Olivia Wilde's The Invite puts an all-male Oscars record in focus
No woman in 98 years of the Oscars has been nominated for acting in a film she directed. Olivia Wilde's comedy The Invite has put that record into the awards-season conversation, according to Variety.
Men have collected 20 such acting nominations for films they directed. The contrast is stark, and it frames Wilde's dual credit as director and star.
The Invite is Wilde's third feature as a director. It was adapted by Rashida Jones and Will McCormack from Cesc Gay's 2020 Spanish film The People Upstairs, and centres on messy behaviour at close quarters.
In the story, two dysfunctional spouses receive a steamy invitation from their upstairs neighbours that spirals into chaos. Seth Rogen plays Joe, Wilde plays Angela, Edward Norton plays Hawk and Penélope Cruz plays Pina.
The film debuted in the Premieres category of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, a sidebar for new work from established film-makers, according to Sundance. It then held its Los Angeles premiere at the DGA Theater on June 24, 2026, according to WWD.
Wilde told Reuters on that red carpet that she was intimidated by the idea of doing both jobs. Variety described the project as stretching her as both a film-maker and an actor, and its awards coverage has raised the prospect of a first career Oscar nomination for Wilde.
The craft conversation has already started. Costume designer Arianne Phillips discussed finding a frustrated-artist look for Wilde's character, according to Variety.
The history Wilde would be entering is entirely male. Leslie Howard was the first to earn an acting nomination for a film he directed, co-directing Pygmalion (1938) with Anthony Asquith. Orson Welles was 25 when he directed and starred in Citizen Kane.
Eight men have earned acting and directing nominations for the same film they directed and starred in. Only two went on to win the acting prize for that film: Laurence Olivier for Hamlet (1948) and Roberto Benigni for Life Is Beautiful (1997).
The wider directing race remains lopsided. Only nine women have been nominated for best director in 98 years, and three have won. On Variety's best director prediction chart published Oct. 8, the top 30 included only three female film-makers: Wilde, Siân Heder for Being Heumann and Beth de Araújo for Josephine.
What makes this stand out is the double hurdle. Directing and acting nominations are voted on by different branches, so a performer-director needs support in two separate rooms. For fans, this means the question is not only whether voters respond to the performance, but whether they also back the direction.
