You’ve seen her in hits like Life Itself, House, and my personal favorite, The O.C. But in addition to acting, Olivia Wilde is a mother of two, an activist, and all-around inspiring woman. Recently, she partnered with Dunkin’ Donuts for an event in New York City where a tiny home was fueled entirely by recycled coffee grounds (80,000 pounds, to be exact). The partnership made sense for Wilde, who is passionate about both coffee and sustainability. At the event, we had the opportunity to speak to the actress and got the scoop on a few other things she loves, too.
On how she stays fit
When she can’t get to her favorite SoulCycle class in Los Angeles with instructor Angela Manuel-Davis (a motivational speaker who “rocks her world”), a class with Tracy Anderson (“it just works”), or a dance class at New York City’s boutique studio FORWARD__Space (“I think it’s a good exercise, but I also think it’s good for your heart and your brain”), Wilde gets her body moving by stretching.
“I think it really helps my mood, as well as my body,” she tells us. Wilde categorizes her stretching as “bad yoga poses,” and adds that this form of exercise has helped her body heal from various injuries.
“I have gone through periods of different injuries that have led to really debilitating back pain,” she says. “And you realize how much of a benefit stretching is as you get older in avoiding injury. It’s just becoming something that I have embraced. It’s really an emotional kind of wind down…or to get your energy up. I just feel like I spent too much of my life not stretching.”
On her go-to coffee order
“I just get regular coffee, drip coffee, with a little mocha sugar—simple,” she says. “Sometimes French vanilla, but only if I’m feeling sassy.”
On being present
“I try to really be 100% present for whatever the job is at the moment,” Wilde says. “So, if I’m at work, I’m very present at work, I’m very focused, so that when I go home I can put my phone away and be really focused as a parent. I don’t get enough time with them during the week, and so if I have two hours a day with my kids, I just make sure that they are two fully present hours and that I am completely 100% with them and focused on them.”
On getting out of your own bubble
We know all too well how easy it is to get caught up in the day to day, but Wilde recognizes the need to stay emotionally healthy, and tells us about another way she tries to stay present. “I try to connect with as many strangers in a day as possible, so when I’m sitting on the subway I try to have connections with people,” she says. “It’s really important not to get too enclosed in our own personal spaces.”
While I’m not sure I can confidently say that I’ll be engaging with strangers on the subway any time soon, what Wilde said about being present definitely stood out.
