When Olivia Wilde embarked on the production of her latest directorial venture, "The Invite," in which she also stars, she didn't know exactly how it would end. This was intentional. Wilde wanted to experiment with a process where she would spend several weeks leading up to the film's 23-day shoot, workshopping the story with her actors and writers Rashida Jones and Will McCormack. After this, she planned to shoot the film sequentially, completely in order, to allow for further conversation and changes as the cast worked their way through the story.
"We've accepted a certain paradigm in filmmaking," Wilde tells The Hollywood Reporter in her first interview about the feature ahead of its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. "We have to shoot out of order. There are no rehearsals. There are arbitrary rules that we've all accepted. When the performers set the expectations, it changes the structure of the film."
She adds, "There's a necessary hierarchy built into the structure of filmmaking for efficiency. The best films come out of that workshopping spirit."
Joining Wilde for her experiment are Seth Rogen, Edward Norton, and Penélope Cruz, all of whom share the screen for the near entirety of the 107-minute runtime of the film, which takes place almost entirely in a single location. "The Invite," a remake of the Spanish language movie "Sentimental," centers on a couple (Wilde and Rogen) whose relationship is on the brink of collapse and have an ill-timed dinner party with their enigmatic neighbors (Norton and Cruz), whose relationship seems to have the passion and open communication that the former's is sorely lacking.
Wilde first heard of "The Invite" years ago when she was approached about potentially starring in the film. "As happens in this business, it floated away into the ether and I didn't hear about it again," remembers Wilde. By the time the script did circle back, Wilde had already embarked on a career in directing with films like "Booksmart" and "Don't Worry Darling." This time around, she attached to "The Invite" as director.
She quickly got to work assembling her cast. Wilde had recently worked with Rogen on Apple series "The Studio" (coincidentally playing a gonzo version herself as the unhinged director of one of the film's movies-within-a-TV-show) when she sent him the script. "She was someone I was a big fan of even before we had her on the show," says Rogen, who adds that he remembers considering Wilde for the role opposite him in his breakout 2007 comedy "Knocked Up."
The filmmaker had initially planned to focus just on directing, but then the actress cast as the film's fourth lead had to drop out. The rest of the cast convinced Wilde to take the role as the final member of the quartet. Remembers Rogen, "I was a big advocate for her being in it. She kept talking about all these other actors, and I was just like, 'I truly don't understand. You should be in this movie.'" Wilde acquiesced and joined her fellow cast and writers on an empty soundstage at Sunset Las Palmas Studios, ready to dig in.
Says Cruz, "If [Olivia] asks you a question, she doesn't want to hear whatever is going to be convenient for her. It's very easy as a director to get obsessed — 'This has to be exactly like I'm seeing it!' She really asks you questions in a way where, if you are honest, it is maybe going to dismantle the plan."
Norton adds, "It can be a nerve-wracking thing to allow an open process of discovery and to allow actors to invent and even write their characters, but I think she had such confidence in what kind of story she wanted to explore that she was happy for it to be shaped around the actual chemistry and instincts of the four of us."
Wilde happily points out that the soundstage was where the pilot of "I Love Lucy" was filmed. It was a happy accident to be workshopping and rehearsing a comedy centered on the tumult of adult relationships where the quintessential marriage sitcom got its own start.
"The reason that I wanted to make this film is because it was a chance to have real conversations about relationships and love," says Wilde. And who better to have conversations about relationships and love with than Esther Perel, the bestselling author and psychotherapist behind the "Where Should We Begin?" podcast, who acted as a consultant on the film.
Wilde says Perel's work has allowed her "to think about relationships differently than the way we were all necessarily raised on by Disney movies." She and Cruz would consult Perel during lunch breaks about character and story.
"The Invite" is Wilde's first time in the director's chair since "Don't Worry Darling," a big-budget original studio swing. Given how Wilde wanted to shoot "The Invite" — in Los Angeles, in sequence, and with a lot of rehearsal time — this film was done outside of the studio system. "The Invite" sees Wilde re-teaming with her "Booksmart" producer-financier, Megan Ellison. "She had just as much faith in me when I had nothing to show for it [on 'Booksmart']," says Wilde of Ellison.
During filming, the actors worked their way through the story, shooting 12 hours a day and constantly reassessing the fate of their characters. Says Wilde of the film's ending, "We were obsessed with making it feel authentic."
"There was a lot of active debate throughout the film as to exactly how it should end," remembers Rogen, with Norton adding, "[Olivia] called it 'stitching the parachute on the way down.'" Rogen says ultimately that the ending was within a few degrees of itself but there were different options on the table.
Audiences will get their first glimpse of how "The Invite" couples ultimately fare on Saturday night at Sundance. Wilde, Norton, and Rogen will be on hand at the fest where they are seeking distribution for their film; Cruz will not be able to attend as she is currently filming in Spain. The movie — a smart, talky comedy that explores mature themes of sex, love, marriage, and monogamy — comes at a time when many decry that traditional Hollywood has stopped making films geared towards adult audiences. Says Wilde, "We didn't want to underestimate the intelligence of our audience." As for Wilde herself, she says that her work as both an actor and director has enabled her to complete a project like "The Invite" on her own terms. She says, "It was the kind of experience I've been dreaming of my whole career — a movie that would just allow a group of creative people to come together and actually truly collaborate. And this film was ripe for that."
