Olivia Wilde could become the first woman to direct herself to an Oscar acting nomination for The Invite.
As Varietyreports, the A24 dramedy is quickly emerging as the studio’s strongest awards bet of the season.
Wilde directs and stars as Angela, who is married to Joe, played by Seth Rogen.
Read more: Seth Rogen and Olivia Wilde’s ‘The Invite’ heads to HBO Max
Their marriage is on thin ice when they invite their enigmatic upstairs neighbours, Pína (Penélope Cruz) and Hawk (Edward Norton), to dinner, and the night spirals somewhere unexpected.
Rashida Jones and Will McCormack wrote the script.
The film premiered at Sundance and was shot in chronological order over 23 days in San Francisco, on 35mm film that Wilde reportedly funded herself.
It ends with a dedication to Diane Keaton.
The history at stake is stark. Fifteen male actors have directed themselves to acting nominations, but no woman has.
Only nine women have been nominated for best director in the Oscars’ 98 years, and three have won, but none of them starred in the films they directed.
If Wilde were nominated for both acting and directing, she would be the first woman to do so and would join just eight men who have managed it for the same film.
Gold Derby’s recent predictions had Wilde as a likely best actress nominee, second only to Julianne Moore for The Debut, with The Invitetipped for five nominations.
Those would be best picture, director, actress, supporting actor for Norton and adapted screenplay.
TheWrap’s Adam Chitwood called her turn the performance of her career. The film is Wilde’s third as director, after Booksmartand Don’t Worry Darling.
Read more: Olivia Wilde says filmmakers are being ‘bribed’ to skip theaters
2026-10-10 01:21:00
