- Hi, I'm Paul Bettany
and I play Vision, or The Vision, in "WandaVision."
- And I am Elizabeth Olsen and I play Wanda Maximoff.
- And we are both here with BuzzFeed
to answer all of your burning questions.
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- When did you first find out
that Wanda and Vision would be getting their own series?
- I had just died in "Infinity War."
My contract was up and I got a call from the boss
saying come into the office and I...
Well, we all know what that means.
So I looked at my wife and I went,
"I think I'm getting the can."
I was very nervous as I got over that
and I wanted everybody to feel comfortable
and not feel icky about the whole thing
'cause I thought they were going to be gentlemen
and just look me in the face and say it's over.
And so I went in, I said,
"Look, just absolutely no hard feelings.
"It's been a great run.
"Thank you so much."
And they went, "Wait, are you quitting?"
And I went, "No, aren't you firing me?"
And they went, "No, we were gonna pitch you a TV show."
And I went, "Oh, excellent."
That was how I found out.
- I think "Infinity War" had just come out
and we were about to go and do pickups for "Endgame."
Yeah, I had a similar experience but without the firing part
'cause I still had work to do on "Endgame."
I was just very thrown by the whole TV part of it all.
And then when I heard about the concept,
I thought it was perfect for television
and a very original idea that made me excited,
and I thought it'd be fun for you and I to go at it again.
- "WandaVision" uses various sitcom formats and eras
to tell the story.
Do you have a particular favorite that we did together?
- The favorite's hard for me
because I feel like that means
I have to like pick my favorite child, which I cannot do.
However, speaking of children, I think the '70s was very fun
because I thought it was very fun.
- I feel the same.
There are things about each and every era that I loved.
I did love the feeling of when we came back
and shot exteriors for episode two, because yes,
it was after the hiatus because of the pandemic
and everybody was very worried
whether it was even going to work.
And seeming to work and it was just a lovely feeling
knowing that this job was gonna be able to finish.
So that was a great moment for me.
- So the first two "WandaVision" episodes
are in black and white
and employ a lot of old school sitcom tricks.
What's your favorite behind-the-scenes memory
from filming these episodes?
- Running around backstage with you and Kathryn Hahn
so nervous (laughs) on the first episode where it was all,
you know, we had a live studio audience
and I was really resistant to the idea.
I really dug my heels in.
And finally, I just yielded
And we were there, we were doing it
and just running around like idiots,
bumping into Kathryn Hahn at the prop table, and then...
(Elizabeth laughing)
I felt like we were all in school doing a school play
or summer stock, or something.
I just felt really great.
- I immediately think of all the practical gags
our special effects team, who are used to, you know,
blowing things up and setting fire to things
and creating fog and wind
and watching them become puppeteers
of just like the kitchen items
that were floating in the air.
And my favorite one was watching
two of our special effects guys puppeting a dish rag
trying to dry a cup.
And it was so complicated and so frustrating for them.
They figured it out,
but it was really funny watching them, you know,
trying to figure out how to bounce a dish rag to dry a cup.
- What was it like for you when we had to perform
in front of a live studio audience?
- I thought it was terrifying.
I was like completely freaked out.
I had so much adrenaline and like first day nerves going,
and the only thing that was getting me through was knowing
that I trusted Matt Shakman and if it was a failure,
he would let me reshoot it the next day. (laughs)
But we didn't.
He got most of everything he needed.
- Yes, and there's that feeling,
it's like when you starting something
you can kind of delay making choices for a little while
until you find your feet.
And this was certainly like
well, I guess that's what the show is. (laughs)
(Elizabeth laughing)
And that was actually a really great and freeing feeling.
- So "WandaVision" has a lot of moments of comedy.
So is there ever a moment where you couldn't stop laughing
while trying to film a scene?
- Yes, there have been a few,
but weirdly it's usually moments when I'm having to do
things like all they need is you here
and you're supposed to be floating in the air
and then you have to look up
and look super dynamic and cool.
And I just can't take myself seriously. (laughs)
- No, me neither.
I feel like there are a lot of times
where you and I got caught up in giggles,
but because of how fast we had to film
we weren't allowed to indulge in it.
We really had to move on and have to suck it up.
And for some reason,
there's a moment that I cannot right now formulate
in my memory but I just remember laughing
every time we were looking at each other
and feeling the pressure of like you really have to
like suck it up right now. - Don't make me laugh.
Don't make me laugh.
The time you're talking about was during pandemic
so everybody had masks on.
You couldn't quite tell whether people were laughing at you
or kind of like-
- (laughs) Just annoyed.
- So there are some amazing new characters, obviously,
that join Wanda and Vision in this show,
namely Kathryn Hahn's Agnes
and Teyonah Parris' version of Monica.
what was it like welcoming them to the MCU family?
- I just felt so lucky to have both of those women
on our set.
I can't imagine the show being with any other people.
God, we had fun.
- Well, I loved the experience
because I remember everybody being incredibly welcoming
to me when I first arrived in person on "Age of Ultron."
'Cause there's a real family feel.
It was lovely welcoming them in.
They're both delightful and funny and super bright,
and then just inordinately talented
and willing to go along and join you
in the style and the ride, and all of that.
- Looking back on all your time in the MCU,
is there a scene or moment that you're most proud of?
- I would say the moment that I was most proud
was when we wrapped "WandaVision"
and just thinking in the middle of this thing
that has sort of decimated production around the globe,
we got through it without a single case,
and everybody really stuck to the rules
and really took it seriously
and really genuinely made me feel so proud.
- Yeah, I agree with you on that.
I think there are also moments in this show
that I thought were gonna be really hard to pull off.
And so I think there's,
I mean scenes that I can't talk about
specifically right now,
but when something seems like kind of impossible
and then you just have to thrust yourself into it
because it's the day that you're supposed to do it
and you've been hoping the day would never come.
- Yeah, I think that's true, Lizzy.
There's a lot of yielding.
I just gotta let go of my embarrassment muscle
and just go for it.
- I've talked to a lot of people about how these movies
or shows like make you feel absolutely like the stupidest,
silliest, most embarrassing moments
if anyone could actually see how these things are shot,
as opposed to how it's edited in the end.
And I think that's the greatest thing
that Marvel has like given me as an actor, I would say,
is like now that kind of freedom of just, you know,
doing it and not thinking too much about it
and just jumping into the deep end.
- That's right.
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