're like,
Oh my God, I ate the entire vessel of popcorn.
- Yeah, it's a real anxiety popcorn-
- Cause you're just like, Oh my God, oh my God.
I wasn't gonna eat pizza last night and I ordered it.
I ordered it during the film.
I was like, Oh I need something.
I was like, I need something delicious in my mouth.
- It's a stress-eater movie for sure.
- It's stressful but it's great.
(audience applauding)
A lot has been said recently,
and we don't need to rehash it,
I wouldn't like to, cause I get it,
but how do you keep your composure
when so much of your private life is made public?
It's hard to smile.
- It's hard sometimes, and you know,
but at the end of the day, I'm so lucky.
I'm so lucky and there's people dealing with
so many really hard things.
The people of Jackson, Mississippi don't have water.
There's people everywhere dealing with real health crises
and my stuff is out there, but I'm alive
and my kids are alive and that's what gets me through.
I remind myself of that every single day.
- You have to so you don't get resentful.
- Exactly, and like I said,
once you stop trying to control the narrative...
I'm not on the Internet, I'm not on Instagram.
- I don't advise it. (Olivia laughs)
I literally tell, especially all the young people
that come in, as a young musician and all that,
I'm like, I get that it's for work, but don't live on it.
- [Olivia] It's a losing battle.
- It's no good for anyone.
You're either gonna drink your own Kool-Aid
and think you're amazing,
or you're gonna wanna crawl in a hole and die.
- (laughs) It's a lose-lose!
- Neither option is super great for anyone.
- Exactly, so I think that really helps.
Focusing on what's real, your trusted circle of friends,
what's real, things that make you happy,
people you love, people who love you.
Just keeping your mind in what's real,
I think that's how I get through it.
Also watching people, my colleagues, get through it.
I think you're a real great example of that.
Like, you come out here and you smile and you laugh
and you give joy and that's inspiring to me,
and I'm sure a lot of other people
who are going through hard things.
So that's why this is important.
I think, God, it could be a lot worse
and we're alive and everything's gonna be okay.
- It's so funny, I told you backstage,
it has not been fun but it is important, though.
I think that doing this show
and highlighting those people that you said,
there are real crises going on,
there are also really amazing things going on.
It's nice, it's like, look, the world is not about me,
let's focus on something else, it helps you.
It helps you get through. - It's the most healing thing.
- Also, you mentioned friends.
I have no idea how people go through separations
or any kind of trauma without a circle of trust.
Those friends, I would not have made it.
I wouldn't have made it. (audience applauds)
- No, I wouldn't, I would not be here.
- You need that support, so I'm glad that you had that.
That's very, very important.
Are you ever tempted to respond?
At one point, someone said something about me,
well, many points, but at one point
I was just like, You just got voted off the island.
Just to be funny, I was just like, Whatever.
Are you ever tempted?
I hate when I do it, but sometimes I'm like... (groans)
- So tempting! It's so tempting!
And then I think like, Michelle Obama,
they go low, we go high, they go low, we go high.
I try, but it's hard.
And I think, what am I modeling for my kids?
How do I want my daughter in high school
to deal with bullies?
I want her to just keep her eye on the prize
and keep going and ignore the noise.
That's what stops me from getting involved.
It's just a losing battle, once you get sucked into it,
it eats you up. - [Kelly] It's perpetual.
- But yeah, of course it's tempting,
and then that's why you have your friends
and your pillow to scream into and everything else.
- I do this, I send what I really wanna say
- [Olivia] To a friend? - To a friend.
- That's genius! Can I just send it to you?
- Yes, I'm like, God I wish I could post this!
I'm like, This would be amazing, it would feel so good!
You know when people are like, Will it make you feel good?
I'm like, damn right! Yes! - [Olivia] Yes, it will!
It will feel great.
- It actually would make me feel amazing!
It's hard, it's a hard thing, but you're right.
First world problems at the end of the day.
I wanted to talk about this too because,
do you feel that the press surrounding this movie
is a bit of a double standard?
Because I kept finding myself going,
Oh, this has happened like, a lot.
- I don't disagree.
I think that you find that everywhere.
Every woman can kind of relate to that.
I think also, this business,
I was aware when I got into it,
it's male-dominated, it has been for a long time.
Being a female director, there's not that many of us.
Not for lack of talent, just for lack of opportunity.
There's a lot of great young filmmakers
out there that are women, so I'm prepared for that.
I think that when it hurts me is sometimes
when it's coming from other women
and I'm like, Can we just give each other
the benefit of the doubt and just have each other's backs?
Wouldn't that be great?
The coverage always seems to be different.
Am I envious of my male colleagues in the way that
they seem to be able to live their lives
without as much judgment? Yeah, I think about it.
I'm like, That must be nice, to be that guy.
Everyone's just like, applauding every move he makes.
But in the end, I'm just so lucky to have this job,
I'm so grateful for it.
The coverage, again, it's just noise.
If I get stuck up on it, I'll get distracted,
so I just blast through.
- My wish and prayer, cause it was a lot,
and I was like, Damn! Reading-
- [Olivia] It's a soap opera, though.
- It's also just like, why do we care?
- I know. - Or I don't, sorry.
It just seems to have overshadowed it a bit,
which is frustrating as an artist,
to watch a female artist that has had to work so hard
to just do what I love.
That's a bit upsetting, for me.
Thank you so much, thank you for coming.
- Thank you, you're the best.
- Thank you for the film. The film is so, so, so good!
(audience applauding and cheering)
Olivia Wilde, everybody! - Kelly Clarkson!
- Don't Worry Darling is in theaters everywhere this Friday.