Elizabeth Olsen
Birthdate: Feb 16, 1989
Birthplace: Los Angeles, California, USA
Known to mavens of the Marvel Comics Universe as Wanda Maximoff, aka Scarlet Witch, Elizabeth Olsen (birthname: Elizabeth Chase Olsen) is a fast-rising actor whose range and depth were immediately apparent in her feature debut as the survivor of a cult in Antonio Campos’ Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011).
With this widely acclaimed performance, Olsen immediately shed any association—positive or negative—with her world-famous clothing designer sisters, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, and appeared primed for an interesting career in serious American independent cinema.
This immediately happened with filmmaker Josh Radnor and his comedy, Liberal Arts (2012). Olsen then found herself acting alongside Robert De Niro and Sigourney Weaver in the Spanish-made thriller Red Lights (2012), and with director Spike Lee and star Josh Brolin in Lee’s remake of Park Chan-wook’s Oldboy (2013), the same year Olsen played Jack Kerouac’s wife in Kill Your Darlings, about the private lives of the Beat Generation poets.
But it wasn’t soon until the studios started calling for Elizabeth Olsen. It started with Godzilla (2014), opposite Bryan Cranston, opening the door for the MCU. Cast as Scarlet Witch, Olsen’s profile transformed into a set of mega-blockbuster Marvel hits: first, in a teaser appearance in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), followed by prominent appearances in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015); Captain America: Civil War (2016), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), and a starring/title role in Disney’s highly acclaimed streaming series, WandaVision (2021) with Paul Bettany.
Elizabeth Olsen is hardly done with Scarlet Witch: She proceeds to work her wonders in the Doctor Strange sequel, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) with Benedict Cumberbatch. Olsen’s non-MCU work tends to be overshadowed, but it includes stellar work in Taylor Sheridan’s strong debut feature, Wind River (2017), with Jeremy Renner, and the comedy Ingrid Goes West (2017) with Aubrey Plaza.
Olsen co-starred with Carrie Coon and Natasha Lyonne in and was an executive producer on director/writer/producer Azazel Jacobs’ intimate drama, His Three Daughters (2023), with Jay O. Sanders and Jovan Adepo, produced by High Frequency Entertainment and released theatrically and on streaming by Netflix after premiering to strong reviews at the Toronto Film Festival. Olsen then starred in the U.K./Germany/U.S. sci-fi co-production, The Assessment (2024), co-starring Alicia Vikander and Himesh Patel, with Minnie Driver, Indira Varma, Nicholas Pinnock, Charlotte Ritchie and Leah Harvey under Fleur Fortune’s direction, launching at the Toronto Film Festival before a release by Magnolia Pictures (U.S.)/Capelight Pictures (Germany)/Amazon MGM Studios (International).
Elizabeth Olsen took an executive producer credit and co-starred opposite Miles Teller and Callum Turner in director/co-writer David Freyne’s fantasy romcom, Eternity (2025), co-written by Pat Cunnane, featuring the supporting cast of Da’Vine Joy Randolph, John Early, and Olga Merediz, and produced and distributed by A24 while premiering at the Toronto Film Festival. Olsen joined director/writer/producer Sam Esmail and his noteworthy cast of Julia Roberts, Eddie Redmayne, Brian Tyree Henry, Joe Alwyn, Ben Chaplin, and Aidan Gillen for the thriller, Panic Carefully (date to be announced), co-produced by Bluegrass 7/Esmail Corp/Red Om Films and released by Warner Bros. Pictures.
Olsen entered the wild world as co-star of director/co-writer Panos Cosmatos for his latest foray into surreal horror set in 1980s Los Angeles, Flesh of the Gods (date to be announced), co-starring Oscar Isaac (who also was a producer) and Kristen Stewart, co-written by Andrew Kevin Walker, produced by Adam McKay, Gena Konstantinakos and Betsy Koch, and which was funded with German and American sources including Hyperobject Industries, Mad Gene Media and Film-und-Medienstiftung NRW. Olsen teamed up with director-writer Todd Solondtz for the lead role in his long-delayed domestic comedy, Love Child (date to be announced), co-starring Charles Melton and Benjamin English (in the title role), with lead producers Christine Vachon, David Hinojosa, Ford Corbett and Cindy Bru, and which was produced in the U.S. and U.K. by Killer Films/Gramercy Park Media/2 AM.
