Hollywood Hope: Elizabeth Olsen discusses the one director she is desperate to work with
Pop culture aficionados of a certain age were shocked to discover there was even a third sister, but it didn’t take long for Elizabeth Olsen to comfortably outstrip her older siblings, Mary-Kate and Ashley, to establish herself as the best actor in the family.
Whereas her sisters were massively successful child stars who, at one stage, served as the focal point of an entire multimedia empire, getting into the business at such an early age eventually soured them on it altogether. They’d practically abandoned acting by the mid-2000s, clearing the way for the next Olsen.
Debuting in spectacular style, psychological mystery thriller Martha Marcy May Marlene saw Olsen give an incredible performance that belied its status as her first-ever movie role, and she quickly proved she was no flash in the pan by following it up with strong turns in Rodrigo Cortés’ otherwise middling Red Lights and substandard horror Silent House.
For the last decade, she’s been best known as the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Wanda Maximoff, playing the character in five films to date. The detractors often call the superhero franchise the place careers go to die just as often as proponents call it the place they’re made, but despite such fierce competition, Olsen has emerged as one of the MCU’s leading lights and most talented performers.
Marvel and awards recognition aren’t exactly synonymous outside of the technical categories, but Olsen nonetheless earned Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy nominations for her performance in WandaVision, and her non-comic book outings in Wind River, Love & Death, and Ingrid Goes West have underlined her dramatic talents.
She may not be a superstar or draw to the same extent as Marvel contemporaries Scarlett Johansson, Chris Pratt, or Robert Downey Jr, but she’s a damned good actor. Like many thespians, Olsen has a wish list of filmmakers she’d love to work with, but one slight flaw in her master plan is that the name at the very top has never been shy in criticising the brand that made her a household name.
Not only that, but time is fast running out for her dream to come true, with Quentin Tarantino only having one feature left before he reaches double figures and hands his directorial hat up for good. Olsen admitted to Variety she’d “love to work with Tarantino before he retires with his one last movie,” which is a sentiment no doubt shared by an innumerable amount of names all across Hollywood.
That’s not to say she can’t or won’t do it, but comparable to how many people want in on his swansong and how many will get there, the chances are slim. There’s no point in becoming an actor if the destination isn’t intended to be the very top, though, and the summit of auteurism doesn’t extend much higher than Tarantino.
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