I'm not going to lie, I didn't realize that Elizabeth Olsen talking about playing Scarlet Witch in THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON hadn't been officially, officially confirmed until today. I knew that there had been rumors, and then Samuel L. Jackson kind of spilled the beans a while back on her casting. But I had the chance to chat with her this afternoon about her new film, Spike Lee's take on OLDBOY, and we started to talk about her part in GODZILLA, which led to the AVENGERS discussion.
What's funny is that a lot of people who interviewed her in person today (I believe in New York) posted video of her basically saying nothing about playing the character. Not surprising since Marvel is notorious about locking down their actors and other participants and keeping them from spilling any secrets about story, costumes, etc. So the sum total of her comments from sites I've seen has been basically, "It's going to be cool. Joss Whedon is cool. The prep work has been cool so far." (And I got some of that too, make no mistake.) Now granted, she may have gone into more detail somewhere, but I didn't see it. And this surprised me because Olsen spoke at relative length to me about what she likes about this character (not specifically about the film version of Scarlet Witch, but just about character in general), and whether or not she's prepared for the onslaught of probing questions about the character and the film over the next couple of years.
I'm not trying to oversell what she said to me, but it's a little more than what I've seen and read today. Let me give you a taste of Ms. Olsen's comments about playing the Scarlet Witch (with her GODZILLA on-screen husband, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, playing her twin brother Quicksilver), and I'll post the whole interview in the week leading up to OLDBOY's November 27 release. Here's Elizabeth Olsen…
Capone: I'm sure you have a team of lawyers around you right now to make sure you don't say anything, but do you have a sense yet of how much the world is going to change for you by being in the AVENGERS sequel?
Elizabeth Olsen: No, not at all. I just never believe it when they say it's going to chance. My life changed after MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE, and people were like, "It's going to change," and yeah, it did. But I've got the same friends; I've got the same family. I have more options with work, so I get to be pickier. Those changes are pretty good. I still don't foresee myself as someone people are going to stalk and follow around. I don't see that in my cards.
Capone: Well, I hope that doesn't happen.
EO: Yeah, but I don't mind the whole work-getting-better aspect of it.
Capone: Scarlet Witch wears one of the hottest costumes in the Marvel comic book world. Have you gotten a sense of what's going to be happening on that front?
EO: I do have a sense. But I have logic and mind enough not to share it. [laughs] I know what the costume is going to be more or less like. I'm just excited that she's never been portrayed in film or on television before.
Capone: When do you start shooting?
EO: In the spring.
Capone: And have they begun indoctrinating you yet into the character's history, sending you the old books and other source material?
EO: Absolutely. It's so much fun.
Capone: As you're reading them, what are you enjoying most about Scarlet Witch that you didn't know before
EO: Everything. I never read these comics before, not Scarlet Witch. She's crazy. She has more things wrong with her than any character I've ever played. She can tell you where an object has been, she can tell you what your future is, she can connect with the dead and people from the past, the future, other universes, and she's the only person in this universe who's capable of doing that. She's unbelieveable; it's so cool. I grew up loving STAR WARS and LORD OF THE RINGS, and anything that has another type of world or universe aspect to it is so fun.
Capone: You grew up on fantasy films, but comic books were never your thing?
EO: No, that was my brother's thing. I think because it was so much his thing, it wasn't my thing. He's collected comic books every week of his life since he was seven; he's almost 30 now.
Capone: He must be losing his mind then about this news.
EO: Yes! I don't think I've told him he's allowed to talk about this now [laughs].
