Elizabeth Olsen in Kill Your Darlings

Published by Interrobang Staff at October 20, 2013

Actress Elizabeth Olsen is known becoming known for her great performances in independent film. She’s been nominated for a number of awards for her role in “Martha Marcy May Marlene”, and gotten great reviews for her performances in “Liberal Arts” and “Silent House.” Olsen also has a starring role in the upcoming remake of “Godzilla.” She stopped by the SiriusXM studios recently to sit down with Ron Bennington and talk the new film, “Kill Your Darlings” as well as her role starring in the off broadway production of “Romeo and Juliet” in New York City. Excerpts from the interview appear below. You can hear the interview in its entirety exclusively on SiriusXM satellite radio.

* * *

Elizabeth Olsen Talks About Her Role In “Kill Your Darlings”

Ron Bennington: You are playing one of the people interacting with the early Beats.

Elizabeth Olsen: Yes.

Ron Bennington: Those guys were an obsession for me, as I guess they always are for a lot of people at a certain age. A lot of young people.

Elizabeth Olsen: Right. I never went through a “Beat” phase.

Ron Bennington: I think it’s more of a boy thing.

Elizabeth Olsen: It could have been. I liked the jazz age. That’s kind of what I got into in high school.

Ron Bennington: 1920s?

Elizabeth Olsen: Yeah. Hemingway, Fitzgerald. That’s what I was into in school.

Ron Bennington: Hemingway is actually unusual for a young girl.

Elizabeth Olsen: It is unusual. I also liked Charles Bukowski and Chuck Palahniuk – which are the majority, misogynists. (laughs)

Ron Bennington: Yeah, they are. But it’s amazing writing.

Elizabeth Olsen: Yeah.

Ron Bennington: But we talk about misogyny – the Beats, for a young man…because you’re like – oh, this is what I want to do. I want to experience life. I want to get out and do it. Bu they were also tough on women.

Elizabeth Olsen: They were, yeah. It’s fun to be part of this film. I haven’t been doing much press for it, but it is. It’s the men’s story. I played a girlfriend to…I play Edie Parker who’s Jack Kerouac’s first wife. But not even technically, because they got an annulment immediately after. She just helped him get out of jail because that was the only way, is if they were married. For the rest of her life, she taught about the Beats in university. And she had no real connection to them afterwards. But clearly, it left a lasting impression on her.

* * *

Elizabeth Olsen Talks About Performing In “Romeo And Juliet”

Ron Bennington: You’re also doing this remake, “Romeo and Juliet” – which we know the story, but…I went and saw this.And you try to explain theater to people. This is a fairly blank stage. And like I say – you know the story. But as you’re watching it, it’s amazing the places that you can go in that theater.

Elizabeth Olsen: Yes. It’s a funny space. It’s also hard to create a set for “Romeo and Juliet” without things that are able to come up from above and slide in. We don’t really have that. So, we just decided to create an open space where the only things that are at our disposal are ourselves. And so, we’ve tried to create the story just with our bodies, our voices, our interactions, our relationships – which allows the audience, I hope, with their own imagination, create their own setting, their own filling in the blanks. I hope that’s…we’ve left it to them to do.

Ron Bennington: Well, it’s almost like it’s an alternate universe. It’s not set to any one time. It’s not set to any one place. But it may be the most universal story that we have. And I think it’s why we keep playing it over and over.

Elizabeth Olsen: Yeah. It’s funny. I didn’t think I wanted to do “Romeo and Juliet” a year and a half ago when we did a reading for it. Just because I was thinking – well, probably if there’s one story that people internationally know, is “Romeo and Juliet”. All different ages. All different generations. And so, that wasn’t very interesting to me. But then, I read it and I was like – goddamn, this is so good. And there aren’t many stories that so successfully allow a young woman to become a woman in a short period of time and with so much humor and strength and wit. So, to me, it’s so much fun to be able to do so much with one role.

Ron Bennington: Yeah, I think that was the thing that I loved about it – is that you get the feeling in this how young they are. How impulsive and even somewhat stupid, you know what I mean? They’re not taking any time to think. They’re just reacting.

Elizabeth Olsen: If they did, the story probably wouldn’t happen. (laughs)

* * *

Elizabeth Olsen Talks About Her Connection With People In The Audience

Ron Bennington: You’re doing that show for a couple of hours every night, right?

Elizabeth Olsen: Yeah.

Ron Bennington: It’s a difficult show to pull off the rest of your day, does have to be set up to make that one move.

Elizabeth Olsen: Yeah, totally. I mean even during rehearsals – so, that’s been tedious and tiring during the show, but yeah, it’s really lovely to have a slow day and not feel like the laziest person in the world because at the end of the day, you’re like – I promise I’m going to work.

Ron Bennington: Yeah. It’s really going to be hard.

Elizabeth Olsen: Yeah! (laughs)

Ron Bennington: I don’t even know how this works in live theater. Because that opening thing [you are doing], where people just come out, one at a time. I don’t know why that’s as powerful as it is. I have no idea. I was sitting there trying to figure it out. Why is this so powerful?