Elizabeth Olsen Photos and Videos
Personal life
Elizabeth Olsen was born in the San Fernando Valley community of Sherman Oaks to parents David and Jarnette Olsen. Her sisters are internationally known fashion designers/models Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, and her brother is Trent.
Olsen’s parents divorced when she was 7 in 1996. Elizabeth Olsen attended Campbell Hall School in Sherman Oaks, and did her theater studies at both NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and the Moscow Art Theatre School, with support from the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. She and actor Boyd Holbrook were engaged in 2014 but split less than a year later. Elizabeth Olsen married songwriter-actor Robbie Arnett in 2021; the couple has no children. Her height is 5’ 6”.
Known For
Martha Marcy May Marlene
(2011)
Awards
Nominee, Outstanding Lead Actress in Limited or Anthology Series or Movie, Emmy Awards (2021); Nominee, Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series, Anthology Series or Motion Picture Made for Television, Golden Globe Awards (2022); Nominee, Rising Star Award, BAFTA (2013); Winner, New Generation Award, Los Angeles Film Critics Association (2011).
Critics Choice Award
Critics Choice Awards
Independent Spirit Award
Film Independent Spirit Awards
Critics Choice Award
Critics Choice Awards
Elizabeth Olsen Movies
actor
Previous (22)
- 2025 |
- 2025 |
The Assessment
asMia
In the near future where parenthood is strictly controlled, a couple's seven-day assessment for the right to have a child unravels into a psychological nightmare.
- 2023 | His Three Daughters
- 2022 |
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
asWanda Maximoff
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Doctor Strange teams up with a mysterious teenage girl who can travel across multiverses, to battle other-universe versions of himself which threaten to wipe out the multiverse. They seek help from the Scarlet Witch, Wong and others.
- 2019 |
Avengers: Endgame
asWanda Maximoff
After the devastating events of Avengers: Infinity War (2018), the universe is in ruins. With the help of remaining allies, the Avengers assemble once more in order to reverse Thanos' actions and restore balance to the universe.
- 2018 |
Avengers: Infinity War
asWanda Maximoff
The Avengers and their allies must be willing to sacrifice all in an attempt to defeat the powerful Thanos before his blitz of devastation and ruin puts an end to the universe.
- 2017 | Kodachrome
- 2017 |
Ingrid Goes West
After her release from a psychiatric ward, a woman obsessed with social media moves to LA to stalk an Instagram star, but her plan takes a dark turn.
- 2017 |
Wind River
A wildlife officer, who is haunted by a tragedy that happened because of him, teams up with an FBI agent in solving a murder of a young woman on a Wyoming Native American reservation and hopes to get redemption from his past regrets.
- 2016 |
Captain America: Civil War
asWanda Maximoff
Political involvement in the Avengers' affairs causes a rift between Captain America and Iron Man.
- 2016 |
I Saw the Light
The story of the country-western singer Hank Williams, who in his brief life created one of the greatest bodies of work in American music. The film chronicles his rise to fame and its tragic effect on his health and personal life.
- 2015 |
Avengers: Age of Ultron
asWanda Maximoff
When Tony Stark and Bruce Banner try to jump-start a dormant peacekeeping program called Ultron, things go horribly wrong and it's up to Earth's mightiest heroes to stop the villainous Ultron from enacting his terrible plan.
- 2013 | Very Good Girls
- 2014 |
- 2013 | In Secret
- 2013 | Kill Your Darlings
- 2012 | Liberal Arts
- 2012 | Red Lights
- 2011 | Peace, Love & Misunderstanding
- 2012 |
Silent House
asSarah
A girl is trapped inside her family's lakeside retreat and becomes unable to contact the outside world as supernatural forces haunt the house with mysterious energy and consequences.
- 2011 | Martha Marcy May Marlene
- 2005 |
Facts About Elizabeth Olsen
Career Crisis: Witnessing first-hand the media frenzy involving sister Mary-Kate’s eating disorder episode, Elizabeth Olsen considered quitting acting and show business.
Fashion Label: Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen named their clothing line, Elizabeth and James, in part after sister Elizabeth Olsen (as well as their brother James).
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