How Elizabeth Olsen Overcame the Fear of Living in Her Sisters’ Shadow and Built a Great Career on Her Own

Breaking into the acting world is never easy. Being fortunate enough to have successful relatives can pave certain paths, but it can also have its drawbacks, like having to carry the burden of repeating similar success. In the case of actress Elizabeth Olsen, she successfully overcame being the sister of 2 celebrities, the Olsen twins, and managed to forge a great career on her own.

At Bright Side, we’ll tell you how Elizabeth Olsen managed to overcome the fear of being overshadowed by her sisters, and now she’s a big star in blockbuster movies.

Many of us remember twins Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen as the adorable Michelle Tanner in the legendary sitcom, Full House, and they are considered youth icons of the 1990s. In this context, their younger sister, Elizabeth, naturally felt attracted to the world of acting, so she had brief appearances in her sisters’ films, such as How the West Was Fun.

Although she seemed destined to follow the path of family success, Elizabeth felt at age 10 that such a world was not for her. “I missed my sports team, my dance class, and all my extracurricular activities at school,” she said in an interview.

Although, Mary-Kate and Ashley’s shadow conditioned her when it came to imagining herself starting a career in Hollywood. “I guess I understood what nepotism was inherently at 10 years old. I don’t know if I knew the word, but it bothered me to be associated with it at a young age.”

Finally, her love for acting was stronger than anything else she was doing, and Elizabeth began studying at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. At first, she considered changing her last name to avoid being associated with her sisters, introducing herself as Elizabeth Chase, although she finally ended up proudly using her original last name.

After stumbling through a few auditions, like for the role of Daenerys in Game of Thrones, she finally landed her first major role in the independent film, Martha Marcy May Marlene, for which she received great critical acclaim, proving to be a great start to her career.

However, the role that would give her the big push to gain fame in her career was that of Wanda Maximoff, known in the comics as the Scarlet Witch in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She debuted in that role in the film, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and has since appeared in 5 films, in addition to the series, WandaVision, where she is the main character.

Although the character clearly changed her life and career, she has not always felt entirely comfortable playing it. For example, she once complained about having to wear a low-cut suit unnecessarily. “I like corsets, but I’d like it to be higher. I’d like it to cover me a little higher up.”

Fortunately, as the character and, consequently, Elizabeth, gained prominence, things changed. In WandaVision, a series in which she starred alongside Paul Bettany, she was able to participate in the creative direction of the famous costume seen in the Scarlet Witch comics. In addition, in that show, she received high praise for her performance, for which she was nominated for an Emmy for Best Actress in a limited series.

Today, Wanda is one of the fundamental pillars of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and is one of the most important characters in its latest release, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. In this way, Elizabeth Olsen has shown that fear should not paralyze us and that we must follow our dreams, no matter how difficult the path may seem.

With which relative have you shared a profession? What can you tell us about that experience?