{"id":14203,"date":"2021-02-17T16:40:16","date_gmt":"2021-02-17T16:40:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/?post_type=articles&p=14203"},"modified":"2021-02-19T00:26:31","modified_gmt":"2021-02-19T00:26:31","slug":"elizabeth-olsens-20-21-vision","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/elizabeth-olsens-20-21-vision\/","title":{"rendered":"Elizabeth Olsen’s 20\/21 Vision"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"elizabeth
HALF-ZIP TECH JERSEY POLO TOP , SHOP NOW<\/a>, MIU MIU. MONOGRAMMED CADY SHORTS, SHOP NOW<\/a>, MIU MIU. METALLIC TECHNICAL FABRIC HIGH-HEEL SANDALS, SHOP NOW<\/a>, MIU MIU.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Elizabeth Olsen is a trooper. We are in a field in Surrey on the outskirts of the Marvel studios; it\u2019s a biting minus one and she is standing in a Chanel broderie anglaise sundress and increasingly soggy UGG boots. Her feline cheekbones face skywards, but Olsen is slowly sinking into the mud, trilling out high notes to keep herself warm (possibly distracted) and of course with spirits high. \u201cIt was the wind I think, that was worse than the sideways rain,\u201d she jokes as we trundle back to the soundstage hangar that we are using as a studio. It\u2019s the kind of moment that could go viral on Instagram, that is, if Olsen were on social media. Yet one of the biggest stars of our current cultural moment is completely offline \u2013 and that surprising fact might just be the least interesting thing about her. If anything, it is a sign of how Olsen has come into her own as a confident, decisive star with the power to create her own universe.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the cusp of her 32<\/span>nd<\/span> birthday, Olsen is fastidious and professional, yes, but also bright, engaging, creative, and collaborative. Born and raised in the California sunshine, she is surprisingly at ease in the blustery conditions that deluge the English countryside in late January \u2013 or, it\u2019s that she\u2019s very good at acting. \u201cIt was one of the ugliest days of this winter \u2013 just hilarious \u2013 but I knew we wanted the shot,\u201d the 31-year-old actress says.<\/span><\/p>\n

Since October, Olsen\u2019s been living in the leafy British countryside with her \u201cman-guy-partner,\u201d musician Robbie Arnett, just a short drive to the Surrey compound where <\/span>Doctor Stran<\/span><\/i>ge is being filmed. It\u2019s a closed set, masked in secrecy as much as the socially distanced masked crew dotted all over the 200-acre studio. \u201cIt feels right being in a small city right now,\u201d she says.<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, more than ever, it feels right being an Avenger. <\/span>Olsen will be reprising her role as Wanda Maximoff (nom de plume<\/em> Scarlet Witch) in Doctor Strange<\/em>, following the rampant success of Marvel\u2019s current miniseries (and first foray into television) WandaVision,<\/a>\u00a0starring Olsen and Paul Bettany. Olsen has been part of the Marvel cinematic universe (and one of the most successful film franchises of the last decade) since 2014 when she cameoed in Captain America. Bridging nostalgia and action, the buzz of WandaVision<\/em> is global: from critics to comic book fans, and almost everyone else. It is arguably one of the most meta screen offerings in a long time, arriving on our screens in television\u2019s Renaissance.<\/p>\n

Indeed, Olsen is a modern-day Renaissance woman. Learned and dedicated to her craft, she studied at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, with a semester at the Moscow Art Theatre School studying Stanislavski. (Surely, no matter how much of a genius the Russian theatre master was, he never could have conceived of the Marvel universe.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Approached with the concept of <\/span>WandaVision<\/span><\/i>, “I thought it was perfect for television, and a very original idea that made me excited,” Olsen says. Also, she was happy she would get to work with Bettany again: \u201cHe\u2019s very precise, like me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"elizabeth
IVORY BLOUSE, SHOP SIMILAR<\/a>, ERDEM. EMBELLISHED VEST, SHOP SIMILAR<\/a>, ERDEM. EMBELLISHED TROUSER, SHOP SIMILAR<\/a>, ERDEM. LAMINATED LAMBSKIN SANDALS, SHOP NOW,<\/a> CHANEL.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In many ways, <\/span>WandaVision<\/span><\/i> is a love letter to the first American television heyday. Olsen, who stayed up late watching Nick at Nite reruns as a child, says it\u2019s a bit of a homecoming in that way. \u201cI was a very hammy, performative child,\u201d she explains. \u201cSo, I do think I got to live out some sort of childhood dream doing the show.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

“The highlight was really getting to tell a story about these superhero individuals told in different decades of American sitcoms, trying to match the tone of those sitcoms in order to help orate the story,” she says. “But keep it playful and fun.\u201d Little did she know just how much we\u2019d need that.<\/span><\/p>\n

