Olivia Wilde says the end of her relationship with Jason Sudeikis didn’t come from one dramatic argument, but from a single birthday conversation that made clear how much distance had grown between them.
Speaking on the Call Her Daddy podcast, the actress and director reflected on the difficult final stage of her nearly decade long relationship with the Ted Lasso star. Wilde said the pair had already been struggling by the time her 36th birthday arrived in March 2020.
Jason Sudeikis dances to ‘Ted Lasso’ at Iowa-Bowling women’s basketball game
“Jason and I had been having a rough time for a while. We had a real bumpy ride,” Wilde said.
The moment that stayed with her happened as they were driving home from her birthday party in March 2020. Wilde said she asked Sudeikis whether he had bought her a present, and his answer cut through the state of their relationship.
“He said, ‘What would I get you, Olivia? I don’t know you,’” Wilde recalled.
The line was painful, but Wilde acknowledged that it also reflected a truth neither of them could ignore. She said Sudeikis “wasn’t wrong” because they “didn’t know each other anymore.”
Wilde says the moment inspired The Invite
That exchange later became part of the emotional foundation for Wilde’s new movie The Invite, which centers on a struggling married couple played by Wilde and Seth Rogen.
“You can get to a place in a relationship where you stop engaging in the knowing of each other and the curiosity of each other, and you find yourself in a place where you’re like, ‘I don’t even know you,’” Wilde explained.
Wilde said the birthday conversation pushed them toward accepting that the relationship was over.
“It was f**king tough,” she admitted. “It brought us to the place of, ‘OK, this is done, we’re gonna (sic) end this.’”
The timing made the decision even more complicated. Days later, the COVID lockdown began, forcing Wilde and Sudeikis to remain under the same roof with their two children, son Otis and daughter Daisy.
Wilde said they tried to repair things for the sake of their family, but eventually recognized they worked better apart. The former couple, who were engaged for seven years but never married, confirmed their split in November 2020.
Coparenting becomes the new relationship
Their breakup later became a public spectacle, especially when Wilde was served custody papers while appearing onstage at CinemaCon in 2022.
Her later romance with Harry Styles also drew heavy attention and criticism, something Wilde said reflected a familiar double standard.
“We’ve done this to women for a long time,” Wilde said. “Why is it? I don’t know.”
She also described her relationship with Styles as “the loveliest relationship.”
“He’s so sweet and so beautiful and really actually very domestic and kind and lovely,” Wilde said.
Despite the difficult history with Sudeikis, Wilde said their current dynamic is far healthier as coparents.
“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 preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.marca.com ’
