Olivia Wilde Reflects on Breakup with Jason Sudeikis and Its Influence on Her Upcoming Film "The Invite"
On the Call Her Daddy podcast, Olivia Wilde opened up about how a quiet birthday exchange with Jason Sudeikis became the catalyst for both a personal split and the emotional core of her next film. The conversation took place on Wilde’s 36th birthday in March 2020, when she was driving home from a party and asked the actor if he had bought her a present. He replied, “What would I get you, Olivia? I don’t know you.” The comment, she said, pierced the tension that had already been building and forced both of them to acknowledge that their relationship had drifted.
Wilde explained that the moment was not the result of a single fight but a quiet realization that the couple had become a place where they stopped engaging in the knowing of each other. The exchange made it clear that their engagement—seven years long and never leading to marriage—was over. They had two children together: son Otis, born in 2014, and daughter Daisy, born in 2016. After the birthday conversation, they tried to repair their marriage for the sake of their family, but the COVID‑19 lockdown that began a few days later forced them to stay under the same roof. Wilde said the pandemic made the decision to separate more difficult, but ultimately they agreed that they worked better apart.
In November 2020, Wilde and Sudeikis issued a joint statement confirming their split, ending months of public speculation. The former couple’s breakup gained additional attention when Wilde was served custody papers while appearing onstage at CinemaCon in 2022. The papers were filed by Sudeikis’ former nanny, who claimed that the children were being abused. Wilde and Sudeikis later issued a joint statement denying the allegations.
Wilde has said that her experience as a co‑parent has been healthier than the relationship itself. “These kids are consistently getting the best of us in a way that when we were together was not possible,” she said. “We did not work together. But we work really well as separated co‑parents.”
The birthday conversation also inspired the emotional core of The Invite, a comedy directed by Wilde that stars her alongside Seth Rogen, Penélope Cruz and Edward Norton. The film, a remake of the Spanish movie The People Upstairs, premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival on January 24, 2026, and is scheduled for a limited theatrical release in the United States on June 26, 2026, by A24. Wilde said that the line “I don’t know you” helped her explore the theme of a marriage that has lost its sense of discovery.
The Invite follows Joe and Angela, a married couple whose relationship is on thin ice. When they invite their enigmatic upstairs neighbors to a dinner party, the night spirals into unexpected places. Wilde’s own experience with a relationship that had become a place where you stop engaging in the knowing of each other informs the film’s portrayal of marital uncertainty.
Wilde’s public life has also included a brief romance with singer‑songwriter Harry Styles, which drew media scrutiny. She described that relationship as “the loveliest relationship,” but said that the public’s reaction highlighted a double standard that has historically been applied to women.
The film’s release follows Wilde’s 2022 thriller Don Worry Darling, which received mixed reviews, and her 2019 directorial debut Booksmart, which earned her an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature. The Invite is her third feature as a director and her first since Don Worry Darling.
In summary, Olivia Wilde has linked a pivotal birthday conversation with the end of her engagement to Jason Sudeikis to the thematic development of her upcoming film The Invite. The film’s premiere at Sundance and its scheduled release by A24 mark the next chapter in Wilde’s career as both actress and director.
