What character did Olivia Wilde play in House? Actress says she received "insane death threats" for on-screen interracial relationship

Olivia Wilde revealed that her time in the long-standing medical drama House didn't receive a warm reception and instead had gotten stinging backlash from the audience. She played the young bisexual doctor Remy Hadley, aka Thirteen, who has Huntington's disease, in House from 2007 to 2012.

The role may have been a "breakthrough" for Wilde, but her character's identity and interracial relationship sparked controversy at the time. At the Red Sea International Film Festival on Sunday, December 8, via Variety, the actress said:

"[There were] insane death threats constantly coming into the studios."

The actress mentioned that the production had to add extra security measures on set because of it. That said, Wilde further said that representation has come a long way since then, adding:

"Seeing what's on television now, if you watch 'Euphoria,' the fact that my character was shocking and groundbreaking then, it's like, no, it's nothing."

Olivia Wilde joined the House cast in season 4 episode 2, The Right Stuff, when Dr. Greggory House tried to assemble a new diagnostic team from the 40 applicants. From then on, she became a major character in the medical drama and consistently appeared in every episode until season 6.

She returned in season 7 for seven episodes and in season 8 for three more episodes, including the finale, Everybody Dies, during House's funeral.

---

Olivia Wilde says she would rather play "controversial than boring" roles

Speaking of playing risk-taking roles, besides portraying Thirteen in House, Olivia Wilde also played a queer character in The O.C. She played the bisexual bartender Alex Kelly, who was in a relationship with both Adam Brody's Seth Cohen and Mischa Barton's Marissa Cooper. Wilde also made her directorial debut with Booksmart, which featured a lesbian teenage heroine.

She looked back on her previous roles, at the Red Sea International Film Festival on December 8, saying that she "naturally gravitated" towards roles with a bit of risk involved despite audience reception. Wilde added:

"I think that it was important to me to never become overly focused on being accepted or loved. I'd rather be controversial than boring."

She previously looked back at her queer roles in House and The O.C. during a video interview with Variety, dated August 24, 2022. At the time, she said that her roles received a surprising reception from the audience and that she never thought playing same-s*x relationship roles should have made headlines.

Meanwhile, Olivia Wilde also told The Advocate in January 2016 that people have come up to her about her The O.C. character, and the response was surprisingly positive. She said:

"I was just surprised by the enormity of the response. I still have women coming up to tell me they started discovering their own sexuality because of The O.C."

---

Olivia Wilde is set to star in another controversial feature, Gregg Araki's I Want Your S*x. She will be playing the character of Erika Tracy, a renowned artist and provocateur who taps into a fresh-faced Elliot (Cooper Hoffman), to become her s*xual muse. The thriller, which has no anticipated release date yet, is also confirmed to star Charli XCX, although her character has been kept under wraps.