Olivia Wilde’s “hideously embarrassing” audition for Terrence Malick: “It was so weird”

Olivia Wilde has recalled an awkward audition for Terrence Malick’s *The Tree of Life*, saying she was asked to “be grace” and did not know how to interpret the request. She tried to demonstrate the idea by waving her arms, and realised she had not won the role before she left the room.

Wilde told the story to co-star Seth Rogen on *The A24 Podcast*, describing the audition as weird and embarrassing. The part of Mrs O’Brien went to Jessica Chastain, opposite Brad Pitt; in the film, her character represents grace, associated with compassion and acceptance, while Pitt’s character represents nature, ambition and control. Malick’s abstract direction reflects the film’s spiritual themes, though Wilde had to convey the concept without the cinematography and setting that shape it on screen.