Olivia Wilde Praised Harry Styles for Allowing a “Woman to Hold the Spotlight” in Their Film
"Most male actors don't want to play supporting roles in female-led films."
Olivia Wilde just wrapped filming her latest directorial project, Don’t Worry Darling, starring Florence Pugh and Harry Styles. In a February 15th Instagram post, Wilde thanked Styles for taking on the supporting role, because as she noted, “it is harrrrrd to find actors who recognize why it might be worth it to allow for a woman to hold the spotlight.”
“Little known fact: most male actors don’t want to play supporting roles in female-led films,” Wilde captioned the black-and-white shot of Styles on set. “The industry has raised them to believe it lessens their power (i.e financial value) to accept these roles, which is one of the reasons it’s so hard to get financing for movies focusing on female stories.”
However, Wilde said that Styles not only [relished] the opportunity to allow for the brilliant @florencepugh to hold center stage as our Alice, but he infused every scene with a nuanced sense of humanity.
Wilde’s message hit home with many of her feminist followers. Women have always been able to carry a film, but their male co-stars, directors, writers, etc. have been the ones to hold them back. It’s pertinent for “leading men” to learn when they should take a supporting role.
“If we want girls to grow up believing they can play the main character, we need boys to grow up believing they can play the supporting character!” Liz Plank of the @feministabulous Instagram account commented. And Laura Brown, the Editor-in-Chief of InStyle, wrote, “Here’s to a modern man.”
Of course, this is Harry Styles we’re talking about—the man who caused so much chaos for daring to wear a dress on the cover of Vogue. Leave it to him to lead the revolution of iconic supporting male characters.
