Elizabeth Olsen has perhaps become best known for playing the MCU's Scarlet Witch (and earning a legion of fans who call her "mother"). However, she's always balanced her superhero role with indie projects rather than booking parts in big-budget blockbusters and franchises.
Chris Evans, for example, hasn't managed to strike such an effective balance; while he was praised for his work in Knives Out, The Gray Man, Ghosted, and Red One haven't worked out particularly well for him. In contrast, Olsen has had a terrific year with critically acclaimed performances in His Three Daughters and The Assessment, two movies which couldn't be any further from the MCU.
Talking to Vulture, the WandaVision star explained that while her Marvel role allows her to make passion projects like those, that's far from the only reason she's still playing the Scarlet Witch.
"I’d never really had the mentality of 'one for them, one for me,'" the actor explained. "Marvel has been such a consistent thing I’ve been able to return to and has created - what’s the word? - some feeling of insurance in my life that has given me freedom to choose other jobs. So I haven’t felt like, 'And then I’ll do this to do this.'"
She'd add that returning to the MCU "has always felt like a choice" and explained, "Every time, it’s character-driven. It’s always like, ‘We have this idea, and that’s why we want you to come back.’ It’s not like, 'Just throw her in something.'"
This is a huge contrast to some actors who make it sound like a superhero project is a painful necessity to star in more serious fare. Olsen does, however, see the necessity of Marvel fare.
She went on to acknowledge that they "pay the rent" for theaters to be able to show smaller movies like her Netflix movie His Three Daughters, which had a theatrical run and was shot on 35mm film.
"It's a character I love going back to when there's a way to use her well and I think I've been lucky when I started I was used well," Olsen said while addressing her MCU future, "and they kind of didn't know what to do with me for a second there! If there's a good way to use her, I'm always happy to come back."
"I think so. I assume as much," she added when asked if the Avenger is still alive. "Yeah, and there was a red light of explosive energy. I think I'm dead. I would beg to leave a window open. I had so much fun doing these movies. I would like to figure out how to cleverly be undead."
"We need to find the smartest writers to figure out how to make this all make sense. I'm open to ideas," Olsen noted.
We recently learned when and where Olsen will return to the MCU. You can learn more about that here.