- Olivia Wilde spoke with Maggie Gyllenhaal for Interview Magazine about her directorial debut, "Don't Worry Darling."
- Wilde said Chris Pine's character is based on Jordan Peterson, a controversial Canadian psychologist.
Chris Pine based his "Don't Worry Darling" character on Jordan Peterson, a controversial Canadian psychologist.
Interview Magazine published a conversation between Maggie Gyllenhaal, 44, and Olivia Wilde, 38, about the latter's directorial debut, "Don't Worry Darling." While discussing the feature, Wilde said Chris Pine likely joined the production "as a favor to an old buddy," but "then he really took it and ran with it."
Pine, 42, portrays a CEO named Frank who works on a top-secret initiative called the Victory Project, according to Rotten Tomatoes.
"We based that character on this insane man, Jordan Peterson, who is this pseudo-intellectual hero to the incel community. You know the incels?" Wilde asked before explaining what incels are to Gyllenhaal.
"They're basically disenfranchised, mostly white men, who believe they are entitled to sex from women," Wilde said. "And they believe that society has now robbed them—that the idea of feminism is working against nature, and that we must be put back into the correct place."
Gyllenhaal then quipped that the group "must be psyched" because " Things are going really well for them."
"Yeah, they're actually succeeding in many different ways," Wilde said. "But this guy Jordan Peterson is someone that legitimizes certain aspects of their movement because he's a former professor, he's an author, he wears a suit, so they feel like this is a real philosophy that should be taken seriously."
Peterson, a psychologist, and retired professor rose to popularity in the 2010s among young men and conservatives online for his opinions on topics like gender pronouns and transgender rights.
Wilde both directed and acted in "Don't Worry Darling," which premieres at the Venice Film Festival on September 5 and hit theaters on September 23. The film also stars Florence Pugh, Harry Styles, Chris Pine, Gemma Chan, Nick Kroll, and more.
Wilde told Variety in August that she researched the "disenfranchised world of white men on the internet" and explored 4chan in preparation for the film.
"I have a sick fascination with cults, Wilde said.