Olivia Wilde Shares How Motherhood Intensified 'Meadowland' (Plus Exclusive Clip)
In Reed Morano’s directorial debut, Meadowland, Olivia Wilde plays Sarah, a mother struggling to cope with the mysterious disappearance of her son. Luke Wilson plays her husband, Phil, who, despite being a cop, is rendered just as powerless as his wife. The drama revolves around the couple’s strikingly different reactions to not knowing what has happened to their child, who has been missing for more than a year. In the exclusive clip above, Sarah and Phil are asked to identify a suspect in their case.
Even though Wilde’s career has included an eclectic mix of TV drama (House, M.D.) and comedy (Doll & Em, Portlandia) and films ranging from Rush to Her to Tron: Legacy, her role in Meadowland is her most intense to date. “It’s by far the most challenging and by far the most gratifying experience,” she told Yahoo Movies of the emotionally strenuous experience, explaining that being a mother herself connected her to the role in a way she couldn’t have achieved otherwise (more on that below).
Indeed, Nick Sandow (Orange Is the New Black), who also appears in the above scene, told Yahoo in a separate conversation that Wilde was digging deep on set. “She’s got this incredible energy,” he said. “I watch actors and I knew she was bringing it. She was doing stuff I wasn’t expecting.”
Meadowland, in select theaters this Friday, focuses more on the emotional aftermath its lead characters experience, rather than the police investigation into the disappearance. “This isn’t a film like Prisoners or every other Law & Order episode,” Wilde pointed out. “This story is about how everybody grieves differently and how it can feel like the most isolating experience in the world.”
Here are the highlights of our Q&A with Wilde on making Meadowland:
You’re now a mother. How did that play into your performance?
It helped me really connect with how painful and difficult this experience would be. It would have been harder to achieve if I didn’t know that deep connection to my child. I do think being a mother helped me with the role but it also made it, obviously, incredibly emotionally taxing and challenging. You’re going through the worst-case scenario in your head all day long and through the night — because you’re constantly living the role… It also made me appreciate how brave my character was. I personally could not imagine surviving day to day if I lost my [own] son. It made me really respect my character — she’s so tough that she can survive this. The more you love and respect your character the better your performance is.
Did the experience of making this movie change the dynamic between you and your own son in any way?
It made me appreciate my son even more. It made me more present when I was home — every moment I had off [from the movie]. I was very mindful of my time with him. I wouldn’t let myself get distracted by work or technology. It’s an important reminder. It sounds really harsh or kind of dark, but we take people for granted in our lives and sometimes it takes even imagining the worst-case scenario — or hearing of it happening to another person — to truly make us appreciate who we have and the time we have with our loved ones.
What was your most challenging day during filming?
There was one emotional breakdown that had to be done very quickly because we were shutting down a major road in New Jersey that is used by big rig trucks. We could only shut it down for a couple minutes at a time. In those couple minutes, dozens of trucks would get backed up. So [laughing] I really couldn’t take my time easing into it. I had to pull the car over, get out of the car, and lose my mind. I got a couple chances at it, blocking traffic and we would try it again… I was literally bringing it in the two minutes I could knock it out before I got run over by an 18-wheeler.
