Olivia Wilde joins SmartLess to discuss her upcoming film Behemoth directed by Tony Gilroy, in which she stars alongside Will Arnett and Pedro Pascal. She shares that she changed her name from Cockburn (pronounced 'Coburn') to Wilde at age 18 out of admiration for Oscar Wilde, and that working as a casting assistant for the legendary Mali Finn taught her Sam Rockwell's audition trick — faking that he'd been given the wrong sides to lower expectations before nailing the scene. As a director herself, Wilde says she gives every auditioning actor their full time even when she knows immediately they won't get the part, because 'auditioning is a fucking nightmare.'
Key Moments
Olivia Wilde
“my last name is Cochburn. Sean, you were just talking about Cockburn like two days ago.”
Olivia reveals her birth surname — spelled Cockburn but pronounced Coburn — as the hosts react with escalating disbelief
“She said he came in and it was the last day of the director's sessions, the last possible day you could audition. And he came in and he had been given the wrong scenes. And this man, Sam Rockwell, he didn't even pause.”
Olivia recounts the legendary Sam Rockwell audition story she heard while working for casting director Mali Finn
“He goes, 'Oh, oh yeah, that was like a thing I used to do. That worked every time.'”
Olivia describes Sam Rockwell's reaction years later when she told him she'd been inspired by his audition — revealing the whole 'wrong sides' scenario was a deliberate performance tactic
“And I stopped and he's laughing and I go, did I get the wrong side again?”
Jason tells his own audition story for Rob Reiner's Bucket List, where he deliberately performed a scene from A Few Good Men as a bit after previously having the wrong sides
“I take like 12 hours per session because I'm like, you go, I want to hear it all. Even if I know from the first moment that it's not going to be them, I'm like, I this is your time and it's a disaster for everyone else cuz I will milk it because it's so hard. Auditioning is a fucking nightmare.”
Olivia explains how her experience as a casting assistant shaped her approach to running auditions as a director
SmartLess is a comedy interview podcast hosted by Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, and Will Arnett, where one host surprises the others with a mystery guest each episode. Known for its loose, banter-heavy format, the show blends celebrity gossip, self-deprecating humor, and genuine conversation. It consistently ranks among the top podcasts globally and has spawned a Netflix documentary series.
Takeaways
1
Sam Rockwell's 'wrong sides' trick lowered the bar deliberately Rockwell would claim he'd been given the wrong audition scenes, then ask for the correct ones and 'learn them in five minutes' before the room. This lowered expectations so dramatically that even a competent performance read as miraculous. He later told Olivia it was a rehearsed tactic that 'worked every time' — not a genuine mishap.
2
Working in casting before auditioning gives actors a real edge Wilde worked for legendary casting director Mali Finn at 16 and again at 18, watching actors she would later work alongside at their most vulnerable and unprepared. Finn's strict standards — turning away actors who weren't off-book — instilled a discipline in Wilde that she says never left her: she has never gone to an audition unprepared.
3
Self-tape overproduction signals insecurity, not professionalism As a director receiving self-tapes, Wilde says elaborate lighting rigs and production setups actually work against actors. She'd rather see a rough iPhone selfie video shot in a car on the way to a day job than a polished setup, because overproduction signals the actor is compensating rather than acting.
4
Casting for 'Behemoth': Tony Gilroy directing Pedro Pascal and Will Arnett Tony Gilroy — writer-director of Michael Clayton and Andor — has a new film called Behemoth about the world of film music composition, starring Pedro Pascal as a cellist. Will Arnett plays Pascal's brother, and Olivia Wilde has a supporting role. No release date was confirmed but Wilde says it features at least seven composers.
5
A name built for humiliation can become a career superpower Wilde grew up as Olivia Cockburn — pronounced Coburn but spelled exactly as it looks — and changed it to Wilde at 18 after becoming obsessed with Oscar Wilde's writing. She frames the name as character-building, likening it to 'a boy named Sue,' and notes she only later realized 'Wilde' would invite its own wave of tabloid puns like 'Born to Be Wild' and 'Get Wild.'