“House” star Olivia Wilde covers the November 2008 edition of Women’s Health Magazine. She has the perfect prescription for a stress-free life: a good book, a prince of a guy, and the occasional 33-pancake breakfast!
OLIVIA WILDE INTERVIEW
Women’s Health Magazine, November 2008.
Part -1
They call this ‘the death corner,’ because there are so many accidents,” says Olivia Wilde, poised to cross a busy boulevard in Venice, California, on her retro-blue beach cruiser. Cars whiz by. She looks left, then right, then suddenly shouts over her shoulder: “OK! Here we go!” Great. An actress with a God complex. Then again, she does play a doctor on TV, and in a pinch, she probably could perform CPR. Or stanch a gushing head wound.
Well, maybe not. “Hmm. I don’t know if I could save you. But I am fascinated with neurology, so I know a lot about the brain,” says Wilde, better known as Thirteen, the bisexual M.D. with a terminal brain disorder on Fox’s hit series House. (”Not only am I dying, but I’m gay. Now, that’s a juicy role,” she says.) Her job leads her to self-diagnose every bump and itch she gets: “Yesterday I was dehydrated and my fingers were twitching, so I thought, ‘I have ALS and I probably have three years to live.’ I freaked out.”
Thankfully, Wilde recovered. So much so that she suggested this leisurely if slightly treacherous ride to the Santa Monica farmers’ market for an al fresco lunch. For the self-described “sort-of vegetarian who eats fish,” the lure is a raw-food stand and a chance to plop down and wiggle her toes in a patch of grass. “You’re not going to believe this, but they have bike valets there,” she says. “Only in Los Angeles, right? So crazy.”
The same could be said for Wilde’s rapid ascent from casting assistant to TV star. Since arriving here in 2002, the 24-year-old Irish-American has shape-shifted from a blonde nympho in the indie fave Alpha Dog to a sultry brunette in the slasher flick Turistas. (”Brunettes have more fun,” she says, “because people don’t know what to expect from them.”) She also just finished shooting a goofy period comedy called The Year One in Shreveport, Louisiana, alongside Jack Black, Michael Cera, and David Cross. “It was freaking cold at times, and there were a lot of unpleasant conditions,” she says, “but I was surrounded by the funniest human beings I have ever met. There was zero drama.”
