Elizabeth Olsen, nicknames Lizzie, has an astounding five films already in the can, which will be released over the course of the next year. Her debut performance in MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE, which opens today via Fox Searchlight Pictures, is already being hailed as a breakthrough role on a par with Jennifer Lawrence’s turn in last year’s WINTER’S BONE. Olsen will be remembered come awards season for her internalized performance as an emotionally troubled young woman who becomes enmeshed in a cult on a remote farm in upstate New York. The film juxtaposes her time in the commune, which becomes more and more violent and abusively frightening, with her “rescue” at the upscale, lakeside home of her older sister and brother in law (played with finesse by Sarah Paulson and Hugh Dancy). The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Best Director prize for Sean Durkin.
MMMM was not Olsen’s only film at Sundance. She also had a starring role in the art-house horror film SILENT HOUSE, which will be released later this year. Her contrasting performances in these two films impressed critics and industry insiders alike and Olsen quickly was tagged the “it girl” of the Festival, at the tender age of 22. At last month’s Toronto Film Festival, Olsen also had a double-header, with MMMM gaining even more traction as one of the key indie films of the year, and also a supporting role in Bruce Beresford’s family dramedy PEACE, LOVE AND MISUNDERSTANDING, where the ingénue was cast opposite such veteran actresses as Jane Fonda and Catherine Keener. The prolific actress has three films opening next year, the teen sex comedy VERY GOOD GIRLS, the paranormal thriller RED LIGHTS with a cast that includes screen icons Robert de Niro and Sigourney Weaver, and the college-set romcom LIBERAL ARTS, directed by Josh Radnor (HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER) and co-starring heartthrob Zac Efron.
She was one of dozens of aspiring actresses when she attended the auditions for the lead role in MARTHA MARCEY MARY MARLENE. Director Sean Durkin, who also wrote the original script, was looking for an unknown to play the challenging central role in his debut film. “Lizzie read the first scene and immediately, there was something different happening”, he was quoted in a recent interview. “She could convey a lot without doing anything. There was so much going on behind her eyes.” Before her audition was even through, Durkin texted his producer that they had found their leading lady. The rest, as they say, is history, and with Olsen’s emergence on the film scene and her continued visibility in the coming months, it is not a stretch to say that a new star is born.