She learned to horse ride during childhood summers in Ireland and is now using those skills as a strong woman in a Western —an experience she is relishing, Olivia Wilde tells Will Lawrence

The star of last year’s mega-money sci-fi hit Tron: Legacy and the forthcoming Daniel Craig blockbuster Cowboys + Aliens, Olivia Wilde is one of Hollywood’s hottest properties, and yet the 27-year-old star says that she feels a closer connection to Ireland than she does to the US.

“Ireland is such a big part of who I am,” the actress tells me. Her father, journalist Andrew Cockburn, was raised in Youghal, Co Cork. “Not only as an actor but as a human being. I am very aware of my Irish blood.” She laughs, “I really believe that, not only in my capacity for alcohol, but also being able to sense certain values, I think these elements come from my Irish blood.”

Indeed, for all the celebrity garnered by her high-profile movies and her starring turn opposite Hugh Laurie in hit American TV show House — where she plays an inscrutable young woman who sufferers from Huntington’s disease and a propensity to self-destruct — Wilde remains a warm and open interviewee with a hearty laugh and a spirited demeanour. She’s a classic car fan, too, owning a 1958 Chevy Biscayne, and, like many Irish folk, she adores horses.

Her love for the country, and for its equine passion, was fostered in her youth — her parents, who eventually settled in New York, would return to Ireland in the summers.

“We grew up going to a little village called Ardmore,” she recalls. “It is on the coast quite near Youghal, about an hour or so out of Cork.

“I went to acting school in Dublin, too, but I haven’t been back to Ireland in a few years. It is something I am really looking forward to doing this summer because I miss it so much.”

With dual-citizenship, and a family home in the country, Wilde trained for a while at the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin and when choosing a stage name she opted for her favourite writer Oscar Wilde. “I came and trained as an actor every summer in Ireland,” she continues, “and my sister and I worked in a stable, so that’s where riding became such a part of my childhood.”

She says that riding gave her courage. “When you are teaching a kid to ride a horse you are teaching them about conquering their fears, about having respect for animals and it is very humbling, too, to work with horses because you are acknowledging how much more powerful this animal is than you.

“You realise that if you can learn how to behave around a horse you can develop a sense of self-control over your fear. Horses can smell fear. Also my parents used to say that you are not a real rider until you have fallen off a hundred times. You fall off and scramble to get back on the horse and that’s a good life lesson.”

Her riding skills proved a boon when shooting her latest movie, the blockbusting Cowboys + Aliens, which starts as a straight-up Western film before transforming into an Earth-based sci-fi adventure at the end of the first act. With 007 (Daniel Craig) and Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) for co-stars, Wilde is in the company of some fairly august adventurers.

“When it came to doing a cowboy movie, I am very appreciative of all that training I’d done with horses over the years,” she says, “although in Ireland I had ridden English-style, but in this movie I had to learn how to ride Western, which is vastly different. But I am really happy to know how to do it now. It is a great skill to have, which is what is so cool about making movies. You develop these skills.”

Wilde’s new film also gives the actress the chance to expand those talents, taking on the rare role of a strong woman of the West.

“I have always been such a fan of genre movies, although as a woman I struggle to find female characters in a lot of Western films that I relate to, really strong female characters. In sci-fi, I can find more women to relate to, just think of Sigourney in Alien.

“That said, Westerns have had such an effect on my taste in movies, and my favourite genre is the gangster movie and really they all are Westerns. I realised that a lot of the elements in the films that I loved came from the Western.”

In her Western, directed by Iron Man head honcho Jon Favreau, Wilde plays Ella, a rough-and-tumble cowgirl with a decent gun arm and a strange and startling secret. “I think the film’s great,” she says, “and Jon did such an amazing job keeping this entire story in his head with these two giant genres, weaving them together so elegantly. And I hope that what we have created in this movie is a female character in a Western that other young girls out there will be inspired by.”

