Olivia Wilde Recalls Harry Styles' 'Don't Worry Darling' Scene That 'Left Us All in Tears' on Set

Olivia Wilde got emotional witnessing Harry Styles' performance in her upcoming thriller Don't Worry Darling.

In a cover story about Styles for Rolling Stone's September issue, costar/director Wilde recalled the "strange scene, full of fascist references, and a disturbing amount of male rage."

Wilde, 38, said the "dark as hell" scene called for the character Jack (played by Styles, 28) "to stand onstage with Frank (Chris Pine) and chant their creepy slogan, 'Whose world is it? Ours!' over and over again."

"But Harry took it to another level," she added. "He was so fully in the moment, he began screaming the lines to the crowd, in this primal roar, that was way more intense than anything we expected from the scene."

Wilde said the scene, which sees Jack getting a promotion during a gala for his company, "left us all in tears" and even Pine, 41, backed away and let Styles have the spotlight.

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Amanda Fordyce for Rolling Stone Harry Styles covers the September 2022 issue of Rolling Stone

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"The camera operator followed [Harry] as he paced around the stage like a kind of wild animal," she said. "We were all gobsmacked at the monitor. I think even Harry was surprised by it. Those are the best moments for an actor — when you're completely outside your body."

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Wilde shared the first full trailer for the period film — her sophomore directorial big-screen project, after 2019's Booksmart — exclusively with audiences at CinemaCon in April, calling the project "ambitious" and saying that Styles' performance is "truly a revelation."

Steve Granitz/FilmMagic; Kevin Mazur/Getty Olivia Wilde; Harry Styles

And the feeling is mutual, with Styles saying in a May interview with Howard Stern, "I had a wonderful experience being directed by Olivia. I think there is something that obviously … acting is very uncomfortable at times. I think you have to trust a lot."

In his interview with Rolling Stone, the former One Direction member also spoke in depth about his choice to protect romantic relationships from the public eye and why he has long decided to keep his sexuality to himself.

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"I've never talked about my life away from work publicly and found that it's benefited me positively," said Styles. "There's always going to be a version of a narrative, and I think I just decided I wasn't going to spend the time trying to correct it or redirect it in some way."

While he's currently in a relationship with Wilde, the "Watermelon Sugar" musician doesn't think his seemingly public romances should define him, as he's the only one who knows what goes on behind closed doors.

"Sometimes people say, 'You've only publicly been with women,' and I don't think I've publicly been with anyone," said Styles, who plays a gay character in the upcoming film My Policeman. "If someone takes a picture of you with someone, it doesn't mean you're choosing to have a public relationship or something."

Styles, who stars opposite Florence Pugh in Don't Worry Darling, also told the magazine it'll be "a while" before he does another movie.

"When you're making music, something's happening. It feels really creative and it feeds stuff. A large part of acting is the doing nothing, waiting thing. Which, if that's the worst part, then it's a pretty good job. But I don't find that section of it to be that fulfilling. I like doing it in the moment, but I don't think I'll do it a lot," he said. "I think there'll be a time again when I'll crave it."

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