Half-filmed pre-pandemic in Atlanta and half post-pandemic in LA \u2013 with a six-month hiatus in-between \u201cuntil all the unions figured out to work safely\u201d \u2013 <\/span>WandaVision<\/span><\/i> was released almost a year into the pandemic. In many ways, it is an artifact of its time: centered upon a yearning for the simplicity of earlier days, yet shot through with the creeping realization that such days may never return, and perhaps never existed to begin with.<\/span><\/p>\n

Indeed, the weekly story of suburban superheroes Wanda and Vision has played out like a parable of our times: Wanda living in her chosen bubble, her trauma resonating in the world we find ourselves in today. Olsen appreciates a good metaphor, but feels people may be projecting a bit much. \u201cI see Wanda as a victim of extreme trauma, who does not understand how to process it,\u201d she explains. \u201cShe has been a human experiment.\u201d (Not to belabor the point, but haven\u2019t we all?)<\/span><\/p>\n

Being summoned by Marvel is like being called to a parallel universe for an actor: thrilling, yes, but not without a tinge of terror and a dash of the unknown. Six years in, though, it\u2019s become like family in some ways. As a member of two dynasties \u2013 Olsen and Marvel \u2013 family is key to Olsen. She checks in on her mom (who still lives in California) and, like many American daughters, is researching which vaccine mom should get.<\/span><\/p>\n

The performative gene runs strong through her family, of course \u2013 and no, we don\u2019t mean her sisters. Olsen\u2019s mom was a ballerina. Still, when she first started auditioning, Olsen took special care to carve her own path \u2013 one far from <\/span>Full House<\/span><\/i>. \u201cNepotism is a thing and I\u2019m very aware of it,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd of course, I\u2019ve always wanted to do it alone.\u201d She did just that, her acting credentials consistently rising as her sister\u2019s cemented their fashion kudos. Olsen bears a noticeable resemblance to her fashion-designer older sisters and her sartorial DNA is similarly low-key. She loves The Row (of course) and NYC label Khaite\u2019s denim and cashmere.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"elizabeth
TIED CARDIGAN, SHOP SIMILAR<\/a>, CHANEL. LAMINATED LAMBSKIN SANDALS, SHOP NOW<\/a>, CHANEL.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For Olsen, her day job is like playing dress-up. This time around, she walked away from <\/span>WandaVision<\/span><\/i> with the girdle worn underneath her 50s wedding dress, laughing, \u201cI mean, to have a custom undergarment like that, I felt like it was necessary!\u201d Her <\/span>WandaVision<\/span><\/i> co-star, Kathryn Hahn, also became her shopping cohort when filming.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s dangerous!\u201d Olsen says. \u201cShe has the most exquisite, minimal but expensive taste.\u201d It was Hahn who led Olsen to the independent boutique where she found the belted Julia Jentzsch trench that she wore to our shoot.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the rail of samples compiled by the stylist, Olsen gravitates towards a spacious linen boilersuit and longline cashmere cardigan. Has she always been a tomboy, I ask? \u201cI think I felt uncomfortable being a child being told they were pretty,\u201d she says of her early auditions at age 10, adding that her love of ballet and musical theater could leave her \u201cfeeling exposed\u201d at a young age.<\/span><\/p>\n

Speaking of over-exposure, Olsen is distinctly offline in a time when so many are defined by their social media presence. Among celebrities and regular digital citizens, the perfect balance of online and off is up for debate<\/span>, but Olsen is clear: social media saturation is a choice for all of us, and everyone needs to draw their own boundaries.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"elizabeth
SHETLAND WOOL TURTLENECK SWEATER, SHOP NOW<\/a>, PRADA. RE-NYLON GABARDINE SKIRT, SHOP NOW,<\/a> PRADA. NYLON GABARDINE SLINGBACK PUMPS, SHOP SIMILAR<\/a>, PRADA.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0\u201cIt has to be a personal decision, right?\u201d she begins. \u201cSo, my opinion has nothing to do with what anyone else does or doesn’t do with it.\u201d Her own journey began when she momentarily dabbled with Instagram (since deleted), while filming Ing<\/span>rid Goes West<\/span><\/i>, director Matt Spicer\u2019s frightening and funny debut feature about a social stalker, co-starring Aubrey Plaza.<\/span><\/p>\n

