Elizabeth Olsen

Olsen was born in 1989 in Sherman Oaks, California, to Jarnette "Jarnie", a personal manager, and David "Dave" Olsen, a real estate developer and mortgage banker.[1][2] She is the younger sister of twins Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, who became noted at an early age as TV and film stars. Olsen also has an older brother, Trent, and two younger half-siblings. In 1996, her parents divorced.[3] The Olsens have Norwegian and English ancestry.[4]

As a child, Olsen received ballet and singing lessons.[5] She began acting at a young age, with appearances in her sisters' films. Before the age of 11, Olsen had small roles in How the West Was Fun and the straight-to-video series The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley.[6] Having appeared in her sisters' videos, when she was in the fourth grade Olsen began to go on auditions for other projects. She attended Campbell Hall School in North Hollywood, California, from kindergarten through grade 12.[7]

After graduation, Olsen enrolled at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. In 2009, Olsen spent a semester studying in Moscow at the Moscow Art Theatre School through the MATS program at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center.[7]

Olsen at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival

Olsen began acting when she was four years old and co-starred in six of Mary-Kate and Ashley's productions.[8] She nearly quit acting in 2004 due to the media frenzy related to Mary-Kate's eating disorder.[9] Olsen's breakout role came in 2011, in the film Martha Marcy May Marlene. The film, along with Olsen's performance, received critical acclaim. Olsen was nominated for and won numerous critics awards for her portrayal of the titular character Martha, a girl suffering from delusions after fleeing her life in a cult and returning to her family.[6][10][11] She next appeared in the horror film remake Silent House, in which she played the role of Sarah. The film received mixed reviews,[12] but Olsen's performance was praised.[11] Olsen also appeared in the music video "The Queen" by Carlotta.[13] Olsen filmed the movie Red Lights in mid-2011; it was released in the U.S. in July 2012.[14] She starred in Josh Radnor's film Liberal Arts, which was released on January 22, 2012.[15]

Olsen at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con

In January 2013, Olsen was nominated for the BAFTA Rising Star Award.[16] She co-starred in the 2013 American remake of the 2003 South Korean film Oldboy; she played Marie, a young social worker who developed a relationship with the protagonist, played by Josh Brolin.[17] She played Edie Parker, Jack Kerouac's first wife and the author of the Beat Generation memoir You'll Be Okay, in Kill Your Darlings. Also in 2013, she portrayed the leading role in In Secret, an adaptation of Émile Zola's 1867 classic novel Thérèse Raquin.[18] In 2014, Olsen starred in Legendary's reboot of Godzilla, opposite Bryan Cranston and Aaron Taylor-Johnson.[19][20] She and Dakota Fanning starred in Very Good Girls, which was also released in 2014.[21][22]

Olsen joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe playing the character of Scarlet Witch in Avengers: Age of Ultron, the 2015 sequel to The Avengers.[23][24] She first appeared as the character in a mid-credits scene of the film Captain America: The Winter Soldier, alongside her Godzilla co-star Taylor-Johnson, who portrayed her brother Quicksilver.[25] She reprised the role in the 2016 film Captain America: Civil War,[26] the 2018 sequel Avengers: Infinity War and the 2019 sequel Avengers: Endgame, which ended up becoming the highest-grossing film of all time.[27]

Olsen portrayed Audrey Williams, the wife, manager, and duet partner of singer Hank Williams in the 2015 biopic film I Saw the Light, directed by Marc Abraham and starring Tom Hiddleston as Hank Williams.[28] Olsen starred alongside Jeremy Renner in Taylor Sheridan's directorial feature film debut, Wind River.[29] She also portrayed a lead role in Matt Spicer's Ingrid Goes West opposite Aubrey Plaza.[30] Wind Rives and Ingrid Goes West were both released in August 2017 to critical praise.[31][32][33]

Olsen next executive produced and starred as a grieving widow in the Facebook Watch web television series Sorry for Your Loss, which premiered in September 2018.[34] Her performance has been praised as "stunning",[35] "disciplined and sharp",[36] as well as "slyly sympathetic".[37] The series was canceled in January 2020 after two seasons.[38] Olsen will star alongside Paul Bettany in a Marvel television series titled WandaVision, which is set to air on the Disney+ streaming service. It will be a direct tie-in to the upcoming film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, in which Olsen is also set to star.[39]

Olsen attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and Atlantic Theater Company and graduated in March 2013 after six years of intermittent study.[40][41] Her sisters' clothing line "Elizabeth and James" was named after her and their older brother.[7]

Olsen and actor Boyd Holbrook became engaged in March 2014,[42][43] but ended their engagement in January 2015.[44] Olsen reportedly became engaged to musician Robbie Arnett of Milo Greene in 2019 after three years of dating.[45]

Olsen says that she has been an atheist since the age of 13.[46]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Elizabeth Olsen.

• Elizabeth Olsen on IMDb
• Elizabeth Olsen on Twitter
• Elizabeth Olsen on Instagram
• Elizabeth Olsen at AllMovie
• Elizabeth Olsen at the TCM Movie Database