By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers
She's a Georgetown preppy who's made it big in Hollywood, but actress Olivia Wilde hasn't forgotten her District roots. "I think everyone grew up with a sense of political awareness that was really healthy," she tells the glossy Capitol File of her childhood in Washington, D.C., where she was a student at Georgetown Day School before going on to Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass. And that education, she says in the interview provided to Washington Whispers in advance of its publication, helped give her a perspective on the Bush presidency. And not a good one. "It left everyone well equipped for what we didn't know would come—the dark ages under the Bush presidency," says the 25-year-old most known for her role on House as Dr. Remy "Thirteen" Hadley, the foil to star Hugh Laurie.
Capitol File often tries to find celebs with a Washington angle, but few are as rich as Wilde's. She's the daughter of journalists and filmmakers Leslie and Andrew Cockburn. She has shopped at Georgetown's Commander Salamander and CVS and frolicked through Dumbarton Oaks. She's been a guest at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner. And she regularly moves in the world of politics and Hollywood fame. Consider what she saw at the most recent WHCA dinner: "I remember looking across the dining room and seeing Pamela Anderson and the girls from The Hills chatting with Karl Rove, and I was like, 'Oh, my God, I don't know if I'm in hell or if this is a strange Fellini movie.' "
If you haven't figured it out already, yes, she's a fan of President Obama. "After eight years of feeling really cynical and unpatriotic, Obama inspired me to take care of the other people in America," she says of her work with groups like Doctors Without Borders. "I think the tremendous support from the Hollywood community for President Obama was really kind of invigorating," she adds. "After working on this election, I'm like, I care about my own country!"
Photo by Robert Ascroft at Monaca Reps for Capitol File
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