Elizabeth Olsen


About

Also Known As
Elizabeth Chase Olsen
Birth Place
Sherman Oaks, California, USA
Born
February 16, 1989

Biography

Elizabeth Olsen's soft, cherubic features belied an undercurrent of ferocious talent first discovered by savvy cineastes in the actress' two break-out roles in the independent movies "Martha Marcy May Marlene" and "Silent House," both of which premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. Her inaugural performances in the two vastly different films - one a drama, the other a horror flick...

Biography

Elizabeth Olsen's soft, cherubic features belied an undercurrent of ferocious talent first discovered by savvy cineastes in the actress' two break-out roles in the independent movies "Martha Marcy May Marlene" and "Silent House," both of which premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. Her inaugural performances in the two vastly different films - one a drama, the other a horror flick - immediately proved the ingénue's range and officially placed Olsen on the proverbial Hollywood map, wiping out any potential accusations of nepotism, as Olsen was also the younger sister of infamous twin superstars, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. The ethereal beauty - whose sea green eyes and bee-stung lips drew comparisons to movie stars Maggie Gyllenhaal and Angelina Jolie - won over critics, who promptly crowned her the new "It" girl, a title that landed her in the trade magazines and helped kickstart Olsen's promising feature film career. Preferring to work in smaller films, Olsen nonetheless took steps into blockbuster territory, co-starring in the monster movie reboot "Godzilla" (2014) and joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Scarlet Witch in "Avengers: Age of Ultron" (2015) and "Captain America: Civil War" (2016).

Elizabeth Chase Olsen was born on Feb. 16, 1989 in Sherman Oaks, CA to David Olsen, a mortgage broker, and Jarnette Fuller, a former dancer with the Los Angeles Ballet. Growing up, Olsen lived in the shadow of her older twin sisters, child stars Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, who rose to fame as infants on the hit ABC television series "Full House" (1987-1995) and grew to become an entertainment and brand-merchandising powerhouse. Olsen's first professional acting job was at the age of four in her sisters' direct-to-video movie, "Our First Video" (1993), and she continued to make appearances in several of her sisters' projects, including the video shorts "The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley: The Case of Thorn Mansion" (1994), "The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley: The Case of the Christmas Caper" (1995), and the 1994 television movie "How the West Was Fun." Olsen would also occasionally turn up in a publicity photo from one of her sisters' film premieres, and in 2007, the fashionista twins launched a cool-girl casual clothing line called Elizabeth and James, named after their two siblings.

But while Olsen busily explored her own interests in theater arts, she kept a much lower profile than her famous sisters, studying drama and dance while attending Campbell Hall School, a private Episcopal day school in North Hollywood, from where she graduated in 2007. That fall, Olsen matriculated at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and its affiliated Atlantic Theater Company, where she acted in various productions and continued to hone her craft. Two years into her studies at NYU, Olsen began auditioning for films and landed a supporting role in her first big-screen effort, "Peace, Love and Misunderstanding" (2011), a comedy co-starring Catherine Keener and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, in which Olsen portrayed a young woman en route to see her aging hippie grandmother (Jane Fonda).

But it was Olsen's breakout performances in the Sundance Film Festival surprise hits, "Martha Marcy May Marlene" (2011), a drama about a young woman struggling to acclimate to normal family life after fleeing an abusive cult, and "Silent House" (2011), a remake of the Gustavo Hernández horror picture "La Casa Muda" (2010), that caught the film world's attention. Olsen had critics, agents and producers in Park City wowed, and articles about the up-and-coming starlet began popping up in major newspapers and film magazines. Fox Searchlight immediately picked up "Martha" for stateside distribution and Lionsgate snapped up "Silent House." No longer in her sisters' shadow, Olsen had officially struck out on her own as a serious, in-demand actress. In March 2011, Olsen was steadily ascending the Hollywood food chain and at work on the heavily anticipated Rodrigo Cortés paranormal thriller, "Red Lights" (2012), co-starring Robert De Niro, Sigourney Weaver and Cillian Murphy. Continuining her varied casting choices, Olsen next appeared in Spike Lee's American remake of the violent South Korean revenge film "Oldboy" (2014) and as the female lead in Gareth Edwards' big-budget reboot of the "Godzilla" (2014) franchise. Olsen fully moved into the blockbuster ranks with her role as Scarlet Witch in both "Avengers: Age of Ultron" (2015) and "Captain America: Civil War" (2016). In between, she played wife Audrey Williams to Tom Hiddleston's Hank Williams in the country legend's biopic "I Saw the Light" (2015).

Life Events

1993

Appeared as herself in her sisters' direct-to-video release "Our First Video"

1994

Cast in a minor role in her sisters' ABC television movie "How the West Was Fun"

2012

Starred in the horror film "Silent House"

2012

Cast alongside Jane Fonda and Catherine Keener in the comedy-drama "Peace, Love, & Misunderstanding"

2012

Acted opposite Sigourney Weaver and Robert De Niro in the drama thriller "Red Lights"

2013

Co-starred opposite Daniel Radcliffe in Beat Generation drama "Kill Your Darlings"

2013

Starred in Naomi Foner's romantic comedy "Very Good Girls"

2013

Co-starred in Spike Lee's remake of South Korean horror film "Oldboy

2013

Starred in thriller "In Secret"

2014

Co-starred in Gareth Edwards' "Godzilla"

2015

Co-starred as Audrey Williams in Hank Williams biopic "I Saw the Light"

2016

Appeared on Comedy Central's "Drunk History"

2017

Starred alongside Ed Harris and Jason Sudeikis in "Kodachrome"

Bibliography