Biography
American actress and director Olivia Wilde appeared in "TRON: Legacy" (2010), "Her" (2013), and as Dr. Remy "Thirteen" Hadley on Fox's medical drama "House" (Fox, 2004-2012). She also made her directing debut in 2019 with the critically-acclaimed high school comedy "Booksmart" (2019). Although Wilde was born in New York City, she was raised in both the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. and in Ireland. Her parents were respected journalists, so Wilde, who was born with the surname Cockburn, grew up in a household that was always booming with the intellectual banter of politicians, writers, and thinkers. When she was in her teens, the then Olivia Cockburn started going by the stage surname of Wilde. This was both to pay homage of the legendary Irish writer Oscar Wilde, as well as to honor the many writers in her family. A standout student, Wilde was accepted to Bard College but deferred enrollment a number of time to pursue an acting career. She eventually went on to study the craft at the Gaeity School of Acting in Dublin. By this time, Wilde held dual citizenships in both the United States and in Ireland. After receiving her formal training, Wilde began nabbing recurring TV roles. She appeared in 6 episodes of the short-lived Fox drama "Skin" (Fox, 2003-04), and went on to earn somewhat of a public following for her role as Alex Kelly on the teen drama "The O.C." (Fox, 2003-07). By the mid- to late-2000s, Wilde was appearing in a number of films, including "Alpha Dog" (2006), "Year One" (2009), and "TRON: Legacy." In 2007 she also landed her breakout TV role a recurring role on the Fox medical drama "House." Wilde played Dr. Remy "Thirteen" Hadley on the Golden Globe-winning series from 2007 to 2012. After "House" ended in 2012, Wilde continued nabbing parts in films like "The Incredible Burt Wonderstone" (2013), "Rush," "The Longest Week" (2014), and "Meadowland." In 2016 she nabbed a part on the highly-anticipated period music drama "Vinyl" (HBO, 2016), but HBO cancelled the series after a single season. After 15 years as a working actress in Hollywood, Wilde decided to get behind the camera in 2019 by making her directorial debut with the high school comedy "Booksmart." That film, which starred Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever, premiered to rave reviews in May of 2019. 2019 was also the year that Wilde starred in the Clint Eastwood-directed biographical drama "Richard Jewell" (2019). The film, which was released in December of that year, was about the security guard of the same name who was wrongly accused of the 1996 Olympic Park bombing in Atlanta.
