25 Things About Elizabeth Olsen
The 'Marcy Martha May Marlene' star may be the younger sister of the infamous Olsen twins, but Elizabeth Olsen is much, much more than simply that!
-Lucia Peters, BettyConfidential.com
Have you seen Martha Marcy May Marlene yet? Because if you haven't, you should. It's a truly incredible film with a brilliant performance from an astonishing young actress. That actress is Elizabeth Olsen, and she wowed audiences and critics alike with her portrayal of a young woman readjusting to life with her family after returning from the clutches of an abusive cult in the Catskill Mountains. Now that awards season is kicking up, there's all sorts of positive buzz surrounding this promising new star; but exactly who is Elizabeth Olsen, other than the younger sister to the famous twins Mary-Kate and Ashley? It seems like she sort of just crawled out of the metaphorical woodwork, doesn't it? But never fear! Here's a crash course in everything you need to know about her. Come and meet Elizabeth Olsen!
1. Elizabeth was born on February 16, 1989 in Sherman Oaks, California. That makes her 22 years old, three years younger than Mary-Kate and Ashley.
2. Her full name is Elizabeth Chase Olsen, but she often goes by the nickname Lizzie.
3. Elizabeth made her big screen debut in Martha Marcy May Marlene.
4. She's already been nominated for some pretty impressive awards for her work in Marcy Martha: She got nods for both the Independent Spirit Award Best Female Lead and the Gotham Independent Film Award Best Breakthrough Actor/Actress.
5. Martha Marcy first debuted at the Sundance Film Festival last winter, but that wasn't the only movie she appeared in at the fest: She also played Sarah, the lead in the art-house horror flickSilent House, which is due for commercial release in 2012.
Elizabeth with John Hawkes in 'Martha Marcy May Marlene.'
6. She took ballet lessons as a child-but was dropped from the class by her teacher after failing to show up often enough. At least she had a good reason for her absences-she was going on audition after audition!
7. Speaking of, one of those auditions was for Spy Kids. She didn't land the role, but in retrospect, maybe that's a good thing.
8. Like her older sisters, Elizabeth went to NYU; unlike them, though, she's actually set to graduate. Elizabeth has spent her college years at the Tisch School of the Arts and the Atlantic Theatre Company.
9. She spent a semester abroad at the Moscow Art Theatre School in Russia as well. It's safe to say that she's got some pretty good acting chops.
10. Her gift as an actress lies in her ability to convey so much while doing very little. SaidSean Durkin, writer/director of Martha Marcy, about Elizabeth's audition, "There waso much going on behind her eyes." Bruce Beresford, who directed her in the upcoming Peace, Love & Misunderstanding, said similarly, "Nothing ever struck me as false with her…. She listens wonderfully. She has a scene where Jane [Fonda] is telling her about a sculpture she has made. Jane does all the talking. Lizzie doesn't say anything and yet you're fascinated by her reaction."
11. Did she have cameos in her sisters' made-for-TV movies? You bet she did.
12. Elizabeth's primary residence is in New York City's West Village -she's got a 300-square-foot one-bedroom apartment of her own-but she's thinking about taking a partial share in a friend's apartment in L.A. too, just so she's got a base to work from on both coasts.
13. Elizabeth worked professionally onstage while still in college, both off-Broadway in 2008's Dust and on in 2009's Impressionism. She was an understudy, though, and she never got to go on.
14. So how did she spend all that backstage time during performances? Writing papers for school. Talk about multi-tasking!
15. Single guys, rejoice: She doesn't have a boyfriend. She fell in love with a Russian actor during her semester at the Moscow Art Theatre School, but they broke up seven months after she came back to the United States. The distance was too tough to handle.
16. By the way, she landed her agent on her own steam. Though she thought when she first went into college that if she didn't get a manager or agent, she'd ask the twins to help. "I was OK with that idea, but I never needed it," she said.
17. In that respect, she's not unlike her brother Trent, who's a screenwriter. "He really doesn't want to use any connections that he actually has," Elizabeth remarked.
18. She loves musical theatre, but doesn't think her singing voice is strong enough for it. We think she should go for it anyway!
19. Nudity doesn't scare her. "My dad, when he found out there was nudity in the film, was like, are you sure this is a good idea?" she said; but ultimately, as long as the nudity served the story, she was fine with it. Have we mentioned how incredibly mature she is?
Elizabeth and 'Martha Marcy' co-star Sarah Paulson at the Gotham Independent Film Awards.
20. Elizabeth actually almost quit acting back in 2004, during the media frenzy surrounding Mary-Kate's battle with anorexia. According to E! Online, she told Nylon magazine, "That was when the media was what I found to be abusive to my sisters, and I thought I really didn't want to be in the industry. They turned 18 and what was going on in her life-I'm talking about Mary-Kate was all over the news. They would follow us shopping and [Mary-Kate and Ashley] would almost get into car accidents because of the paparazzi, and I didn't want to be a part of it. I just thought, This is such bulls***t."
21. She hates being late.
22. She thinks her sisters have handled fame incredibly well, and she has a lot of respect for everything that they've been through. "All of our family vacations were somehow involved or tied to my sisters' working," she told the New York Times. "It wasn't until really a few years ago that I realized how hard that must have been for them. I just thought it was a fun vacation, but they were working every day, whether it was a cruise or a trip to Canada or whatever."
23. Elizabeth didn't always like being in front of a camera. In fact, cameras used to make her incredibly nervous. She suspects that's why she focused so much on theatre early in her career.
24. What's up next for Elizabeth? A film called Very Good Girls, in which she'll star oppositeDakota Fanning, Peter Sarsgaard and Dustin Hoffman. Not too shabby!
25. Her dream roles include Ophelia in Hamlet , Masha in Chekhov's Three Sisters , and Mary Tyrone in Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night . Long Day's Journey may still be a ways away, though; the character of Mary Tyrone is 54 years old. Great things to aspire to, though!
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