WARNING: This Article May Contain Spoilers
Here’s a fun fact, I don’t think I realized that Elizabeth Olsen was in fact the sister of Mary-Kate and Ashley until she had been starring as the Scarlet Witch for a few years. Some would probably consider that embarrassing but I was never really a Mary-Kate and Ashley fan as a child and from what I remember of them, Elizabeth is definitely the better actress of the three.
Martha Marcy May Marlene
Questions regarding Olsen’s character arise early into the film – from the moment you hear her called Martha instead of Marcy May. This sort of thing has the scent of the story of Charles Manson on it. Seeing this after seeing Elizabeth play such a strong woman as Wanda Maximoff, her starring as such a vulnerable character is quite heart-breaking. I was actually interested to know if the incontinence scene was actually completely method because it looked so natural that Elizabeth could have done it herself instead of it being water spilt. However, I can’t seem to find out. I have also recently discovered that it was her role in this film that caught the attention of the Marvel bosses and they decided to cast her as the Scarlet Witch
Very Good Girls
I want to make one very important statement about this film – I feel sorry for Elizabeth Olsen’s character of Geri! Lilly, played by Dakota Fanning, as far as I understand is supposed to be her best friend and she doesn’t tell her for a long time that she’s sleeping with the guy that Geri is trying to get with. True friends are honest about that stuff! Yes, she’s hiding the relationship from other people but if she should be honest with anyone – it’s Geri. For a film that you think, at the beginning, is going to be about two girls losing their virginity there ends up being so much more depth to the film. The film is titled Very Good Girls but, in my opinion, only Geri is the good one.
Godzilla
This is actually the first of all the films covered that Elizabeth has an ancillary role, funnily enough alongside the actor that will later play her brother in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Aaron Taylor-Johnson. It was quite hard to find the words to describe her character because you can’t say she’s a stay-at-home wife/mother as she’s a nurse so it would be completely inaccurate and even grief-stricken would be incorrect because she doesn’t cry until her 4th scene and for me, it is clearly a mixture of fear for her son and relief that her husband is alive instead of sadness. I also love that they didn’t write her character as staying at home in fear of what’s happening – there are no clips of her huddling on the sofa with her arms around her son instead she’s working tending to the victims!
Honorary Mentions
This isn’t the first time this has happened with a Marvel actor but other than the 3 films mentioned above, Olsen actually hadn’t made many films before becoming the Scarlet Witch. She does however star in one film I have previously discussed as a remake, Old Boy,and one film I may be discussing in the future if I can find the original, Silent House. She’s also starred alongside big name actors like Sigourney Weaver and Robert DeNiro in Red Lights.
