Olivia Wilde experienced serious fan backlash while starring in “House”.
The 40 year old actress recently told Diversity When her bisexual character became involved in an interracial relationship with Omar Epps’s Dr. Eric Foreman on the medical drama series, she was “repeatedly receiving death threats from the studio”.
Wilde said that, amid the backlash, additional security was assigned to her on the set of the show.
Wilde played Remy “Thirteen” Hadley on “House” from 2007 to 2012.
At the time, Wilde was one of the only people to portray a bisexual character on primetime television.
“Given what’s going on on television right now, if you watch ‘Euphoria’,“The fact that my character was shocking and groundbreaking then, it’s like, no, this is nothing,” Wilde told Variety at the Red Sea International Film Festival in Saudi Arabia.
He also explained how dealing with public hatred could affect his work in film and TV.
“The loss that happens to an artist is very deep, because you stop being fearless. I think once you’re scared that you’re going to be judged, you become self-conscious in a way that’s never been good for any artist,” Wilde said.
He further added, “Recently a directorial consultant told me that directors have to decide at a certain point whether you want to be a celebrity or an artiste.” “Because of social media, it’s become even more combined.”
Before “House”, Wilde had a recurring role in “OC” As a bartender named Alex Kelly, who was also bisexual.
one in Previous interview with Variety, The “Don’t Worry Darling” director reflected on how critics have had great reactions to both of his quirky TV roles.
“At the time, it was really seen as extraordinary, and it shouldn’t have been extraordinary. This should have been normal,” Wilde said in 2022.
He added, “I think we could have gone much further to create a more authentic portrayal. I never thought it would have made headlines that we had a gay relationship on a network show.”
In 2011, Wilde described how viewers were furious when she and Epps, 51, kissed on-screen for the first time in a 2009 episode of “House.”
“We got a lot of hate mail for it,” she said shared“There are racist people out there. We received hate mail saying that someone wanted to kill me by cutting my lips. We had extra security on the set for some time.
