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The Invite: Seth Rogen, Penélope Cruz, and Making a Film About Relationships While Having One
At 1:26:36 · chapter starts 1:26:10
The Invite originated from a Spanish play that's been adapted in South Korea, Germany, Italy, France, and Spain — each version culturally distinct despite sharing the same premise. Rashida Jones and Will McCormick wrote the English version. Olivia introduces Esther Perel as a consultant and describes the film's central casting: Seth Rogen as a bottomed-out 'sad dad' who lives in his parents' apartment, Olivia as his anxiety-ridden wife, Edward Norton as their dangerously charming upstairs neighbor, and Penélope Cruz as his partner — essentially a cinematic Esther Perel, after Olivia introduced the two on Zoom and watched them ignite. The film was shot in order on film stock, with the cast workshopping the script throughout production. The ending wasn't confirmed until one week before they filmed it. The crew watched rehearsals like a theater audience, clapping at the end of scenes.
The reported on-set drama around Don't Worry Darling was almost entirely fabricated, Olivia Wilde says — the entire crew wrote a letter saying so and nobody cared. Jennifer Garner warned Wilde years earlier: once the media casts you as a character in their soap opera, the narrative runs on its own.
The Invite stars Seth Rogen and Olivia Wilde as a strained couple and Edward Norton and Penélope Cruz as their dangerously compelling upstairs neighbors, based on a Spanish play adapted across multiple countries.
Esther Perel was a hands-on consultant for The Invite. Her concept — that you can have an entirely new relationship with the same person rather than needing to leave — became a philosophical goalpost the writers worked toward. Penélope Cruz's character is essentially a cinematic Esther Perel.
