Elizabeth Olsen

Elizabeth Olsen (born February 16, 1989, Los Angeles, California, U.S.) is an American actress who first gained notice for her work in independent films and later became an international star with her portrayal of Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch in the Marvel Cinematic Universe blockbuster franchise. Her other notable credits include the crime-drama Wind River (2017) and the HBO true-crime miniseries Love & Death (2023). She is the younger sister of fashion designers Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, themselves former actresses.

Early life

Olsen’s parents are Jarnette and David Olsen, a personal manager and real-estate investor, respectively; the couple divorced in the mid-1990s. By the time she was born, her elder twin sisters, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, were already acting in the hit TV show Full House (1987–95). Elizabeth Olsen appeared in their TV movie How the West Was Fun (1994) and several video shorts.

Olsen later told the U.K. edition of Glamour magazine that she considered changing her name as a child to distance herself from her star sisters. Although she wanted to act from a young age, Olsen decided not to pursue a childhood acting career. In high school, she played volleyball, an experience that made her appreciate teamwork. Olsen later studied acting at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (B.A., 2013), during which time she landed an understudy role in the Broadway show Impressionism (2009). However, she never got a chance to appear on stage during the show’s run.

Early films

Olsen first made her mark in independent films. In 2011 she starred in a pair of movies featured at the Sundance Film Festival: the thriller Silent House and Martha Marcy May Marlene, in which she played a troubled cult survivor. Olsen “impressed critics and industry insiders alike, and was quickly tagged the ‘it girl’ of the festival,” The New York Times reported in 2011. That year she also appeared alongside Jane Fonda and Catherine Keener in Peace, Love & Misunderstanding.

Olsen subsequently began to be cast in higher-profile projects. In 2012 she acted alongside Robert De Niro, Sigourney Weaver, and Cillian Murphy in Red Lights, a drama about scientists investigating alleged psychics. The following year Olsen appeared in four films, including Spike Lee’s Oldboy. In 2014 she ventured into big-budget movies with a remake of Godzilla. The action-adventure film was a success at the global box office.

Stardom: Marvel Cinematic Universe

While Olsen was making a name for herself, true stardom came when she landed the role of Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch in Marvel’s blockbuster Avengers franchise. The character is a superhero who can manipulate reality through magic. Olsen made her debut as Wanda in Marvel’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), though she was uncredited. She had a more prominent role in Avengers: Age of Ultron. The action film grossed more than $1 billion worldwide, and Olsen reprised the role in a number of subsequent movies.

While largely a supporting character in those projects, Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff was given top billing in the Disney+ miniseries WandaVision. The comedic spin-off aired in 2021 and became a huge hit. For her performance, Olsen was nominated for an Emmy Award. She next played Wanda in Sam Raimi’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), and in this outing she took the lead alongside Benedict Cumberbatch.

Are you a student?

Get a special academic rate on Britannica Premium.

Subscribe

Wind River and Love & Death

During this time Olsen also acted in other projects. In 2017 she starred in Taylor Sheridan’s Wind River. The award-winning crime drama centers on an FBI agent (Olsen) who works with a wildlife officer (Jeremy Renner) to solve a murder on a Native American reservation. She later took the lead role in the well-received TV miniseries Sorry for Your Loss (2018–19), playing a young woman struggling after the death of her husband.

In 2023 Olsen appeared in HBO’s Love & Death. The true-crime miniseries, set in the 1980s, centers on housewife Candy Montgomery, who had an affair with the husband (played by Jesse Plemons) of friend Betty Gore. Montgomery later killed Gore with an ax, alleging self-defense. The drama, which was created by David E. Kelley, earned widespread acclaim, and Olsen’s performance was singled out for praise. The Guardian called her “absolutely mesmerizing” in the role. Olsen also earned glowing reviews for His Three Daughters (2023), a poignant drama about siblings dealing with their dying father.

Personal life

In about 2017 Olsen began dating musician Robbie Arnett. The couple later eloped.