Olivia Wilde thinks social media is "dangerous" for filmmaking.
The 40-year-old actress-turned-director has tried not to worry about being "accepted or loved" for her work because she thinks focusing on popularity can lead to people making the wrong choices for the wrong reasons.
She explained at the Red Sea Film Festival: “Directors have to decide at a certain point do you want to be a celebrity or an artist. Because of social media, it’s becoming even more combined to something that is quite dangerous for the art form.
“When you conflate filmmaking or acting with large scale acceptance, you immediately cut off every opportunity to do any risky work. So it was important to me to never become overly focused on being accepted or loved."
Olivia takes a keen interest in films from countries not dominated by the online world.
She added: “I’m so interested in films coming from a society that has been indoctrinated with the same amount of cliché material."
The 'Don't Worry Darling' director views making movies as a form of art and she doesn't set out to produce work she knows will be popular.
She said: “I don’t make movies so people love them. I want people to enjoy them. But I think it’s a losing game if you’re trying to make everybody’s favorite movie.
“Success is about being connected to creating something that is true to the idea that you have as an authentic extension of you, not about whether people approve of it.”
Olivia was always interested in the moviemaking process, but felt pushed towards being an actress.
She said: “I always wanted to make my own films, learn how to edit and learn how to write. But for many young woman, when we love stories, we’re told you should be an actress. And young boys who say they love movies are told you should be a director."
The 'Tron: Legacy' actress isn't ready to give up her on-screen career because she thinks it offers her a lot of opportunities to learn more about being behind the camera.
She admitted: “For me acting is like espionage, because I get to see another director’s set. And most directors never get to see other directors directing, ever. I get to watch people I really respect direct."
