Florence Pugh once had nothing but love for Olivia Wilde.
The “Don’t Worry Darling” star, who has allegedly been feuding with the film’s director, previously said she was “in love” with Wilde.
“What was it like to work with Olivia Wilde? Because I am totally in love with her,” Pugh, 26, asked Beanie Feldstein during Variety‘s Actors on Actors interview special in 2019.
Feldstein, 29, previously worked with Wilde, 38, on “Booksmart,” her highly acclaimed directorial debut.
“I think you and Olivia would be so drawn to each other,” Feldstein said at the time.
“Because she is just as fearless as you are in her own, on-screen and off.”
The following year, Pugh was cast in Wilde’s psychological thriller “Don’t Worry Darling,” alongside Gemma Chan, Nick Kroll, Chris Pine and Wilde’s now-boyfriend, Harry Styles.
However, the fractured relationship between the leading lady and director quickly inspired a media frenzy, after sources spoke to Page Six about the alleged rift.
“I can tell you for a fact that Flo seeing Olivia and Harry all over each other on set did not go down well as Olivia was still with Jason [Sudeikis] when she first hooked up with Harry,” one insider told us, referencing the “Ted Lasso” star, with whom she shares two children.
Wilde, for her part, praised Pugh during a Venice Film Festival press conference on Monday — which the actress skipped.
“Florence is a force. We are so grateful she’s able to make it tonight [for the red carpet] despite being in production on ‘Dune,’” Wilde said in response to a question about a potential “falling out” between the pair.
She continued, “I know as a director how disruptive it is to lose an actor even for a day, so I’m very grateful to her and to [‘Dune’ director Denis Villeneuve] for helping us. And we’ll get to celebrate her work tonight. I can’t say how honored I am to have her as our lead. She’s amazing.”
Wilde also addressed general speculation surrounding the feud.
“As for all the endless tabloid gossip and all the noise out there, the internet feeds itself. I don’t feel the need to contribute; I think it’s sufficiently well-nourished,” she said.
