Olivia Wilde

Olivia Wilde

At the 2010 Independent Spirit Awards
Born Olivia Jane Cockburn
March 10, 1984 (1984-03-10) (age 26)
, U.S.
Occupation Actress
Years active 2003–present
Spouse Tao Ruspoli (m. 2003–present) «start: (2003)»"Marriage: Tao Ruspoli to Olivia Wilde" Location: (linkback:http://localhost../../../../articles/o/l/i/Olivia_Wilde_29d0.html)

Olivia Wilde (born Olivia Jane Cockburn; March 10, 1984)[1] is an Irish-American actress. She began acting in the early 2000s, and has since appeared in a number of film and television parts, including roles in the series The O.C. and The Black Donnellys. Currently she portrays Dr. Remy "Thirteen" Hadley in the TV drama House.[1]

Contents

Early life

Wilde was born in New York City on March 10, 1984. Her mother, Leslie Cockburn (née Corkhill Redlich), is a 60 Minutes producer and journalist, and her London-born father, Andrew Cockburn, is an Irish journalist, as are her paternal uncles Alexander Cockburn and Patrick Cockburn, all of whom are contributors to the political website CounterPunch.org. Her sister, Chloe Cockburn, is a civil rights attorney in New York. Her half-aunt was the late writer Sarah Caudwell and her paternal grandfather was the novelist/journalist Claud Cockburn. Wilde has said that as a result of her family background, she has a "strong journalistic streak", being "really critical and analytical".[1] Both her parents were prominent in the Washington social scene, hosting dinner parties. Her mother once recounted a story of a young Wilde eavesdropping one night on a conversation between Richard Holbrooke and Mick Jagger until Mick noticed her and shooed Olivia to bed.[2] She has wanted to become an actress since the age of two.[1] For a short time, Olivia's family had a house in Guilford, Vermont. She attended Georgetown Day School in Washington, D.C., as well as Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, graduating in 2002. She also attended The Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin, Ireland for a short time.[1] She initially began working as a casting assistant.

Career

Wilde at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con

Wilde has appeared in the films The Girl Next Door, Alpha Dog, Conversations with Other Women and Turistas. She became known for her role on The O.C. as Alex Kelly, although she originally auditioned for the role of Marissa Cooper. She has also appeared in the Dashboard Confessional music video for "Stolen", and the French Kicks music video for "So Far We Are". She was strongly considered to play Bond girl Vesper Lynd in the 21st Bond film Casino Royale but Eva Green eventually won the role.

In 2009 Wilde was ranked #1 on Maxim magazine's Hot 100.[3] It was an honor which was included as an inside joke during the episode "The Tyrant", where House, upon hearing about Foreman's recent firing of Wilde's character, sarcastically teased, "My condolences. Although, it's not like she's the hottest woman in the world." .[4] She was also ranked #95 on the FHM 100 Sexiest Women of 2006.[5] She was one of the key models in Abercrombie & Fitch's "Rising Stars" campaign in summer of 2004.

In 2007, Wilde was a part of the ensemble cast of the short-lived NBC mid-season drama The Black Donnellys. Her character, Jenny Reilly, was the lone principal female character in the series following the lives of an Irish-American family tied to organized crime in New York City. Also in 2007, Wilde appeared in the play Beauty on the Vine, a political thriller, playing three different characters.

Wilde joined the cast of the Fox medical drama House in autumn 2007, playing a young internist, Dr. Remy Hadley, nicknamed Thirteen, who works closely with Dr. House. Wilde told Star magazine how she sometimes takes cues from her character even when she's not working, saying, "I'm now convinced that I'm a doctor. I mean, if someone says they have a pain, I'm like, 'Well, that's your spleen.'"[6][7]

The New York Observer has described Wilde as having a "throaty voice" and the "wide, teal-eyed charisma of Hollywood in the days of yore".[1] She has cited Meryl Streep, Sigourney Weaver, Frances McDormand, Catherine Keener and Robin Wright Penn as acting inspirations.[1]

She won the 2006 US Comedy Arts Festival Film Discovery Jury Award for Best Actress for Bickford Shmeckler's Cool Ideas (2006) and in 2008 at the Teen Choice Awards she was nominated for the Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Breakout Star Female for House M.D. and won the Rising Star Award at the Vail Film Festival.

On October 7, 2008, Wilde appeared in a video on funnyordie.com showing how much she enjoys registering early for the 2008 Presidential election, "Olivia Wilde Does It Early".[8] Wilde appeared alongside Jack Black and Michael Cera in the 2009 comedy Year One.

