Elizabeth Olsen
Martha Marcy May Marlene

On getting inside her character’s head for Martha Marcy May Marlene—then and still: I was interested in her not playing the victim and the struggle to fight against that. That was an interesting struggle in my mind. Now I talk about her so much I feel I fully know her, but whether or not I knew all those things when I was filming, I don’t know. You film a movie for four weeks, and you talk about it for a year, so I feel like I’m so much closer with her—now more than ever.

What she loves about being someone else for a while: The funniest thing is that it’s the time I feel the least insecure in my life, because I’m not me. On talk shows, I’m totally self-conscious and aware of everything I do and every movement, but when I’m filming, I feel a lot more secure in my body. I try not to judge myself, but also have the awareness of what I’m doing so I can improve it in the next take. I really love that. It’s just such a freeing feeling, to get out of your own head.

The moment she knew she had no choice but to be an actor: It was a very specific moment, actually: In my junior year of high school we did The Laramie Project, and I wrote my high school director, Josh Adell, a handwritten letter about how the experience of doing that play changed my life and helped me make choices for what I wanted to do when I went to college.

The actor whose performance most inspired her views on acting: As a little girl I looked up to Michelle Pfeiffer like people looked up to the Spice Girls. I just thought she could transform into anything. I thought she was a superhero.

The film that continues to fascinate: There are so many movies that make you wish you knew more of what happened before and what happens after. I feel like Gone with the Wind satisfies the whole story you want to see, but every time it ends and she says, “Tomorrow is another day,” you’re just like, Okay, but what happens? Do you guys get together again? Are you going to fall in love again? It always makes me so hopeful and sad at the same time.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARK ABRAHAMS FOR MANAGEMENT ARTISTS