From a steamy on-set romance to an alleged spit-take and possible breakup,
Don't Worry Darling might just be what we need right now – and not because of the movie itself.
In July 2019, Deadline reported that Olivia Wilde was making a second attempt at filmmaking with her
"Booksmart" follow-up "Don't Worry Darling." Less than a year later, the outlet confirmed
that Chris Pine, Florence Pugh, and Shia LaBeouf had been cast as actors in the film,
and fans couldn't have been more excited. Nothing, however,
could have prepared us, or the cast, for the drama that would ensue on set.
"Not everyone gets this opportunity.
And if you keep talking like this you're gonna put it all at risk."
Initially cast to play Jack Chamber, Shia LaBeouf was dropped off the Don't Worry Darling cast in
September 2020 and replaced with Harry Styles due to a scheduling conflict, per Deadline.
Except this was, in fact, apparently not true. In December 2020, sources told Variety that Shia
was fired from the film — something Olivia would later confirm in an interview with the outlet.
Except, Shia has denied being fired because he quit first.
In email messages he sent to Wilde, LaBeouf gave his own reasons for leaving the project.
He also shared emails and a video showing Wilde's apparent disappointment over his
decision to leave the project. Meanwhile, drama was apparently brewing with the leading lady.
After Deadline confirmed the cast lineup, Florence Pugh took to Instagram,
gushing over the opportunity to work with Olivia Wilde, whom she called her "idol." But while
things seemed to start out well between Wilde and Pugh, it clearly didn't remain that way for long.
Rumors of a feud between the director and the star first started swirling in February 2021
when Florence shared an Instagram post to celebrate the end of filming.
Despite a lengthy caption praising the crew, she conspicuously left out Olivia Wilde's name,
leading fans to believe their relationship had turned sour.
This narrative continued spinning when Florence declined to promote the movie on her Instagram
for an extended length of time, despite promoting her other projects during the same period.
And when she finally did acknowledge her work on Wilde's movie, her enthusiasm seemed curiously
muted. As the press tour for the feature rolled around, Florence Pugh was noticeably absent.
Reps insist Pugh's absence was not intentional and only occurred because she was busy shooting Dune:
Part Two. Despite that claim, it didn't help that the actor didn't publicly acknowledge
any of the praise Wilde continued to shower on her in interviews and social media.
The final straw, however, came at the Venice Film Festival,
when during a four-minute standing ovation, Florence made her way to the exit without
greeting or making eye contact with Olivia Wilde. Despite the public tension, the question
remained – what could have caused this feud? Well, Harry Styles may have had something to do with it.
While it's pretty normal for directors to fall in love with one of their actors,
we definitely did not see it coming with Olivia Wilde and Harry Styles. First,
there is the 10-year age gap; then there was Wilde's breakup from her partner Jason Sudeikis
in late 2020. But none of that could apparently stop these two stars from getting together.
In January 2021, People confirmed that the relationship, which reportedly started out
platonic, had taken a romantic turn. But it appears that things have fallen apart
between the two actors just as quickly as they started. At the Venice Film Festival,
Harry and Olivia also had their share of drama as fans pointed out that the two
were noticeably avoiding each other. As seen in one video shared on Twitter, a member of staff
tried to get them to stand next to each other for a photo — but from the look of things, Harry
was simply not having it. So is the truly wild romance over? Guess we'll find out soon enough.
As if there wasn't already enough drama surrounding this movie,
Harry Styles and Chris Pine also seemingly have their own thing going on. The two started making
headlines after a video of Harry arriving at the Venice Film Festival surfaced on the internet.
In the clip, Harry is shown taking his seat beside Chris, but just before he does that,
his lips come together in a pout directed towards Chris, who then suddenly stops and looks down. As
Harry sits, Chris shakes his head slightly, picks up his sunglasses, and continues to look amused.
There might not have been much to make from this video,
except that internet users came up with the theory that Styles actually spat on Pine as he sat. But
while Twitter sure likes to stir up a storm, both Chris and Harry have addressed the rumors.
In an exclusive statement to People, one of Chris's representatives said,
"This is a ridiculous story — a complete
fabrication and the result of an odd online illusion."
Harry has also made a joke about the rumor at his latest concert.
It all adds up to the most bizarre and dramatic rollout for a movie
we've seen in quite some time – we'll find out if
it was all worth it when "Don't Worry Darling" hits theaters on September 23.