Elizabeth Olsen sat down with The Hollywood Reporter to reflect on her "Hollywood Firsts," from the first time she felt starstruck, stepping on a Marvel set, playing Wanda Maximoff in 'WandaVision' and more.
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00:00The first time I knew playing Wanda Maximoff was a big deal
00:05was, I think, a drag brunch,
00:08and there was this girl, a witch character,
00:11and I was like, oh my God,
00:13this is the coolest thing I've ever been a part of.
00:17Hey, Hollywood Reporter, I'm Elizabeth Olsen,
00:20and I'm about to share some of my Hollywood firsts.
00:25The first time I auditioned for a movie,
00:28I think I was 10, and I auditioned for Spy Kids,
00:32and I got a call back,
00:33and I was supposed to read the script,
00:35and it was the biggest thing I had ever seen at that age,
00:40and that there was no way I was gonna read it,
00:41so I didn't, and so I had this call back
00:45with Robert Rodriguez,
00:46and the only thing I really remember
00:48is staring at his shoes.
00:50I can't remember if I told him that or not
00:52when I had a meeting with him later on in life,
00:55but I just remember I have a very specific memory
00:57of looking at his tennis shoes,
00:58because they were very yellow and orange
01:00and bright, cool sports shoes or something,
01:07and then I started auditioning
01:09when I was actually appropriate, which was 21.
01:12The first time I attended a red carpet,
01:15I think is Cannes for Martha Marcy May Marlene.
01:19I wore a row-beaded top and skirt to the premiere,
01:25and I was excited.
01:28I think since I had seen the film already,
01:31it was more celebratory,
01:33and I had a great ensemble in that film,
01:35people who have gone on to made so many amazing things.
01:39First person I met that left me starstruck,
01:42probably George Clooney,
01:45who wouldn't remember meeting me, and that's fine,
01:47but it was the Toronto Film Festival,
01:52and someone introduced us,
01:55and it was a very brief moment,
01:56and I'm a big fan of his.
01:59Yeah, it's like a pretty high-up-there person,
02:02I think, of people to meet,
02:05who's also really nice and generous with others.
02:09First thing I saw George on my first big paycheck
02:12was probably paying people back for college.
02:18I wanted that to be taken off the table.
02:20I wanted it to be done.
02:22I didn't wanna be in debt to anyone.
02:24Can Elizabeth Olsen?
02:26Can Elizabeth Olsen sing?
02:27Can Elizabeth Olsen dance?
02:28And I would say, you know,
02:29I don't know who would have answers
02:31to either of those things.
02:34Can Elizabeth Olsen do a cartwheel?
02:37Not really.
02:38I don't know.
02:39I have no idea.
02:43Oh, really?
02:44Oh, funny.
02:46That's funny.
02:46Maybe it's because I played a character who can't sing,
02:49and all I had to do was use my singing voice.
02:54No, flat.
02:55I can sing flat very well.
02:58So the first time I stepped on an MCU set
03:01was Exterior's Avengers Age of Ultron,
03:05and we were in Northern Italy,
03:07and we had taken over this little mountain,
03:11quiet mountain town,
03:13and we turned it into rubble,
03:15and we had little explosions,
03:18and I was beyond blown away
03:23by the production design.
03:24It was the scale that really blew me away.
03:27The detail and the craftsmanship
03:31that goes into building those sets
03:33is really remarkable and breathtaking,
03:37and you feel like a little kid who's, you know,
03:40it's like you're inside Universal,
03:44whatever that tour is that you get to do
03:47around Universal Studios.
03:49The first time I knew playing Wanda Maximoff was a big deal
03:55was, I think, WandaVision,
03:57because I think it hit a cultural thing
04:01that I felt like I was in lockdown in England,
04:06and everything else happened outside
04:08of whatever world I was living in,
04:10but there was a drag brunch,
04:14and there was this girl, a witch character,
04:17and I was like, oh my God,
04:18this is the coolest thing I've ever been a part of
04:22for it to have that kind of a character
04:25to emulate in that way,
04:27and so, yeah, that felt,
04:30I was very proud in that moment.
04:32I was totally shocked and also not surprised.
04:37First thing I tell people when they wanna be an actor
04:39is get as much training as you can,
04:44whatever that means.
04:45If that means going to film school, theater school.
04:49I mean, some acting classes are terrible,
04:51so that's not always helpful,
04:53but consume as much as possible.
04:55I'm all about, I want all the information,
04:58and then I'll figure out what to do with it,
04:59so I took so many acting conservatories,
05:02and I think all of it was useful in some way.
05:07I don't know if anyone really,
05:10I haven't met anyone, I guess,
05:11who feels that they've done it,
05:14so I just hope to be an actor for hire for a long time.
05:22Thanks for tuning in to my Hollywood Firsts.