Yet another example of Olivia Wilde’s connection to Ireland is her stage name, which was chosen as an homage to one of the most famous Irish people to ever exist, poet and playwright Oscar Wilde. Most people ignore the fact that Wilde is not Olivia’s original surname, perhaps because they don’t know or perhaps because she adopted it so long ago. Olivia was only a high schooler when she chose her stage name to preemptively separate her acting identity from her personal one. “My mother thought it was a good idea for me as well, so I could have my own identity outside of my family,” Olivia told The Observer. “She suggested I pick something Irish and something that I’d always be inspired by.”
The practice of changing one’s name in Hollywood is not uncommon — everyone from Natalie Portman (born Natalie Hershlag) to Vin Diesel (born Mark Vincent) has a stage name. Some simply cut their last name, like Tom Cruise (born Thomas Cruise Mapother IV), while others alter their first name only slightly (for instance, Emma Stone, who changed her name from Emily to get into SAG). Olivia Wilde went the Portman route and chose a whole new last name, but it was certainly not at random. “At the time, I was doing The Importance of Being Earnest — I was playing Gwendolyn, and I was so in love with it,” she explained. “Oscar Wilde is someone who I respect for so many reasons — a revolutionary, a comedian, and a profound thinker.”
