The Untold Truth Of Elizabeth Olsen

Elizabeth Olsen established herself as a force to be reckoned with in the entertainment industry after landing the role of Wanda Maximoff (a.k.a. Scarlet Witch) in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Popping up in movies like 2014's Captain America: The Winter Soldier and 2019's Avengers: Endgame, she also landed a show alongside Paul Bettany (who you might know as Vision) when their WandaVision series premiered in January 2021. However, while seeing Olsen onscreen may give you a glimpse at her talent, it doesn't mean that you truly know who she is.

"Marvel films don't often go hand in hand with low-key actresses," according to Harper's Bazaar UK, but as the outlet also noted, "Elizabeth Olsen is an anomaly to the formula." Indeed, the actor backed that up while explaining, "If I could do whatever I wanted for the day, I'd start with going to the gym or doing some sort of workout, then I'd go to the grocery store because my favorite thing to do is grocery shop." Um, ok. Perhaps she gets a little wild when the night rolls around? Nope. "The night before I would have prepped bread, like dough, then the next day I'd bake bread and create a delicious meal, sit outside in the sun, eat delicious food all day with people I love."

That may not be the kind of life you'd expect from an up-and-coming Hollywood star, but it turns out there are plenty of things about Elizabeth Olsen that might surprise you.

While you might imagine that Elizabeth Olsen's mom and dad, Jarnette and David Olsen, were hardcore stage-parents — considering both she and her siblings, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, got into show business early on — she says otherwise. Think about it: While other parents are famous (or, rather, infamous) for how involved they are with their kid's career, you probably hadn't heard of the Olsens' parents before today.

"My parents had very little to do with my sisters' job really, at least not after getting them that first job," Elizabeth once said, according to The Guardian, perhaps somewhat surprisingly. Noting that her sisters have been in control of their own careers "since they turned 18," she explained that her mom and dad "always did what they could to hook them up with the right people to handle things," which apparently included "managing assets and running production companies and so on." However, she added, "They never pretended they could do it well themselves." In Elizabeth's opinion, that was "a good thing," because "nothing's worse than stage mothers."

Elizabeth also told Nylon that her parents aren't the type of people to force their kids to do something that isn't right for them: "What's really cool about my parents is that ... if you change your idea of what you want to do it doesn't matter as long as you give it your all." It certainly sounds like Jarnette and David know how to be supportive without being pushy.

Elizabeth Olsen may be a star nowadays, but she almost left the entertainment business behind when she was still young. Frankly, she almost quit her acting career at an age when many others haven't even gotten theirs started.

Back in 2001, Spy Kids was released and featured young actors Alexa PenaVega and Daryl Sabara in leading roles, per IMDb. While anyone who's seen the movie would likely agree that both child stars nailed their performances, it turns out that Olsen could have been one of those stars. However, she didn't quite put in the effort that was needed to potentially land the gig. During an audition for the film, Elizabeth "[lied] to the director," saying "that she had read the script," according to Nylon. She recalled, "I hadn't — it looked like the biggest thing I'd seen in my life." Not only did she not get a job offer, but she was also "chastised by her ballet teacher for her casual work ethic," per the outlet. As a result, Elizabeth made a decision and had a conversation with her father. "'Dad, I want to stop acting,'" she recalled. "I had only been on four auditions!"

While Elizabeth's dad was willing to accept his daughter's early retirement, he also wanted her to think it through. "He was like, 'OK, write a list weighing the pros and cons and make your own decision.'" That was definitely a way to respect what she wanted, even though, as she explained, "I was 10!"

Elizabeth Olsen's successful acting career is a lesson in perseverance. If you asked the star, she'd likely tell you that you can't give up on your dream just because it doesn't start off the way that you had hoped. She has firsthand knowledge of that thanks to the fact that she wasn't accepted at Brown University, a.k.a. her top college choice, according to Vanity Fair. But she didn't give up on getting an education in her chosen craft, and studied at New York University instead.

Things didn't seem to go any better when Olsen went through another early rejection, when she wasn't cast for Shakespeare in the Park. She admitted that it was "the first job [she] didn't get that [she] really wanted."

However, just because things weren't exactly going Olsen's way when she first started out didn't mean that things didn't work out in the end, because other opportunities were out there, and she was willing to go after them. Vanity Fair noted that "because she did not book [the job with Shakespeare in the Park] (after going through four rounds of auditions), she was able to take a part in the indie film Martha Marcy May Marlene in 2011." That may not have been the biggest movie that she has ever been a part of, but the "role — as a woman who escapes from a cult — earned Olsen many film critics awards, and it set her career in motion."

Considering Elizabeth Olsen studied abroad, it shouldn't be surprising to find out that, as she admitted to Architectural Digest, "I really love, love, love traveling." While talking about "a 16-day trip through Portugal and Spain" that she embarked on in 2019, she said, "It was just my favorite thing to relax and do and learn and explore and experience. I really love the feeling of being isolated, especially in a place where I don't speak the language."

When asked by AD if she is someone who plans every aspect of her trip or if she's "a wanderer," Olsen explained, "I have been both people." Noting that the trip she had just taken "was really about relaxation and not feeling pressured to do anything after just working as a producer and actor in Sorry for Your Loss," the multi-talent also admitted that she does "love having an itinerary though." Olsen added, "I love making sure that there are certain museums I get to go see, or pieces of art that you wouldn't want to miss in certain cities. And restaurants are a really, really, really important thing for me."

Olsen has also talked about her "absolute favorite vacation," which she told Departures "is Italy, from Tuscany to the Amalfi Coast (my favorite hotel in the whole world is Le Sirenuse in Positano." Talking about her "love [of] Northern Italy," she said she adores "the people, the food, the service," as well as "the smells and all of the tastes." Andiamo!

Elizabeth Olsen isn't only focused on succeeding in Hollywood, she's also focused on giving back and doing what she can to help others. In order to do just that, she supports organizations like OXFAM, the Epidermolysis Bullosa Medical Research Foundation (EBMRF), and Equality Now, which is "an international human rights organization dedicated to women's and girls' rights," according to Look to the Stars. In 2016, Olsen attended its third annual fundraising gala, "Make Equality Reality," alongside other charitable celebrities, such as Lily Tomlin, Aubrey Plaza, Paul Reiser, Melanie Griffith, and Ruby Rose.

Olsen opened up to InStyle in 2017 about another well-meaning organization that she's gotten behind, The Latitude Project. Those who participate in the project aim to improve the living conditions of others by "choos[ing] a different community to partner with" every year "on a big initiative, which could be anything from building a preschool to improving access to latrines."

Explaining her own experience working with the group in Nicaragua — which "is the second-poorest country in the Western Hemisphere" — Olsen said that founders Jenn and Alanna Tynan "were working with impoverished local communities that needed infrastructure support." The star continued, "So I went with them to visit these areas and ended up volunteering in a school to repair desks and update the athletic equipment." Olsen also joined them in San Juan del Sur, an "area [that] didn't have any electricity," which is why they "distributed solar lights." Obviously a bright spot in Olsen's efforts.