Olivia Wilde on Divorce, Clooney and How She Got the Itch

While finalizing her divorce from Ruspoli a few months ago, Wilde described herself as "wobbly" then but is feeling stronger now.

"When you go through a breakup, you lose faith for a while," Wilde, 27, told Town & Country. "It makes you feel like such a failure, but I think this whole traumatic year has made me a better actor. And the good thing about getting divorced young -- if there is a good thing -- is that it makes you realize there's no schedule in life. It blasts you wide open and frees you to be honest with yourself."

As for her career, the "Cowboys & Aliens" star credits her parents, screenwriters Leslie and Andrew Cockburn, for sparking her interest.

"My dad took me to see 'Saturday Night Live' as a birthday treat, and I knew at that moment that this was what I wanted to do," she said.

And the first celebrity she met was George Clooney, on the set of "The Peacemaker," the 1997 movie for which her parents wrote the screenplay.

"Having George Clooney be the first Hollywood actor I met set a pretty high standard," she said. "He's genuinely sincere, smart, gracious, and I like his politics, too, which always helps."

Wilde also said her "House" co-star, Hugh Laurie, has been a big influence.