She is set to be featured in Disney's Tron: Legacy, opening on December 17, 2010.

Personal life

Wilde has dual citizenship in the United States and the Republic of Ireland.[1] She derived her stage name "Wilde" from author Oscar Wilde.[1]

She married Italian-American documentary filmmaker, flamenco guitar player, and son of an Italian prince[9][10][11] Tao Ruspoli on June 7, 2003, in Washington, Virginia on a school bus with only a pair of witnesses.[2] They currently live[12] and work in Venice, Los Angeles, California.

Politics

Wilde is a board member of Artists for Peace and Justice, which provides education and health services in Haiti, and the ACLU of Southern California. Previously, Wilde was a supporter of the youth voter organization, 18 in '08. She serves on their advisory council and appeared in a public service announcement that debuted June 30, 2008.[13] In the fall of 2008, Wilde campaigned with actors Justin Long and her former House castmate Kal Penn for the 2008 Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama.[14]

She also appeared in the Moveon.org mock-PSA "supporting" the right of the healthcare insurance industry to maintain their high profits.[15]

Filmography

Wilde in 2005
Film
Year Film Role Notes
2004 The Girl Next Door Kellie
2005 Conversations with Other Women Bridesmaid
2006 Alpha Dog Angela Holden
Bickford Shmeckler's Cool Ideas Sarah Witt
Turistas Bea
2007 The Death and Life of Bobby Z Elizabeth
2008 Fix Bella
2009 Year One Princess Inanna
In NorthWood Mia In post-production
2010 Tron Legacy Quorra Post-production
2011 Cowboys & Aliens Ella[16] Pre-production
2012 Butter Filming
Television
Year Title Role Notes
2003 Skin Jewel Goldman Main role (2003–2004)
2004 The O.C. Alex Kelly Supporting role (2004–2005)
2007 The Black Donnellys Jenny Reilly Main role (2007)
House Remy "Thirteen" Hadley Main role (2007–present)

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Vilkomerson, Sara (2007-04-11). "Wilde At Heart". New York Observer. http://www.observer.com/2007/wilde-heart. Retrieved 2007-04-11. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Jason Gay (October 2009). "Olivia". GQ Magazine. http://men.style.com/gq/features/full?id=content_10937. 
  3. ↑ "Maxim 100". Maxim 2009 Hot 100. http://www.maxim.com/girls/hot-100/79081/2009-hot-100-100-91.html#100. Retrieved June 7, 2009. 
  4. ↑ Los Angeles Times report on Wilde
  5. ↑ "FreeJose.com". FHM 100 Sexiest Women of 2006. http://www.freejose.com/lists/fhm/2006. Retrieved January 28, 2007. 
  6. ↑ Star Magazine December 8, 2008 p.96
  7. ↑ "'House' gets a new group of trainees". CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/TV/07/18/television.house.reut/index.html. Retrieved July 18, 2007. 
  8. ↑ funnyordie.com
  9. ↑ "Olivia Wilde - Biography". olivia-wilde.org. 2008-04-10. http://www.olivia-wilde.org/olivia/biography.php. Retrieved 2008-11-17. 
  10. ↑ "Olivia Wilde - Biography". Yahoo! Movies. http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1808489542/bio. Retrieved 2008-11-17. 
  11. ↑ Rizzo, Monica. Olivia Wilde - She's Wild About Hugh Laurie, Classic Cars and Her Husband—a Real-Life Prince!, People. November 12, 2007. Accessed January 28, 2009.
  12. ↑ "Olivia Wilde Donation to Obama Campiagn". http://fundrace.huffingtonpost.com/neighbors.php?type=name&lname=Ruspoli+Wilde&fname=Olivia. Retrieved 2009-11-11. 
  13. ↑ Burstein, D. "Olivia Wilde and Peter Sarsgaard Star in New Public Service Announcements Encouraging Young People to Vote in 2008 Election". Reuters. http://www.mywire.com/pubs/PRNewswire/2008/06/30/6810451?extID=10051. Retrieved 2008-11-17. 
  14. ↑ Chatterjee, N (2008-10-13). "‘Kumar’ rallies action for Obama". The Dartmouth. http://thedartmouth.com/2008/10/13/news/kalpenn. Retrieved 2008-11-17. 
  15. ↑ http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/041b5acaf5/protect-insurance-companies-psa
  16. ↑ http://www.heatvisionblog.com/2010/02/olivia-wilde-cowboys-and-aliens-daniel-craig.html

External links