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Elizabeth Olsen ‘Was So Frustrated’ Watching Her Performance in ‘WandaVision’ Pilot

Zack Sharf
·2 min read

Elizabeth Olsen earned rave reviews for “WandaVision,” and she’s currently a frontrunner to land an Emmy nomination for Best Actress in a Limited Series, but she’s not in love with all of the acting she delivered on the buzzy Marvel television show. During a conversation with Kaley Cuoco as part of Variety’s “Actors on Actors” series, Olsen admitted that she struggled to watch the “WandaVision” pilot episode because her performance wasn’t a personal favorite. Olsen shot the “WandaVision” premiere in front of a live studio audience and feels she got a bit lost between playing to the crowd and playing to the camera.

“We did a live audience for the first episode, and that was the first thing we shot,” Olsen said. “It was very confusing how to play to the camera. Like, I was like projecting, because I’m used to stage. When I watched the first episode, I’m like, ‘Oh, goddamn it.’ I was so frustrated, because I can see my 10-year-old theater-kid self playing out to the audience instead of the camera.”

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For what it’s worth, Cuoco said projecting to the audience is part of the 1950s sitcom aesthetic that “WandaVision” was aiming to capture in its pilot episode, thus Olsen’s acting fit perfectly within the era. When Olsen asked if she pulled off the style, Cuoco responded, “You for sure did. It looked like that time. It’s like when I watch ‘I Love Lucy.'” Many “WandaVision” fans would agree Olsen was pitch-perfect in these early sitcom episodes of “WandaVision.”

“We all just were trying to survive by going as quickly as possible,” Olsen told Cuoco about filming “WandaVision.” “The only time we would slow down is when we get into Marvel Land. Marvel’s just such a strange beast. It’s the biggest stakes in the entire world: ‘The world’s going to end. Humans are going to die!’ But it’s all about character. That’s its own tone that’s hard to find, but when we’re in the sitcom zone, it was just a speed demon.”

Olsen followed “WandaVision” by reprising her Marvel character once again in “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” which she recently wrapped filming in London. All episodes of “WandaVision” are now streaming on Disney+.

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