Olivia Wilde reacts to Gollum comparison after cruel trolls criticise her appearance

After being unfavourably compared to a Lord of the Rings character by a pack of online trolls, Olivia Wilde has spoken out.

The heartache began on the red carpet of the San Francisco International Film Festival on 24 April, which Wilde, 42, attended to promote her latest comedy flick, The Invite.

On the night, the actress spoke to a number of press agencies, including the San Francisco Chronicle, which filmed its catch-up with some rather unsavoury lighting and quickly sent the interview viral online.

Within hours, trolls were comparing Wilde to the LOTR character, Gollum, due to the shadows that the poor lighting had cast upon her face.

"She looks as if she had found the one ring," one X user jibed.

Another hit out: "The cameraman really doing a disservice here."

Meanwhile, others rushed to defend Wilde, with one fan writing: "It's unflattering lighting and a bad camera lens. She otherwise looks beautiful and is aging gracefully."

Someone else commented: "Why is this even a post? She’s beautiful. We’re living in such a world where everyone has to be perfect."

Thankfully, however, the Don't Worry Darling star has been able to take the appearance-based criticism with a pinch of salt, and even shared a screengrab of the interview clip to her own Instagram profile.

Joining in on the fun-poking, Wilde also shared an image of the fantasy character made famous by Andy Serkis.

"Leave it to your little brother to give you the maximum amount of s**t," she captioned the rib-tickling post.

The upload then featured her brother, Charlie Cockburn, asking in the background: "Olivia Wilde, do you care to address recent rumours that you're a resurrected corpse?"

Thankfully, Wilde was able to laugh off the criticism (Instagram/@oliviawilde)

Wilde, wearing a baseball cap to disguise her amusement, then replies while looking directly at the camera: "Listen, that's a fish-eye lens. And I admit, is that my best angle? Was that my best-ever look? No.

"No, it's startling. It's a startling image."

Doubling down on her fish-eye lens claims, she went on to laugh: "I don't know why I was so close to the camera. I didn't have to be. That's not the truth."

Hearing her brother laugh, Wilde asked, 'Do you have any more questions?' before re-emphasising: "I'm not dead."

The actress's latest project, The Invite, marks the third film she has directed.

It follows a troubled couple who throw a dinner party, inviting their upstairs neighbours for a night that quickly descends into chaos.

Adapted from the 2020 Spanish comedy film The People Upstairs, the movie also stars Seth Rogen, Penélope Cruz and Edward Norton.

Wilde directed and stars in The Invite (Miikka Skaffari/Getty Images)

Celebrating the wrapping up of filming last year, Wilde gushed on Instagram: "I don't yet have the words to say how meaningful this experience has been.

"So, for now, just want to say THANK YOU to every brilliant, kind, hilarious person who made this production happen."

She added at the time: "I can't wait to show the world what we all made together."