If not, then those young girls could perhaps draw inspiration from one of the many characters Wilde is bringing to cinemas once Cowboys + Aliens is off screens. She’ll soon be seen in the likes of the comedy film The Change-Up with Ryan Reynolds, the sci-fi thriller In Time with Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried, and the bleak and brutal thriller Blackbird, with Eric Bana. She is also hoping to make a movie set in Ireland. “That’s exciting,” she coos, “but it’s too early to say anything about it yet, I’m just enjoying doing all this work.”

Indeed, if the truth be told, work is proving a welcome distraction for Wilde, who has suffered a difficult time personally, filing for divorce from her husband of eight years, Italian-American filmmaker and socialite Tao Ruspoli, in March of this year. She filed papers at a Los Angeles Superior Court on March 3, citing irreconcilable differences.

Wilde and Ruspoli eloped in 2003 when Wilde was just 19, got engaged at the Burning Man festival in Black Rock, Nevada, and married in a bus on Venice Beach, California.

The couple enjoyed a happy relationship until they started to drift apart. They mutually agreed to separate earlier this year and have no children.

“Even though it didn’t work, there is nothing I regret about any of it,” Wilde says in the July edition of American Marie Claire. “We’re friends; his family is my family. You always have a choice to feel angry and not be friends, but I can’t handle the idea of walking into a room and seeing someone I have bad blood with. I can’t keep any negative relationship with anyone.”

Wilde has been linked with a number of suitors — including fellow A-listers Bradley Cooper and Justin Timberlake — but while she says that she is taking the plunge into dating, it isn’t easy. “I’m trying to be adult, entering the shark pool of dating,” continues the actress in that interview, “but I’m hopeless at it.”

That seems unlikely, given her stunning looks, innate charm and bright mind, fostered by parents that both work in the media. Her mother, Leslie, is an American journalist, and a producer on TV news magazine 60 Minutes. Wilde grew up surrounded by high-profile names, and Barack Obama once called her mobile to thank her for the support she lent during his campaign: “I was professional on the phone, then I hung up and started squealing like a school girl.” But the phone wasn’t off. “I had a friend at the campaign office and they said that they could all hear me — that’s embarrassing.”

The actress, however, has overcome her mortification. She is plucky, after all, an attribute she ascribes to her Irish blood, and to her determined mother. “My mother taught me a lot about being a woman,” she says, “like how you can be sexy and beautiful and yet still be the smartest person in the room.” Olivia Wilde, it appears, is the living proof.

Cowboys + Aliens is in cinemas next Friday

 

By Will Lawrence

Friday August 05 2011

Originally published in

Pat Shortt played to a full  house last Friday night, November 26th at The Mall Arts Centre in Youghal.

On the last night of his recent tour “The Hall”, Pat played to a full and happy house ! Set in the community hall of a small rural town, The Hall features an array of madcap characters brought to life in Pat Shortt’s inimitable style. With the headlining act missing, Drama Group chairman, local shopkeeper and would-be comedian, Mossie Whelan enters the spotlight, with a bottle of wine to give him courage. Just when it looks like the night will be a complete disaster, all is saved by the arrival of singing sensation, Dixie Walsh. Fresh from a tour of the entire diocese on the back of his hit single The Jumbo Breakfast Roll, the ever popular Dixie gets the crowd going with his follow up hit single, Where Did My Money Go? A great night’s entertainment was had by all, young and old,  in Youghal at The Mall Arts Centre.

Tickets are now on sale at Cree’s Card Shop on the North Main Street, Youghal (024 93899) for Pat Shortt’s show, Pat Shortt in The Hall on Friday, November 26th at The Mall Arts Centre, Youghal at 8pm.  Ticket price €30.

Following the phenomenal success of You Won’t Get Away With that Here, Pat Shortt returns with his hilarious new live show The Hall. Set in the community hall of a small rural town, The Hall features an array of madcap characters brought to life in Pat Shortt’s inimitable style.

When the local drama group stage a gala fundraising concert to raise money for their latest production, things don’t quite go to plan, with hilarious consequences. Gerry, the hall caretaker is shocked to find the hall full of punters hours before he was due to open and sets about taking control while recounting the glory days of The Hall and the past exploits of the drama group.

