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Elizabeth Olsen Explains How She and Sisters Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen Were Raised to Be ‘Empowered’ Women

Ashley Olsen, Elizabeth Olsen and Mary-Kate Olsen
Ashley Olsen, Elizabeth Olsen and Mary-Kate Olsen attend the 2016 CFDA Fashion Awards on June 6, 2016 in New York City. Kristina Bumphrey/Starpix/Shutterstock

Strong women. Elizabeth Olsen opened up to Us Weekly about how she and her big sisters, twins Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, were raised to be independent, confident women by their mom and dad.

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“People should feel more strong as women now more than ever,” Elizabeth, 30, told Us and other reporters at the Rape Foundation’s annual brunch in Beverly Hills on Sunday, October 6. “The thing that I’ve been trying to wrap around my head is, like, at what point did my parents make me feel like a very strong female? I don’t really know how that happened but I always felt like a very empowered young female and it’s something that my sisters and I try to figure out.”

The Sorry For Your Loss star continued by questioning how she and the designer twins, 33, were “raised” so that they “could do the same for our [future] children moving forward.”

She also noted that the trio “always felt pretty empowered regardless of being, you know, maybe an underdog.”

Mary-Kate and Ashley became household names after playing Michelle Tanner on Full House beginning in 1987, when they were just babies, until 1995. Their success and popularity led to their own TV series, including Two of a Kind and So Little Time. They also starred in dozens of movies, including Our Lips Are Sealed, Passport to Paris and Winning London. They additionally had their own dolls, starred in video games and had their own clothing and fragrance lines, making them multimillionaires as teenagers.

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As adults, they have chosen to live their lives away from the public eye as they continue to run luxury fashion labels The Row and Elizabeth & James.

Elizabeth, meanwhile, has made a name for herself within the acting world. She’s appeared in many indie flicks, like Martha Marcy May Marlene and Liberal Arts, and major blockbusters including Godzilla and the Avengers franchise. As part of the Avengers universe, she plays Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch.

Elizabeth Olsen attends the Rape Foundation Annual Brunch
Elizabeth Olsen attends the Rape Foundation Annual Brunch 2019 on October 06, 2019 in Beverly Hills, California. Tibrina Hobson/Getty Images for The Rape Foundation

“The thing that’s special about the Marvel franchise is that it’s something that, like, the world agrees on, which I find kind of hilarious,” she admitted to Us and other reporters on Sunday. “The platform it gives you is just being able to have more of a voice and take advantage of it. I kind of am, like, a wary person taking advantage of it but I’d rather be, like, as active as possible instead of just a voice for things.”

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The Ingrid Goes West star also spoke about her next big project, WandaVision — where she will reprise her role as the Scarlet Witch. She noted that the Disney+ series is “going to be so fun” for viewers to watch.

“What we’re doing with the WandaVision series is really kind of that type of an origin story, where we get to make Wanda become the Scarlet Witch and that’s our opportunity right now,” she explained. “So that’s how I’m handling it in my head. It’s an exciting opportunity.”

With reporting by Taylor Ferber

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