Elizabeth Olsen Says It Was Hard Getting Certain Roles Due To Her Being In Marvel Movies – "I Started To Feel Frustrated"

Since her debut in the MCU in the superhero film "Avengers: Age of Ultron" (2015), Elizabeth Olsen has played Wanda Maximoff – Scarlet Witch – in a number of films, including "Captain America: Civil War" (2016), "Avengers: Infinity War" (2018), as well as the miniseries "WandaVision" (2021).

Most recently, Olsen reprised the Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff character in "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," facing off with wielder of the Eye of Agamotto and former supreme sorcerer Doctor Strange(Benedict Cumberbatch) as she spread her style of rampage across the multiverse.

Now, the actress has opened up about the rough side of being an MCU veteran and how she started to feel frustrated with her responsibilities to the franchise at some point.

While she has gained huge financial benefits from all her MCU features, Olsen recently admitted that starring as the skilled female sorcerer wasn't all sunshine and roses for her acting career.

The actress, who has now played Maximoff/Scarlet Witch in six MCU films, stated that being signed to the MCU meant she had to become less and less available across the years, forcing her to pass up some acting opportunities she truly wanted and would have expanded her resume even further.

"It took me away from the physical ability to do certain jobs that I thought were more aligned with the things I enjoyed as an audience member," Olsen explained in an interview with New York Times (Via Insider). "And this is me being the most honest."

Yorgos Lanthimos' outstanding Oscar-nominated 2015 film "The Lobster" was one of the roles Olsen stated she truly wanted. However, due to her Marvel contract, which had some as-yet-undisclosed restrictions, she was forced to pass up the job, among others.

Having to lose out on several acting gigs while being locked in with the MCU took a toll on Olsen's emotions and made her start having regrets despite the immense benefits that came with being one of Marvel's superhero characters.

"I started to feel frustrated," Olsen said, explaining how she felt at the time. "I had this job security, but I was losing these pieces that I felt were more part of my being. And the further I got away from that, the less I became considered for it."

After feeling this way for a while, Olsen sought to tune her mindset to focus on her Marvel films and stop worrying about what she was missing out on the outside. Eventually, the plaudits came pouring after gaining more onscreen time in subsequent Marvel films.

One such Marvel project was the limited series "WandaVision." The actress starred alongside Paul Bettany's Vision in a story that was set after the events of the film "Avengers: Endgame." The series chronicled Olsen's character using her powers to enchant a village so that she could live a picture-perfect life following the death of her lover Vision in the hands of the mad titan Thanos.

Fans of the actress then saw her reprise her role in a deadlier form as part of Marvel's newest release, "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness." After the events of "Wanda Vision," Olsen's Maximoff had tipped over into an abyss of depressive emotions that made her choose to give in to the evil powers of the "Darkhold" and wreak havoc across the multiverse.

Olsen's feature in both projects has won her more critical acclaim than her previous stint in other Marvel films. Additionally, it also allowed her to showcase her range of talents, from being an easy-going and sweet member of the Avengers to portraying a crazily evil and immensely powerful sorcerer who gave no qualms about snuffing out the lives of people that stood in her path.

The ability to show her range of talents in her last two Marvel projects has made Olsen take the loss of losing out on other acting gigs in a better way. She recently then revealed to NYT that she did not mind taking on a standalone Scarlet Witch movie if the script was right.

"I think I would," she told the news outlet about starring in a solo Marvel film. "But it really needs to be a good story. I think these films are best when it's not about creating content, but about having a very strong point of view — not because you need to have a three-picture plan."

In the meantime, Olsen will return to the small screen as Candy Montgomery in HBO Max's crime drama "Love and Death." The series follows the true story of Wylie, Texas housewife Candy Montgomery's gory death in the hands of her close pal Betty Gore in 1980. Filming was wrapped up in April and would debut later on in 2022.