By: Allison Auld, Phila.

Allison Auld, Phila. — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 20:06:31 +0000

As a longtime Owen Wilson fan who has been left wondering
“WTF?” for the last (going-on) eight months, I enjoyed this
post very much. As the months went by and no “cathartic”
interview was forthcoming, I asked myself, “How is he going to
promote his next movie?” The answer is revealed: he isn’t,
at least not in any traditional sense of the word. Of course,
he doesn’t OWE anyone an explanation, yet I still thought it
a bit arrogant at first blush, like “I’m such a big movie
star - I don’t need to talk.” But now I’m
reconsidering my opinion. After reading first-hand reports of
encounters with Owen Wilson lately (at charity events, from
extras on the set of “Marley and Me”), the same words keep
emerging regarding his demeanor - “sad”, “depressed” and,
I think this is the most frightening one of all, “distracted.”
I believe that there is something ELSE going on
here. I DON’T believe (as his publicist said) that he is too
busy filming to do interviews - like the studio couldn’t get
him from Miami to New York for an afternoon - or that his
people are worried that he will be asked about his suicide
attempt. Publicists tightly control those interviews and
CLEARLY delinate what topics are off-limits. Plus, the right
talk-show hosts are going to treat him with kid-gloves anyway.
No, I think it’s that he’s not as well as Hollywood would
have the ticket-buying public believe. I think that his people
are afraid to put him in an unscripted situation in front of
an audience of everyday folk. And it pains me to say that
because, as I said, I’m a fan but I truly believe that A LOT
is still being hidden from the public and that, if he were
REALLY feeling better, that he himself would be out there,
if even in a limited way. And that “pretaped” nonsense is
only increasing the mystery and making it look worse for him.
I think that his best option is to give a tightly scripted
print interview(which I really can’t believe he hasn’t done
yet) where he acknowledges depression, says he’s been treated,
then acknowledges his family, friends and fan support system
and then continues to request a modicum of privacy during his
continued healing process. That would give the situation SOME
closure(in the public’s eye, at least.) His almost complete
public hiding act is going to make people wonder about
the TRUE state of his mental health and the situation regarding
his suicide attempt is not going to disappear. Best wishes to
Owen Wilson - I just have this feeling that he’s not out of the
woods yet …

Comments on: Owen Wilson Doesn’t Want To Talk

By: Allison Auld, Phila.