Elizabeth Olsen: I think it’s because so many times when we go to see theater, especially Western theater, we feel like – okay, we’re in this audience. We’re going to watch these people and they’re going to dance for us. But we start our show saying – we’re here with you. We’re actors. We understand you’re watching a performance right now. And this is our performance. I get a look at everyone in the audience. And sometimes, I like to look at someone who’s not looking at me until I wait for them to look to me. And then, they realize I’ve been looking at them. And to just be there for that reaction, I enjoy. Because it’s fun to be part of a show, because it’s not television. You can’t just turn us on and off. We’re in front of you. We’re people. And it’s fun to kind of fun to have that sort of abrasiveness at the beginning.

* * *

Elizabeth Olsen Talks About Off-Broadway Theater

Ron Bennington: There is something so powerful about just everything that you said because we’re so used to now…being on the laptop while you’re watching TV or you’re up and down. But when you’re in —and particularly off-Broadway and it’s small – you are really in the moment even when you’re in the audience. And I don’t know if we have a lot of that anymore.

Elizabeth Olsen: Yeah. I think you do. I think there’s some theater that does that. I think the problem is, with a lot of productions these days, is with Broadway, you know who’s buying your tickets. So, you need a show. You need a very performative, beautiful show. And hopefully, also it helps elevate the acting and telling the story. Sometimes it doesn’t, but that doesn’t matter because it will still please people. And with off-Broadway, I think a lot of the fault is – I think people love so much good television now that they’re trying to create something as hyper-realistic as what we get to watch on television, but the medium doesn’t really lend itself to that. You’re not in a close-up. You’re not reading someone’s thoughts. So, I think that kind of theater is the theater that people sometimes don’t really…they’re like – yeah, it was fine, but I would rather go home and watch “Breaking Bad”. So, if you’re going to do performance, do performance. And acknowledge that it is a performance.That’s it’s live. It’s theater. It’s breathing. And I think that was kind of what our whole point was. It’s like we’re not going to do hyper-realistic Shakespeare. Because we’re speaking funny. (laughs) We’re not going to try to convince you that this is how we talk.

Ron Bennington: But the end of the first act is so goddamn powerful. You could physically feel it in that place. And when in the second act…it’s why I captured what teenage girls are going through. Your heart is just broke during that whole second act.

Elizabeth Olsen: And trying to mend things with anything she has.

Ron Bennington: Just desperation. It’s a really really great performance.

Elizabeth Olsen: Thank you.

* * *

Elizabeth Olsen Talks About How She Chooses Projects

Ron Bennington: And you, of course, have been doing independent film. We brought up “Kill Your Darlings”. Now there’s a rumor about you. Sam Jackson said something – doing something really big. Do you plan these things out or are you taking it one shot at a time?

Elizabeth Olsen: I’m kind of taking it one shot at a time. I’m also trying to figure out…I do hope that the outcome of a lot of projects, I hope they turn out well, but if they don’t, then I better be damn sure I’m going to have a good time making it because that’s my life. So, that’s where I’ve kind of been on choosing who to work with, where we’re working, what project it is, how I’m going to grow from it and if I’m going to enjoy the people I’m working with. That’s become really important to me. Just because it’s my livelihood. (laughs)

* * *

Elizabeth Olsen Talks About Being In The New “Godzilla” Movie

Ron Bennington: That’s the stuff that I think screws up a lot of young people. And I think of people in different times and I think – hey, that guy used to be great. What happened? He stopped getting the same kind of roles that were being offered. Because maybe he took a couple of safe things.

Elizabeth Olsen: Yeah. And so, you have to be careful with…I mean the funny thing is – is like with “Godzilla”, because I got to do “Godzilla” and to me, I was like – oh God, I’m going to this meeting about “Godzilla”, how stupid is that? And then, I see this teaser and it’s an (J. Robert) Oppenheimer quote about him creating the most powerful weapon in the world. Meanwhile, you’re looking at this devastated city and then, Godzilla roars and you’re like – what is this? (laughs) And you’re like – this is amazing! And that’s why I wanted to do the movie. I was like – if that’s the movie you’re making, I want to be a part of it. And so, hopefully…I used to think maybe even just doing…my brother is a huge comic book guy. I grew up loving “Lord of the Rings” and even Tim Burton’s “Batman”s. I loved that stuff. And as an actor, I’m starting to realize that a lot of times, those are projects when you have to be the most creative and the most out of yourself. Because a lot of times, you’re just playing yourself doing different things in different situations and you change your hair. But with larger, kind of fantastical films, you get to be more creative. And it’s fun.

Ron Bennington: Yeah. Tim Burton has definitely stayed weird.

Elizabeth Olsen: (laughing) He just keeps getting weirder.

* * *

Ron Bennington: Thank you so much for stopping by. And congratulations for how all this is going. “Romeo and Juliet” is playing at the Classic Stage Company in New York City. And I can tell you that you will be no further away than what? 5 rows from the action in any place?

Elizabeth Olsen: Yeah.

Ron Bennington: That little theater is just phenomenal. And also, “Kill Your Darlings” is out in theaters, Friday, October 18^th. Elizabeth, thank you so much. See you next time coming through.

* * *