Elizabeth Olsen is currently the film industry's best-kept secret. She is young, immensely talented and, with the release of the Sundance hit "Martha Marcy May Marlene" (2011), Olsen is ready to become a star. The Daily got the chance to chat with the skilled indie darling about developing her troubled character, what she learned at New York University (NYU) and the most difficult scene she had to film.
Jordan Teicher: I thought what was so disturbing about this film was how real the characters were, and I was wondering if you could comment on the dynamic on set between you and [director] Sean Durkin, and how much leeway he gave you to really become the character, versus sticking to the script?
Elizabeth Olsen: Yes, well, the great thing about Sean as a director is he presents himself as an open book. He has every single character's back-story figured out in his head, and he has all these answers, but he also says, "If you have questions ask me, and I'll give you my answer. But, I'm open to everything that you want to bring to the table." So, he is very specific in what he wants, but he's not a micro-manager.
So the script — no one really wanted to deviate from the script. The only way to deviate from the script was probably by minimizing some of the language just by nature of rehearsal and figuring out exactly what we need and what we don't need.
But it was really a great communication, and you felt open to being fully creative, and you also knew that he was going to be able to take care of you and steer you in the right direction if you were caught up in anything. And we also created such a tight-knit family. It was a small crew, it was a small cast, and we all lived together on location, so all of that created an amazing creative environment.
JT: What specific skills did you learn from your training at NYU and the Atlantic Theater Company that you apply in your work now or in "Martha"?
EO: It's very analytically based, and for me that's the most effective way to work, especially on a script that's so riddled and has so many puzzles. The only way that I can approach acting is really making everything as specific as possible from an analytic point of view and not what they really highlight at the Atlantic. And also it's an action-driven technique that they teach.
And so for me, with a film that's so quiet, and I'm alone a lot, the only way that I could actually figure out about how to convey anything ... it's like always figuring out what kind of active thing I'm doing. And I have to figure out exactly what I'm responding to even if I'm by myself in a room. So all those things, to me, were things that I learned from them that helped me with all of the private moments, where you really have to figure out in your mind what you're reacting to and responding to and what your action is.
You can have some clear arc throughout the story of following where she is in her mind, besides the editing. But I think, also, it's important for actors, for me in this film — because it's so much of her face — [to] have clear, specific actions.
