Olivia Wilde on receiving death threats over her role in ‘House’: You stop being as fearless

Olivia Wilde has revealed the intense backlash she endured while playing Dr. Remy "Thirteen" Hadley on the hit medical drama House from 2007 to 2012.

In a very candid conversation at the Red Sea International Film Festival, Olivia Wilde spoke about the time she received death threats while on the show, based on her character's interracial relationship with Dr. Eric Foreman, Omar Epps. This plot was groundbreaking for primetime TV and caused controversy and was pointed out as a problem in society, so it led to increased security measures for their safety.

Reflecting on the experience, Olivia Wilde noted how such hostility profoundly affected her artistic journey. "The damage that does to an artist is profound because you stop being as fearless," she shared, emphasizing how the fear of public judgment stifies creative freedom. A mentor once challenged her to decide whether to focus on artistry or celebrity, a question she believes many artists must face amid the relentless scrutiny amplified by social media.
Olivia Wilde also discussed the evolution of television representation, comparing her character’s impact to contemporary shows like Euphoria. She remarked on the progress in diverse portrayals, yet acknowledged the challenges faced by trailblazing roles in earlier years.
Before the popular medical thriller ‘House’, Olivia Wilde played Alex Kelly, a bisexual bartender, on The O.C.—a role that also drew significant public reactions. In a previous interview, she reflected on the heightened attention surrounding her queer TV characters, noting that such portrayals were deemed extraordinary at the time but should have been normalized. “I think we could’ve gone a lot farther to create even more authentic portrayals,” she said.
Meanwhile, Olivia’s previous outing was with the film ‘Babylon’. ETimes rated the film with a solid 3 out of 5 and our review read, “This drama effectively captures the significant transition of Hollywood from the silent to sound era, highlighting how this shift impacted the industry and its players. Brad Pitt's character, in particular, suffers a downward spiral of self-destruction in the aftermath of this change. The film also touches on themes of censorship and social mores, as seen in the scene where Margot Robbie's character narrowly escapes death from a snake before being saved by a Chinese artist who later becomes her lover.”