With the headlining act missing, Drama Group chairman, local shopkeeper and would-be comedian, Mossie Whelan enters the spotlight, with a bottle of wine to give him courage.

Against the odds, the drama group make it to the stage with In The Shadow Of The Well Of The Sorrows, a comedy/drama/tragedy/melodrama, which spills over into the audience in some rather surprising ways.

Just when it looks like the night will be a complete disaster, all is saved by the arrival of singing sensation, Dixie Walsh. Fresh from a tour of the entire diocese on the back of his hit single The Jumbo Breakfast Roll, the ever popular Dixie gets the crowd going with his follow up hit single, Where Did My Money Go?

Fresh from the set of his new series for RTE, ‘Mattie’, IFTA and Evening Standard award winner Pat Shortt is looking forward to getting back in front of a live audience.

For further information and reservations call 083 360 6507.

Oona Colin
Facilities Coordinator
The Mall Arts Centre/St. Mary’s Collegiate Church
Tel: 083 360 6507

This year marks the bicentenary of Chopin’s birth so “The Last Ballade” was a particularly appropriate way of celebrating the anniversary, appealing as it does to lovers of music and theatre and what better setting than in the 230 year old building that is The Mall Arts Centre. Photo: Michael Hussey www.youghalonline.com

The musical drama was held at the theatre on Tuesday 28th Sept. Actor and pianist Michael Lunts portrays Frederic Chopin, man and musician, in this unique musical drama about the composer. The Last Ballade played for one night only, as part of a UK and Ireland tour,  at the Mall Arts Centre in Youghal

“The Last Ballade” relived the stormy end to one of the great romantic relationships, between Chopin and his muse, the novelist and ‘femme fatale’ George Sand. The music Sand inspired, including the beautiful Berceuse, the famous ‘Minute’ Waltz and the F minor Ballade, is played live as part of the action.

The Last Ballade offers audiences a dramatic insight, through the eyes of Chopin himself, into this extraordinary woman who has been variously described as both his muse and his “vampire”.

For further information on upcoming events call 083 360 6507 or email themallartscentre@gmail.com. The event was kindly supported by Cork County Council.

Actor and pianist Michael Lunts portrays Frederic Chopin, man and musician, in this unique musical drama about the composer. The Last Ballade plays for one night only, as part of a UK and Ireland tour,  at the Mall Arts Centre in Youghal on Tuesday, September 28th at 8pm.

Relive the stormy end to one of the great romantic relationships, between Chopin and his muse, the novelist and ‘femme fatale’ George Sand. The music Sand inspired, including the beautiful Berceuse, the famous ‘Minute’ Waltz and the F minor Ballade, is played live as part of the action.
The Last Ballade offers audiences a dramatic insight, through the eyes of Chopin himself, into this extraordinary woman who has been variously described as both his muse and his “vampire”.

This year marks the bicentenary of Chopin’s birth so “The Last Ballade” would be a particularly appropriate way of celebrating the anniversary, appealing as it does to lovers of music and theatre and what better setting than in the 230 year old building that is The Mall Arts Centre on Tuesday, September 28th at 8pm !

This event is kindly supported by Cork County Council.

Tickets on sale at Cree’s Card Shop (024 93899) at €15.

For further information or reservations call 083 360 6507 or email themallartscentre@gmail.com.

Oona Colin
Facilities Coordinator
The Mall Arts Centre/St. Mary’s Collegiate Church
Tel: 083 360 6507

” The House ” is broadcast on Dublin Community Television and is available on cable only in Dublin or online at www.dctv.ie  its about dodgy bankers, repossessions, and nasty newspaper editors.The series is produced by Billy Tyson, who lived and went to school in Youghal from 1975 to 1980, his parents had the Walter Raleigh Hotel during that period and continue to be regular visitors to see their cousins, the Kirwans.
By Youghalonline arts reporter / Photo: Michael Hussey Email: news@youghalonline.com

The show is directed by Declan Cassidy, who’s multi award winning short film ”Whatever Turns You on ” won the 2009 Aspen Film Festival for best short film. Local actor Jay Flavin plays the part of a sub editor in a national newspaper. Jay said ” he was delighted to get the part, as acting is something i always wanted to do.

