It was during a 2018 interview for her upcoming movie Wind River that Elizabeth Olsen made an omission to a journalist that neither expected.
“I’m getting a lot more fear-based as I age,” she tells me. “I worry about that stuff, and I’m becoming increasingly fearful.”
The statement seemed at odds with an actress who is, let’s face it, a fearless performer. From her remarkable breakthrough as a cult escapee in Martha Marcy May Marlene to her fan-favorite turn as the Scarlett Witch in the Avengers, Olsen strikes as an actress willing to do it all and risk it all. It was difficult to gauge whether such a comment was meant to deflect from, or delve into, who she is.
Over the subsequent weeks and months, Olsen removed her almost entirely from social media, hunkered down at home, and spent the various Covid lockdowns surmising what she really wanted from the industry.
Olsen, 33, has never been helped by the fact that she has two twin sisters, Mary-Kate and Ashley, who offer instant reserve when navigating the choppy waters of superstardom. The polished, precise actress has witnessed their rise and falls first-hand, in both acting and fashion.
Thankfully, the demons have subsided somewhat. After TV work with Love and Death and WandaVision, she reprises Wanda Maximoff in the significant screen return of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, alongside Benedict Cumberbatch.
STRIPLV: You are back. All-action, all you. OLSEN: I feel that way, yes. I feel I have had time to recharge, work a few things out, and scope out a path I want to pursue in the future. I’ve also been spending time with Benedict Cumberbatch, which is, well, you know, an okay thing to do. STRIPLV: You return to the all-action genre that many feels has become your own with the release of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. When did you first learn that you were going to appear in the Dr. Strange franchise? OLSEN: When I first found out that I was going to be in Dr. Strange, I didn’t know at the time what compacity. The first time I learned about the script, however, when it was orally pitched to me, I was terrified. (laughing) It felt like something that I’d never guess would happen. And I was excited by the challenge. Wanda was due a return, and I guess so was I. I have had a nice break from things, from a lot of things. I have got married, lived through Covid, like everyone else, taken a step back from the realities of life and what the industry expected of me, and I feel I have returned a better person. Whether I have returned a better actress is for other people to judge, but I think when given the opportunity, we should all, sometimes, seek to look out for different projects and explore new angles by which we can educate and inform ourselves. STRIPLV: Where do we find Wanda in this movie? OLSEN: We find Wanda in isolation. I think after the experience that she’s had, the best way for her to grow is to be ok with being alone with herself. She’s gone through the Marvel Universe having her brother, and having her Vision now she is on her own. And to find that strength within herself is where we find her, and that happens to be a beautiful cabin with some land that she takes care of. STRIPLV: What can you tell us about the arcs your character takes in the MCU? OLSEN: I have been so lucky to have such incredible arcs within my journey in the MCU. It started with someone who is angsty and angry. But had a very clear perspective who really thought she knew what she believed. And it was turned upside down. And she keeps going with it. She keeps getting knocked down and then she has so much loss. And then she grows from it, and she tries to continue even though it is very difficult. I’ve been surprised how well I’ve been utilized so far up until Wanda Vision. It took up a lane. I always talk about sincerity, love, sadness, and grief. With Wanda Vision, it became this whole other three-dimensional experience with the character that got that I never foresaw. I feel very grateful that I can continue in this journey. STRIPLV: What was it like working with Benedict on this project? OLSEN: I was really excited to get to work with Benedict. I’d never worked with him before we had met a few times. I am such a fan of his work I was very excited to be on the inside of his process. And to problem solve with him to enjoy the struggles and to enjoy the fun. It was also nice to have someone that uses their hands for power, so I wasn’t the only one making it all up in my own head. There is no punching. It was all just magic, and he and I both take that part of the job very seriously. And we really care about our movements and our choreography. And what it means and what it looks like. And how specific we want to be, so it was nice to have that in another actor. STRIPLV: What was it like working with the director Sam Rami? OLSEN: Having Sam Rami as the director couldn’t have been the more perfect match. I think he brought so much of his background of his career to this film how he uses the camera and lenses to manipulate timing. To manipulate his audiences. But he also, contrary to how disturbing some of his films are not all but some. He is so kind and sweet, and open-minded. And generous with ideas and generous with collaborating. Truly just a sweet, good person. And I really enjoyed getting to work with him. Getting to know him, getting to pick his brain about lenses, I feel like I did get to learn a lot from him, and I really enjoyed it. STRIPLV: Wanda flies a lot in this movie. OLSEN: Yes, Wanda flies a lot in this movie. I’ve flown more in this than I ever have. Luckily, I have had a lot of experience flying, but I’ve had lots of experience on a few different rigs. There were a few rigs that I’ve never experienced before in this film. And I have to say that I do enjoy it. I don’t like roller coasters. I don’t like adrenaline rushes, but I feel very safe on these sets with our amazing stunt teams and rigging crews. And I really feel safer than I could ever feel at Six Flags. So, I do enjoy flying, and I do get a thrill from it, and it is something that we have progressed. And there are ways that we use her flying that we haven’t seen before. And that was also interesting for me, the practicality. I can’t wait for people to see a behind-the-scenes clip. STRIPLV: What did opening up the multiverse do? OLSEN: I think opening up the multiverse is going to create bottomless stories and storytelling. Not just for the characters themselves being able to become different versions with different circumstances of themselves but also with the story. I feel like it’s an amazing opportunity, and I have no idea where it will go, but I hope I am a part of it in some way. STRIPLV: What are audiences going to expect from seeing this film? OLSEN: I don’t know what audiences are going to expect who haven’t seen the film. But