Olivia Wilde (born Olivia Jane Cockburn on March 10, 1984) is an American actress. Coming from a family of journalists, she began acting in the early 2000s, and has since appeared in a number of film and television parts, including her roles on the series The O.C. and The Black Donnellys.
Wilde was born in New York City. Her mother, Leslie (née Corkhill Redlich), is a 60 Minutes producer and journalist, and her father, Andrew Cockburn, is an Irish journalist, as are her uncles Alexander and Patrick. Her paternal grandfather was the British novelist and journalist Claud Cockburn. Wilde has said that as a result of her family background, she has a "strong journalistic streak", being "really critical and analytical". She has wanted to become an actress since the age of two. Wilde attended Georgetown Day School in Washington, D.C., as well as the Phillips Academy, and subsequently moved to Dublin, Ireland, where she attended The Gaiety School of Acting. She had initially began working as a casting assistant, and changed her surname from "Cockburn" to "Wilde" when she began acting professionally.
Wilde has appeared in the films The Girl Next Door, Alpha Dog and Turistas. She became known for her recurring role on The O.C. as the bisexual character Alex Kelly. She has also appeared in the Dashboard Confessional music video for "Stolen" and was heavily considered to play Bond girl Vesper Lynd in the 21st Bond film Casino Royale; Eva Green eventually won the role. In 2005, Wilde was ranked #61 on Maxim magazine's Hot 100. She was also ranked #95 on the FHM 100 Sexiest Women of 2006.
As of 2007, Wilde is a part of the ensemble cast of the NBC midseason drama The Black Donnellys. Her character, Jenny Reilly, is the lone principal female character in the series following the lives of an Irish-American family tied to organized crime in New York City. Also in 2007, Wilde will appear in the play Beauty on the Vine, a political thriller scheduled to premiere in late April and run until June; Wilde will play three different characters.
The New York Observer has described Wilde as having a "throaty voice" and the "wide, teal-eyed charisma of Hollywood in the days of yore". She has cited Meryl Streep, Sigourney Weaver, Frances McDormand, Catherine Keener and Robin Wright Penn as acting inspirations, and also admires playwright Eve Ensler and director and actor Woody Allen.
Wilde has dual citizenship between the United Stated and Ireland. On June 7, 2003, Wilde, nineteen at the time, married Prince Tao Ruspoli, an Italian documentary filmmaker, photographer and flamenco guitar player of aristocratic origin; the two eloped six months after they met and were married in a small civil ceremony conducted by a Justice of the Peace. They were introduced to each other at a party by journalist Duncan Campbell (The Guardian), a friend of Wilde's family. Wilde is a natural blonde and has stated that people have been "shocked" that she is a blonde but that "I wasn’t stupid".