When i was a kid, my father used to point out Cork actors to me on the television, one in particular stands out, Derry Power because he was from Youghal, his brother Kevin had  a pub in the town called the Blackwater Inn now known as  Maggie Mays. I started doing night classes in Oct ’04 with Shane Munro’s Irish Film Actors Workshop, then classes with the Gaeity School of Acting in Cork and now with Snatch Comedy Improvisation in Cork.

There’s a film making course in St John’s College in Cork, and the students are always looking for actors to volunteer their time to make short films. I then got a part as a doctor in ” Point of Departure ” written and directed by Max le Cain from the Cork Film Centre, which won the RTE best short film script in 2007, and will be broadcast in the near future.

The film starred Tony Award Winner Anna Manahan as an institutionalised person with severe memory problems. Jay who also works as a Life, Pensions and Mortgage broker in Youghal said ” i haven’t done any theatre in Youghal because i’m out seeing clients about three nights a week and this is when theatre is usual rehearsed.

My father was an actor with Youghal Little Theatre and i have uncles and cousins who love acting too. I’m delighted to get parts no matter how small, because i believe no opportunity to do what i always wanted to do should be squandered. I  got another small role in TG 4 documentary in july ’09 in a series called Éalu 2 meaning Breakout a documentary about famous jail breaks in Ireland, which will be broadcast in 2010. Before i got involved in acting i thought it might be a bit glamorous, but now i see, its an industry like any other industry and a workplace like any other workplace.

Contact; Jay Flavin   087 8128236

Tune in to Fair City on this Thursday night, September 3rd, to see Youghal’s own Brian Hogan make his debut in what we sincerely hope will be the start of a long and successful T.V. career for him.

Brian Hogan was born and reared in Youghal, the son of Noel and Assumpta Hogan.   He attended school in the local CBS and it was before leaving school that he got interested in acting.   However, he put his interest to one side and went about life in various different jobs and positions.   Then, when he was in his late 20’s he was asked if he would be interested in playing a small part in the John B Keane show, Many Young Men of 20, which was held in the Walter Raleigh, Youghal. Denise FitzGerald Reports  Photo: Michael Hussey www.youghalonline.com

Brian told the East Cork Journal that it was as if a light had come on his life when he played that part, and he knew that his future would have to be as an actor.   So started a range of different courses with the Gaiety School of Acting which took over two years, every day of which Brian enjoyed.   He attended interviews with the Everyman Theatre and in Dublin with the Fair City productions.  This led to film and TV courses, and ultimately an audition in 2008 for a part in Fair City.   Nothing came of this and Brian had almost given up hope when, out of the blue about a month ago, Brian received a phone call offering him a part in a scene of Fair City and telling him that no audition was necessary – he was through!     The excitement was intense and Brian was delighted to travel to Dublin for rehearsals.

Brian accounted his experiences to the East Cork Journal and said that when he walked into rehearsals on Monday last, he was greeted by the Director and Producer with a welcoming ‘hello’.   Sitting there reading through his part, he said he felt as if he knew every one of the actors personally, even though he was thinking of them in terms of their stage name and their character part in Fair City.   The friendship and welcome which they extended to him was amazing, and made him feel part of the show immediately.

Brian confided that his part is that of a character named Vince Matthews who, in Brian’s own words, “is a bit of a con man”.   This Vince guy meets Orla  (Sorcha Furlong) on a blind date in a pub and charms her to bits.   Then, rogue that he is, he deliberately spills wine on her dress and when Orla makes a dash to the Ladies to clean up, he robs her handbag!!   Nice one, Brian.
Tune in to Fair City on this Thursday night, September 3rd, to see Youghal’s own Brian Hogan make his debut in what we sincerely hope will be the start of a long and successful T.V. career for him.
Read more in this weeks edition of The East Cork Journal this wednesday 2nd Sept. 2009