DON’T Worry Darling was meant to be the film that transformed Harry Styles from plucky One Direction pin-up into Hollywood’s new leading man.
By starring alongside in-demand actress Florence Pugh and Star Trek’s Chris Pine in the much-anticipated psychological thriller, the former boyband member’s credentials as a serious performer would only be bolstered.
Don’t Worry Darling was supposed to take Harry Styles from plucky One Direction pin-up into Hollywood’s new leading man[/caption]
Director Olivia Wilde’s new film will be overshadowed by a series of explosive rows over casting, pay, a marital breakdown and criticism of its explicit sex scenes[/caption]
But the movie’s glitzy world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on Monday will be overshadowed by a series of explosive rows over casting, pay, a marital breakdown and criticism of its explicit sex scenes.
Harry — already enjoying a No1 solo album and single this year — only joined the cast at the last moment, replacing Transformers actor Shia LaBeouf, who dropped out just weeks before the shoot began.
Director Olivia Wilde — now Harry’s girlfriend — claimed she sacked Shia to “protect” her cast from the volatile actor’s “combative energy”.
But Shia, who has been accused by ex-girlfriend FKA Twigs of abuse, shot back at the weekend, claiming he had quit.
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A video leaked online appears to prove his case. It shows Olivia begging him to stay and taking apparent swipes at his co-star “Miss Flo”.
The clip also added fuel to rumours of a nasty fallout between the director and British actress Florence.
Florence plays Alice, who with husband Jack (Harry), an employee of the mysterious Victory Project, lives a seemingly idyllic life.
While Olivia described the on-screen “extreme passion” between Harry and Florence as like in classic movie Fatal Attraction where the woman has all the “pleasure”, her lead actress sees matters very differently.
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The 26-year-old Oscar-nominated star complained that she didn’t want her performance to be “reduced” to her romps with “the most famous pop star in the world”.
According to insiders Florence was also unhappy that 38-year-old Olivia had fallen for Harry, 28, during filming and that she was not being paid as much as him.
Judging from the response to the trailer, Americans don’t think the West Midlands-born star earned any credit for his US accent in the California-set movie.
But Olivia gushed about the new man in her life, saying: “He didn’t have to join our circus, but he jumped on board with humility and grace, and blew us away every day with his talent.”
That circus certainly got off to a bumpy start.
Shia LaBeouf was the lead but dropped out less than a month before the shoot was due to begin in October 2020[/caption]
Star Trek’s Chris Pine will also star in the film[/caption]
First Fifty Shades of Grey actress Dakota Johnson pulled out because filming clashed with another project. Then, Shia left in August 2020.
Harry had initially been considered for the role of Jack but could not commit due to tour plans.
But when Covid scuppered these he was suddenly available.
Despite his biggest role being a minor one in 2017 war film Dunkirk, Harry was given the lead part in the £18million drama.
A month into the shoot, Olivia’s personal life was turned upside down when she broke up with comic actor Jason Sudeikis following a seven-year engagement.
Afterwards Olivia and Harry grew close and went public with their relationship when they held hands at a friend’s wedding in January 2021.
A source told the New York Post that Florence didn’t consider it to be very professional.
The insider said last month: “I can tell you for a fact that Flo seeing Olivia and Harry all over each other on set did not go down well.”
Any pretence of an amicable break-up between Olivia and Jason, 46, was blown apart when he served court papers on her while she was on stage talking about Don’t Worry Darling in April.
I can tell you for a fact that Flo seeing Olivia and Harry all over each other on set did not go down well
New York Post source
He wanted their children Otis, eight, and Daisy, five, to live with him in New York, but she resisted.
Olivia, who splits her time between London and Los Angeles, is determined to spend as much time with her kids as possible.
After the film wrapped in February 2021, the director talked about her desire for a harmonious set.
Olivia insisted she had a “no a***holes policy” and cared for her actors.
Olivia said ‘I knew that I was going to be asking Florence to be in very vulnerable situations, and my priority was making her feel safe’[/caption]
An interview she gave to Variety magazine last week suggests that policy included barring Shia.
She blasted: “A lot came to light after this happened that really troubled me, in terms of his behaviour.
“For our film, what we really needed was an energy that was incredibly supportive.
“Particularly with a movie like this, I knew I was going to be asking Florence to be in very vulnerable situations, and my priority was making her feel safe and supported.”
But Shia retorted that “it is not the truth” that he was fired.
In a leaked video Olivia had sent him after he quit, the director is driving while asking Shia to reconsider his decision to leave.
‘Increasingly toxic’
She says “I want to figure this out” and that him going was a “bit of a wake-up call for Miss Flo”.
In public, Olivia has praised Florence as the best new actress around.
Yet, the director tells Shia the movie could work if Florence “really commits, if she really puts her mind and heart into it at this point, and if you guys can make peace.”
Film fans have posted countless negative comments about Olivia’s approach on social media.
They are horrified by the suggestion that self-proclaimed feminist Olivia asked Shia to come back when his female co-star wasn’t happy working alongside him.
A Hollywood source said: “The leaked video is a horrible look for Olivia, who is mortified and furious that her private conversations have been broadcast and that she has been painted as an out and out liar.
“She is dealing with so much stress right now from all angles.
“She’s got this big fire to put out involving Shia and Florence and her custody battle with Jason is getting increasingly toxic and the bills are piling up.
“There’s a ton of pressure on her with the movie release and she’s well aware that Jason and his high-powered Hollywood allies will be willing her to fail even if they don’t publicly admit it.”
Olivia’s brilliant coming-of-age directorial debut Booksmart turned her from a well-known actress, whose movies such as Tron: Legacy and Cowboys & Aliens flopped, into a sought-after film maker.
She has trumpeted Don’t Worry Darling’s “feminist” approach to sex, where women get to climax rather than the blokes.
That is demonstrated in the trailer, which shows Harry’s character pleasuring Florence’s on a dining room table.
The trailer shows Harry pleasuring Florence’s character on top of a dining room table[/caption]
But Florence shot back in an interview that “the people who made it are bigger and better than that”.
She said: “When it’s reduced to your sex scenes, or to watch the most famous man in the world go down on someone, it’s not why we do it. It’s not why I’m in this industry.”
There are now suggestions Florence isn’t going out of her way to promote Don’t Worry Darling.
That, though, might be because she is currently filming the sequel to the sci-fi epic Dune.
Accusations on social media that Harry was paid three times as much as Florence were shot down by Olivia, who insists there is no “pay disparity”.
In the world of movies Florence, who was Oscar-nominated for Little Women and praised for the horror movie Midsommar, is surely more deserving of a hefty pay packet than newcomer Harry.
Whether he can deliver a performance to win over his critics will only become clear when the film is released on September 23.
Meanwhile Olivia is forced to deal with the hurtful comments that head the way of anyone dating heartthrob Harry.
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At the end of his highly critical open letter to Olivia, Shia says: “I hope none of this negatively affects you, and that your film is successful in all the ways you want it to be.”
If Harry is a good actor his darling probably doesn’t have that much to worry about.
If Harry is a good actor his darling probably doesn’t have that much to worry about[/caption]
