Olivia Wilde appears in the September issue of Elle for a feature on what it’s like to turn 30. They interview several actresses, but Olivia’s interview dropped first. She overthinks the aging thing like so many of us tend to do. Livvy’s also profoundly influenced by her motherhood experience and tends to fall into magical-womb speak. Her interviews sometimes stir up a debate, and I think she says controversial things without even realizing it. Like the time she said her ex-husband made her vagina die. That wasn’t good. Here, Olivia alludes to the happiness she felt upon divorce, and how she’s evolved in the three years since. She may step in it a bit when comparing male and female development, but I don’t know because I only have one child and can’t compare daughters and sons. Let’s do this:

On her upcoming thirties: “I find that most of the women that I really look up to, both women I know personally and women I admire from afar, are in their forties. So now, my thirties seem like this great opportunity to develop the experience and wisdom that will allow me to have an even greater decade in my forties. Thirties feel like a fertile ground. The twenties are for f***ing up, that’s what you’re supposed to do, and your thirties are for using the knowledge you gained from said f***ing up to make something, to put that experience toward something useful. And then I think your forties are an opportunity to enjoy what you’ve worked for.”

Her life changed at 27: “I got a divorce, and I felt like I finally started my career. I started making movies and projects that I just really believed in. I remember a good friend saying to me, now isn’t it relaxing that you don’t have to be perfect? And I thought, that is something that happens for everyone, not just for professionals. At the end of your twenties, you realize you are inherently flawed, and that’s great, and that’s what makes you dynamic. For me, personally, it was around 27 when that kind of return to self took place, of living for myself, not living to keep up expectations.”

On sexism and male favoritism: “It evens out in other ways. We’re so much smarter. You know, it’s interesting having a son. Someone told me that it’s good when you have a son first because when you have a daughter first and then a son, you think your son’s slow. A lot of parents freak out because they’ve seen a daughter progress so quickly and they think their male child is like damaged. But boys are just naturally slow.”

More on aging: “At 30, it’s not a lack of awareness of consequences, but I think it’s another biological, evolutionary shift that allows you to break away from the tribe. And to be yourself. And to live for yourself. And I think it’s maybe designed so that you will be an elder, maybe it’s designed so you can be a parent but, you know, you don’t have to be. The point is that you then are free to make whatever decision you want. If you think about it, we’re still living by these biological patterns that were designed to allow us to survive — I mean we were all going to die by 30 anyway. Maybe that’s what it is! At 30, the reason we feel this release is because we’re supposed to be dead. This is our, like … our afterlife.”

[From Elle]

I really have no idea what Olivia’s talking about with her “break away from the tribe” reference. She sounds pretty kumbaya and mother-earthy, which is probably her idealism talking. Livvy’s a pretty positive person (except when she’s kinda trashing her ex), and she’s delivering an inspirational missive for a fashion magazine. They wanted her to discuss the awesomeness of turning thirty, so that’s what she did. Now, let’s see what Olivia has to say when she turns 40. A whole lot can change in a decade.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet & WENN