Olivia Wilde 'Had to Cut' Sex Scenes from Don't Worry Darling Trailer: 'We Want to Be Provocative'

Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

Olivia Wilde wants to push the envelope with her latest film.

The Don't Worry Darling director, 38, said she "was upset" that she had to cut some "provocative" scenes from the trailer for the upcoming psychological thriller as she spoke to the Associated Press about helming the movie.

"There's a lot that had to be taken out of the trailer," she said. "The MPA [Motion Picture Association, Inc.] came down hard on me and the trailer at the last second and I had to cut some shots, which I was upset about because I thought they took it up another notch."

RELATED: Florence Pugh Says Don't Worry Darling Is 'Bigger and Better' Than Her Sex Scenes with Harry Styles

"But of course we still live in a really puritanical society. I do think the lack of eroticism in American film is kind of new," Wilde added.

She also argued that "female characters are allowed to have more pleasure" in LGBTQ films, something she said audiences "just don't see very often" in mainstream movies.

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"Audiences aren't as puritanical as corporations think they are. And yet people get upset. I mean, people are upset with me already over this. I think it's a testament to the film. We want to be provocative. The idea is not to make you feel safe," Wilde said.

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Representatives for both Warner Bros. Pictures and the MPA did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.

Wilde's first trailer for the film, which dropped in May, managed to include some fully-clothed shots from two different sex scenes between stars Florence Pugh and Harry Styles, in one of which his character performs oral sex on hers.

YouTube placed an age restriction on the most recent trailer, with the disclaimer: "This video may be inappropriate for some users."

Warner Bros. Pictures

Pugh, 26, later responded to the attention those sex scenes have already received from audiences, explaining that the movie is "bigger and better than that."

"When it's reduced to your sex scenes, or to watch the most famous man in the world go down on someone, it's not why we do it," she said. "It's not why I'm in this industry. Obviously, the nature of hiring the most famous pop star in the world, you're going to have conversations like that."

RELATED VIDEO: A Complete Timeline of the Don't Worry Darling Drama

"That's just not what I'm going to be discussing because [this movie is] bigger and better than that. And the people who made it are bigger and better than that," Pugh added.

Don't Worry Darling premieres in theaters Sept. 23.