Olivia Wilde Directs Margaret Qualley in First Trailer for 'Wild and Strange' Short Film 'Wake Up'
Olivia Wilde brings her directing skills to a short film starring Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood's Margaret Qualley
By Ale Russian
Olivia Wilde's first Booksmart follow-up is here — and it stars Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood's Margaret Qualley.
Wilde, who gained critical acclaim for her feature length directorial debut with the comedy last summer, directs Qualley in a short film set to premiere in Park City, Utah parallel to the run of the Sundance Film Festival.
"It was such a thrill to collaborate with Margaret Qualley to tell this story about what it means to be human," Wilde tells PEOPLE. "With legendary cinematographer Matty Libatique, and the rest of our extraordinary crew, I had the chance to make something wild and strange and timely."
PEOPLE's exclusive trailer for the short film introduces Qualley's Jane Doe, a woman forced to rediscover her humanity in an increasingly digital world. The trailer shows Jane in the hospital before she's seen running around New York City, desperately trying to connect with the world. Though she attempts to talk to people, it seems they're too concerned with what's happening on their phones to pay attention to her.
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Both Qualley and Wilde had breakout years in different ways in 2019.
Wilde established herself as a director to watch with Booksmart, and already lined up her next project in the thriller Don't Worry, Darling. Wilde will direct, produce and star in the psychological thriller for the Time's Up era.
She's also set to direct an original untitled holiday-comedy film written by Booksmart writer Katie Silberman. The writer helped update the Booksmart script after it had been floating around since 2009.
Qualley gained critical acclaim for her supporting roles in both Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood and the FX show Fosse/Verdon. The former dancer picked up an Emmy nomination last year for her performance as famed dancer and choreographer Ann Reinking.
Wake Up, produced by The Lab at Anonymous Content, will also debut on Friday on the Garage by HP.
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