Elizabeth Olsen

AND THE POWER OF COLLABORATION

Elizabeth Olsen stars as Wanda Maximoff / the Scarlet Witch in this month’s blockbuster release – Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Marisa Cutillas discovers why she is the perfect actor to give life to characters that blend power and mercy.

Elizabeth Olsen has the classic fearlessness and confidence of a youngest child. As the ‘little sister’ of two veritable icons of the 1990s –

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen (of Full House fame), you would think the last thing she would want to dedicate her life to, was acting. Her sisters turned their backs on show business at a very young age, burned out by the industry and the media’s obsession with their personal lives. Mind you, they didn’t exactly fade into the ‘nothingness’, as many people assume. In fact, they have amassed a fortune much larger than they ever did as actors thanks to the launch of two fashion lines and their own company, Dualstar – a big success in ‘straight-to-video’ productions. Elizabeth is only three years younger than her iconic siblings but it seems like at least a decade separates them. If the twins were victims of an industry that shines on screen but reeks of abuse backstage, Elizabeth seems to be free of the pressure they were exposed to – or more skilful at evading it. She has the buoyant confidence required to play roles as powerful as that of Wanda Maximoff (the Scarlet Witch) and a thick skin that she grew while watching her sisters crumble under the heat of the stage lights. Although she is known for her positive, friendly attitude, she is fiercely protective when she needs to be. When told by paparazzi once that she was “so much nicer than her sisters,” she answered, “Because you guys have been bothering them their whole lives.” What would make Elizabeth want to become a film star? Were there not a bevvy of alternative careers to pursue? The truth is that while we were heavily fixated on the twins and John Stamos in the 1990s, Elizabeth was busy honing her acting skills. She appeared in her sister’s homemade videos when she was a tot and trained in ballet and singing (as many wellrounded Hollywood actors do). ›

She was only four when she began acting and by the age of 11, she had scored various roles, including one in the straight-tovideo series, The Adventures of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. There was only one small hiccup in her career; it occurred during the time in which her sister, Mary-Kate, was battling an eating disorder and being subjected to intense media scrutiny. In the same way that her Marvel character, the Scarlet Witch, was forged by fire, this tough time set Elizabeth on a path that would lead her to become the woman that she is today. Elizabeth may be in her 30s, but she is no longer ‘just an actor’. If her sisters taught her one thing, it was the power of diversification. In addition to being busy nonstop as an actor, Elizabeth currently works as a producer. Indeed, she says that her passion lies in “assembling people” in a way that fosters respect and egalitarianism. In interview after interview, she speaks of the importance of collaboration. In an interview with BUILD Series for her Facebook Watch series, Sorry for Your Loss, she explains her management style: “The thing that I really wanted as a producer on a set was to lead by example of how you should treat people. I wanted to make sure that everyone felt collaborative and that everyone felt they were being treated with respect, regardless of their position in the production. That, to me, is a really exciting place of leadership to be in and that is what I really love about the combination of being an actor and producing.” If, as a leader, she prefers a democratic rather than a totalitarian style, as an actor, she believes in the power of the team as opposed to the individual. In an interview for Variety with actor Kaley Cuoco, she said that after working as a producer for the first time, she understood “the ridiculous amount of money that goes into productions… you should be ashamed if you show up to work without knowing your stuff.” As a producer, she knows, first-hand, how much energy each department invests in their work and how important commitment is.

Another lesson Elizabeth learned from watching her older sisters, was the importance of compartmentalising one’s life. She works hard, but has many other passions awaiting her when she leaves the set at the end of the day. Her main interests are travel and her home garden, which is inspired by the beauty of Tuscany. Elizabeth grows lavender, rosemary, and wildflowers – whose resilience and beauty reflect her own

As an actor, Elizabeth (who completed her studies at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts) has shone in many TV and big screen productions, including the 2011 film Martha Marcy May Marlene, which garnered her critical acclaim. However, the role that made her a familiar face across the globe was that of Wanda Maximoff in the Marvel series of films and the series, Wanda Vision. If you have seen this series, then you know that this role is incredibly difficult to pull off. It requires the actors to play characters from iconic series of the past such as I Love Lucy, I Dream of Jeannie, and even (take note, Mary-Kate and Ashley) Full House.

The character, Wanda, is both appealing and frightening. In Wanda Vision, she sequesters the minds of an entire town, just to keep a fantasy alive – one in which her husband, Vision, continues living (the real Vision was killed by Ultron in Avengers: Endgame). The crazed Wanda decides to live her illusion by casting herself and her husband as characters from the beloved series she watched as a child. The result is a comical yet partly scary series, complete with canned laughter that appears at inappropriate moments. Having binge-watched this series in a few days, I concluded that it was no less than a masterpiece. Olsen and her costar, Paul Bettany (who plays Vision) are at the top of their game. ›

The good news for Wanda fans is that Elizabeth will be playing an important role in this month’s hotly awaited blockbuster –Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, co-starring Benedict Cumberbatch. In Wanda Vision, we learned that Wanda has an incredible amount of power, and that she has been able to use Chaos Magic since birth. In fact, in Avengers: Endgame, Thanos realised he was no match for her at her full strength and she was presented as the only Avenger who could destroy him singlehandedly. Although the plot of the new Doctor Strange film is heavily guarded, admirers are afraid that this may be Wanda’s last appearance (bearing in mind her erratic behaviour in Wanda Vision). However, before fans start grieving her demise, they should remember that Doctor Strange has a unique ability to bring out the best in his allies by turning their vision inward. To put it succinctly, Wanda is simply too appealing a character to ever do away with completely. Although she will never be ‘all-good’ (and we wouldn’t have it any other way), she can potentially learn to control her fearsome powers. It takes a great actor to pull off a character like that with such confidence. And we have no doubt that whoever cast Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda deserves a raise. She is sheer brilliance onscreen. Could any other actress have exuded such magnetism and eeriness all at once? Somehow, I doubt it. e

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