what I hope audiences can expect is a new journey that opens up many more opportunities for the characters that you love and to new characters, and I hope there is a thrill to it. I hope people can enjoy it in the theaters together without spoilers and be surprised by this journey. These characters go to new places that we haven’t seen, and I just don’t want that to be spoiled for anyone. STRIPLV: If you could describe the film in one word, what would it be? OLSEN: Chaos. If I had to describe the movie in one word, that is what it would be. Chaos STRIPLV: You have your confidence back and seem to be the perfect form to play badass women again. Do you feel that way? OLSEN: I think the term badass is thrown around way too much. I can see why it’s used, and I use it myself, but I feel sometimes it degenerates from the point of the character, and if you do that, you lose a lot of the context from the plot. Do I look for badass characters? Not really. I would instead say I search out emotionally powerful individuals struggling with adversity, with internal conflicts, who have to prove themselves. Individuals who are damaged - I like damaged characters, I think I seek out damaged characters the most, or at least, that’s what I’m sent the most. (Laughs)
STRIPLV: Do you prefer big or small movies? OLSEN: Several years ago, I saw that even if you›re part of good films, you still won’t find a lot of work unless you have the recognition that comes from doing bigger movies. When you do big studio films, it gives you the kind of visibility that helps you do films like Wind River and Ingrid Goes West. I’ve seen what a big difference it makes when you’re going to auditions or meeting with directors. I’m constantly looking forward to being able to do both the big movies and smaller passion projects. STRIPLV: You seem so at home in this genre. OLSEN: “But what’s been really weird is ‘having powers’ and throwing fireballs. At the start, you’re like, “Okay, this is a little different than expected.” It feels silly. I was a little conscious and maybe too aware, but now I feel like I own throwing fireballs. If you told me to shoot someone over there, it’d be like, ‘Oh yeah, let’s do it one of three ways. (Laughs) I had to watch myself, though, because I kept making all these noises when I was throwing fireballs. Oh god yeah, I make these noises when I do that. And you have to try your best not to do it because it gets picked up on the microphones. You have to remember not to do it. STRIPLV: Was it a giant leap from making smaller pictures early in your career to doing Godzilla or The Avengers? OLSEN: “It was actually kind of thrilling for me to be part of those massive films because I grew up watching films like Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Lord of the Rings. Those are some of my favorite movies of all time, and I used to watch them with my brother and father. I was always hanging out with guys when I was growing up, and I was also pretty competitive from playing volleyball. I was never the kind of girl who wanted to dress up, and I’m still a bit shy when it comes to going out on the red carpet and wearing fabulous designer outfits. That’s not my style. STRIPLV: You started acting at a young age. Would you consider yourself a former child actor? OLSEN: It wasn’t like that. I only ever did two-second moments in my sisters’ movies, and that was only because myself and my brother would be on set with them, and they’d say, “Hey Lizzie, you want to be in this scene. We do need to put gum in your hair.” That would be the extent of it. And from that came my apparent childhood acting career. The only thing I ever professionally did as a kid was a commercial about internet safety when the internet first became a thing. STRIPLV: Were you a natural performer? OLSEN: I was always performing, always putting on little musicals, always singing and dancing. I went to camp, musical theatre camp, made short movies with my friends, but I didn’t want to be an actress, especially because I grew up in LA, very cliché. Plus, I liked academia, I liked chemistry and the periodic table, and I liked learning and acting to me didn’t follow that path of learning. STRIPLV: You’ve taken a very different approach to how you present and project yourself as opposed to your older sisters? OLSEN: I would rather live as privately and quietly as possible. That’s why I’m not on social media anymore because I would rather keep my opinions and thoughts out of the public eye and save them for my friends and conversations over dinner. I like being able to have the kind of career where I’m seen as an actor rather than a celebrity. My sisters are amazing women, and they are incredibly talented fashion designers and great at business. I’m always so impressed by how good they are at what they do. Yet I wouldn’t want to live with all the attention that they’ve had to endure, and this is why I removed myself from social media. I ended up in really quite a terrifying place where I realized social media was giving me a voice and expectation I just didn’t want and, more to the point, didn’t deserve. That’s not why I got into acting; that’s not why I started up an Instagram account. I don’t want to be a sounding board or a soapbox for the world’s issues. I am not anyone to judge. The issue with social media that I realized too late is that you are lambasted when you raise an opinion but totally pillared when you don’t raise one. That ability and insistence to judge are actually really damaging, and I am glad to be away from it, to be honest, because I could feel the weight of expectation eating away at me and affecting my whole desire to carry on doing what I was doing, which was to make films. If I was always going to carry around this additional baggage of being expected to say something, was it all really worth it? I am all too capable of tripping myself up, and therein lies the problem. STRIPLV: Do you miss social media in any way? OLSEN: No! I always found the balance hard. I was always trying to find the right humor to make fun of myself. I liked that side to it, but approaching it with all sincerity, you know, the idea of taking a selfie in the morning and hashtagging, “Mondaymotivation,” I don’t need to do that. It doesn’t feel natural to me. For those who it feels natural for and who enjoy doing it, I totally respect and celebrate that. Jokes on Instagram, making fun of myself, that’s as far as it will ever go. For a long time, I didn’t quite understand it. I just thought it was a very vain, narcissistic. I think taking pictures of yourself all day that’s bizarre behavior. I thought all social media was a horrible blight on the world and clung to what was wrong with it. Of course, I’m a total over-thinker. I think way too much, and I don’t regard it in the same way nowadays, but I still fundamentally don’t like it.”