LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Actors often put themselves completely in the shoes of the character they are playing in order to understand that character's perspective and moral behavior. This is often the case with characters who are much more complex, morally ambiguous, and have their own unique perspective on the world and how it works. The MCU character Wanda is one such character who struggles with the ideas of "good" and "bad."
Having played the role of Wanda for the last ten years, Elizabeth Olsen has inevitably been affected by her complexity. She has already talked about how she does not miss her Marvel character at all. In the recent Variety interview with Meghann Fahy, she talked about how she feels about the role of Scarlet Witch.
Leaving the world of Wanda
Olsen revealed in the interview with Fahy that she found it difficult to separate from her character. “I think I had the summer off or something before going into Candy. I was really hungry to put that character [Wanda] away.”
Olsen has recently worked on the crime drama miniseries ‘Love and Death’ as a housewife named Candy Montgomery. The idea of the character sounds worlds apart from Wanda, who ends up becoming a villain and threatens multiple superheroes. But they have certain similarities, as noted by Olsen.
When Fahy brought up the transition from Wanda to Candy, Olsen responded by saying that she doesn’t compare the two characters, “...they both do bad things and they’re antiheroes in a way,” the actress said.
Elizabeth Olsen on making it 'less Marvel'
The actress reiterated that she does not miss playing Wanda. She further added, “I think it’s been almost 10 years of playing her. And I’ve loved it. And I think the reason why I am not calling Kevin Feige every day with ideas is because I’m really proud of what we were able to do.” Feige is the director of the Marvel studios who closely worked with Olsen on her character.
In the end, Olsen didn’t really make it clear if she would want to return to the MCU as Wanda. She concluded the interview by saying, “I think WandaVision was a really surprising opportunity. If someone were to tell me that I’m fired from Marvel movies, I will feel proud of what we made. And I really am just trying to figure out how to load up other films and characters so it becomes less about the Marvel of it all.”
To this, Fahy responded with, “That’s such a great answer! It’s so honest.”
All episodes of 'Love and Death' can be streamed on HBO Max.