Up until that time, she says, \u201cI had never touched it before. I thought, \u2018This is an interesting social experiment for myself, to see if it is a good source to talk about charities or a good source to talk about small projects, or to share something goofier about myself.\u2019 But I think at the end of the day, what I discovered was one, I’m really bad at creating a perceived identity!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI didn’t find it very organic to who I am as a person,\u201d she continues. \u201cI found some joy in putting up silly videos, but I think the main reason I stopped \u2013 not I think, I <\/span>know<\/span><\/i> the main reason why I stopped \u2013 was because of the organization in my brain.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLots of horrible things happen all the time. Or, lots of great things happen all the time. Whether it’s something terrifying, like a natural disaster or a school shooting or a death, there are so many things that happen, and I love processing information. I love reading articles. I love listening to podcasts. I love communicating about things that are happening in the world to people around me. And what I <\/span>don’t<\/span><\/i> love is that my brain organization was saying, \u2018Should I post about this?\u2019 That seemed very unhealthy ….\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd to then contribute to these platitudes that I don’t really love, you have to subscribe to two different ways of thinking,\u201d she says. \u201cSo, I didn’t like that, and there was a lot of it that was just bothering me for my own sake of what value systems I have.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s not to say that there\u2019s any inherent value system \u2013 pro or con \u2013 in using Instagram. Olsen is clear that like any other method of expression, it\u2019s up to the individual to use it as they see fit. \u201cI do see a use of it and how you can use it well for work,\u201d she says. \u201cBut I don’t think that I would like to use that tool to promote myself.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

She\u2019s private for a millennial yes, but not prim. On the photoshoot, lockdown experiences were shared, and Olsen recounted her (hilarious) first at-home bikini wax: banishing her husband upstairs \u201cfor an extended chat with his therapist,\u201d her trusted waxer on speed dial, and microwave set to ping! (Yes, Olsen is a trooper, as I mentioned.)<\/span><\/p>\n

We catch up over Zoom a week later, her hair once again pulled up in a casual topknot, her cashmere turtleneck simmering in a dark claret, and her entire being suffused with covetable understatement. She chats buoyantly against an unexpected backdrop of pirate ship wallpaper in the playroom of a house she shares with Arnett, who proposed with an emerald and diamond ring in 2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe first started to try to make it the gym, but it was so cramped,\u201d she says of the jolly space. The home gym was instead awarded a larger room, where Olsen loves to maintain a varied fitness regime \u2013 running, yoga, dancing, more \u2013 though after all the intense Marvel filming, she jokes, \u201cmaybe it\u2019s time to give up on my body?!\u201d Being comic book fit does sound grueling or \u201ctime-consuming fun\u201d as she anoints the \u201cstrenuous physical demands.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Like most of us, she is longing for the spring, but she still takes a regular constitutional walk in a nearby Richmond park, whatever the weather. \u201cThe deer are incredible; every time I see them I feel alive,\u201d she says. \u201cWe have been lucky to have nature around us in lockdown.\u201d It\u2019s a marked difference from her paparazzi-populated home in the Hills. \u201cThey know our walks, where we get coffee, work-out\u2026,\u201d she trails off.<\/span><\/p>\n

Her haven in Los Angeles is her backyard, complete with a mid-century swimming pool and an edible garden. \u201cIt\u2019s crazy the blackberries grow like weeds! I love watching a kid’s first reaction to an edible garden,\u201d she gushes That has been the part of the pandemic travel restrictions she\u2019s found hardest: missing her friend\u2019s children growing up, and others who have been born this past year that she\u2019s yet to meet. They will no doubt all be treated to her homemade blackberry sorbet on her return stateside.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet, her time on British soil will likely be prolonged, with a prospective indie commencing filming here when <\/span>Doctor Strange <\/span><\/i>wraps. Prompted for more detail, her firm charm kicks in. \u201cI can\u2019t jinx it!\u201d she insists. Still, she will share that she\u2019s heavily involved in the creative, and that funding smaller productions in the current climate has been a challenge.<\/span><\/p>\n

Through it all, Olsen has remained determined and calm. \u201cI feel patience is my superpower. But my weakness also,\u201d she says. \u201cI feel like it gets tested more than others who don’t have a lot of patience. If someone learns you’re easygoing or that you’re relaxed, sometimes it gets taken advantage of.\u201d While she waits for the green light on that film, she is busy producing a new children\u2019s cartoon with Arnett, \u201cabout loving and caring for our world,\u201d and has also written a children\u2019s book about to be published by Random House, all while the demands of Marvel life continue to surround her.<\/span><\/p>\n

Indeed, Olsen is a superhero for the modern age: Multi-hyphenate, but fiercely devoted to the craft that she loves; instantly recognizable, yet thoughtfully protective of her private life; a woman with style, substance, success, and deep rewarding relationships with those around her; focused on a vision of a better world for us all.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"elizabeth
POCKET JUMPSUIT, SHOP SIMILAR,<\/a> FENDI. WAIST BELT, SHOP SIMILAR<\/a>, FENDI.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Photographer:<\/strong> Ekua King
\nPhoto Assistant:<\/strong> Connor Egan
\nPhoto Assistant:<\/strong> Kwesi Dean
\nStylist:<\/strong> Emma Elwick-Bates
\nHair:<\/strong> Jon Chapman
\nMakeup:<\/strong> Alex Babsky
\nProducer:<\/strong> Elliot Jack
\nPhotography Director:<\/strong> Ian Crane
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