Rave reviews are pouring in for Olivia Wilde’s new film The Invite, in which she and Seth Rogan play an uptight couple Angela and Joe, who are stuck in a fragile marriage. When their sexually liberated neighbours, therapist Pina (Penelope Cruz) and ex-firefighter Hawk (Edward Norton) come over for dinner, their prudish attitudes are seriously - and hilariously - challenged.The satire on modern American relationships, which Olivia also directs, has been praised for capturing the palpable discomfort, as the strait-laced hosts are exposed to the extremely adult conversation of their guests. Olivia, 42, tells The Arts Hour on the BBC World Service: “It is a deceptively simple premise. You think, ‘ok, a dinner party. Four people in a room. Sweet little chamber piece.’ And then it obviously had the potential to be something that would punch you in the gut and make you laugh hard at yourself, which is what we all need.”Olivia, whose character is seen kissing Pina in the film, is no stranger to attention grabbing relationships - with exes including pop megastar Harry Styles, 32, her boyfriend of two years, and Ted Lasso actor Jason Sudeikis, 50. While now she is dating British art dealer Caspar Jopling, 34, the ex-husband of singer Ellie Goulding.‌She says of Caspar, who she started being linked to last year - having split with Styles in November 2022: “I’m in a really lovely relationship now. I adore him, and I feel completely whole and intact as a person. I think it’s only possible after spending a couple of years alone. If you haven’t ever been single for a few years, how do you even know who you are?”Meanwhile, Olivia and her ex-fiance Jason successfully co-parent their two children, Otis, 12, and Daisy, 9. She says of the actor - having previously said she knew they had grown apart during a car journey after her 36th birthday dinner in 2020: “We’re very, very, very different people who are certainly much better as friends and co-parents.”Of Harry Styles, she said on her Call Her Daddy podcast that while he was “sweet” and “beautiful,” incessant fanmania surrounding him meant people were “f***ing p***ed" by their romance. She was also married, aged 19, in 2003, to Italian film maker and musician Tao Ruspoli , now 50 - a relationship described as “bohemian.” But they divorced in 2011.‌Yet Olivia says she has learned a lot about relationships from playing Angela. She says: “I really learned from this character and from these people the importance of autonomy within a relationship, that you have to maintain your whole self.“You can’t blame someone else for your unhappiness, you can’t resent someone for your own misery. It’s your responsibility and these characters are really struggling with that.“They’ve kind of fallen into the rhythm of blaming their unhappiness on each other which is not really fair.”‌The film, which is in cinemas now and has grossed more than £14 million globally since it was released earlier this month, sees Angela, a former interior designer, and failed musician Joe, invite their neighbours over ostensibly to apologise for the building noise caused by them renovating their apartment.At one point during filming, Penelope Cruz improvised a kiss, which made it into the movie’s final cut. Olivia laughs about the experience, saying: “My mind went blank because I was so struck by this moment. I lost control. I was so madly in love with her!”The O.C. and House actress says she chose to direct The Invite as she wanted to concentrate on the actors’ performances and was drawn to the friction within long-term relationships. Olivia explains how it came about, saying: “It was a Spanish play written and directed by a guy named Cesc Gay. He then turned that into a film, which was a great independent Spanish film called The People Upstairs. That’s the film that Edward and I both saw and loved. That then was adapted into several different languages, different countries - South Korea, Poland, France, Germany? Probably Germany! Then Rashida Jones and Will McCormack wrote the English language version and that’s the script I got.‌“Then we gathered the greatest actors of all time - Edward, Penelope and Seth - and we got into a room and we tore this script apart and we made it our own with Rashida and Will just kind of chewing on it. And we made it something very personal and specific and we shot the film in order on 35mm and it was a dream come true in every single way.”For Olivia, the apartment took on a life of its own - almost becoming another character. She says: “It had to tell such a big part of the story. Seth Rogan’s character has grown up in this flat, but can’t afford it, so he’s got this shame. He never would be able to have this for his own family, but he’s inherited it.“So, it’s kind of like an expensive flat that’s decorated with inexpensive things, like young people who haven’t quite grown up all the way. And they feel very insecure about having people over for dinner. So, having Penelope and Edward’s characters come in the door is kind of terrifying for my character, as it just feels very revealing.”‌Of Angela, she adds: “Her character had been an interior designer. She gave up her career to have a kid and to take care of this house. And Edward’s character is the person to make her feel like maybe she is an artist and that kind of sparks a whole thing in her.”The film’s score has been produced by the highly regarded British singer-songwriter and instrumentalist, Devonté Hynes aka Blood Orange and features tracks like Contentious Environment and They're On Their Way. Olivia says: “I love Dev’s work in film and I also know he’s a cellist and I really loved watching him play the cello. I was so inspired by him and I knew this film needed a score that would have this kind of disproportionately dramatic tone.“You know, the juxtaposition of dramatic strings with this seemingly domestic situation that’s not very high stakes and yet, internally, it feels very high stakes. I asked Dev if he was interested in it. He happens to be the biggest film nerd any of us know and he read it and he was immediately on to something really brilliant.”‌Of the musical score, she says: “It’s very like another character in the film, it’s kind of like a group chorus.” Another experience in the film which took on a life of its own was undoubtedly Penelope’s unscripted smacker.While she freely admits that her flustered reaction was not acting, Olivia would welcome a repeat performance. Reliving the moment, she says: “I was like, ‘oh, hair in the gate. Do [it] again!”*The full version of The Arts Hour can be listened to on BBC Sounds.‌