-Our next guest is a talented actress
you know from films such as "Wind River,"
"Ingrid Goes West,"
and the Avengers and Captain America franchises.
She returns as Wanda Maximoff in Marvel's "WandaVision,"
which is currently streaming on Disney+.
Let's take a look.
[ Loud banging ] -[ Gasps ]
What was that?
[ Laughter ] [ Music trills ]
[ Banging continues ]
-Wanda? -Yes, dear.
-Are you using your powers to turn on the light?
-Yes, dear.
-Allow me, sweetheart.
[ Crickets chirping ]
-What do you see?
-Only your lovely rose bushes.
-That's all?
Are you using your night vision, Vision?
-I assure you, my love, I see nothing amiss.
You have absolutely no reason to be --
[ Banging ] Aah!
[ Laughter ]
-You were saying?
-Please welcome back to the show Elizabeth Olsen.
Hi, Lizzie! How are you?
-Hi! I'm -- I'm good.
How are you doing?
-I'm doing well.
You're joining us from London.
Hopefully it's not too late there.
I mean, I know how late it is. I understand time zones.
But hopefully it's not past your bedtime.
-Um, no. It's fine.
I mean, I'm, like, properly caffeinated, I think,
and have the shakes, so I think I'm ready.
-[ Laughs ]
Now, I think a lot of people living in the States
long for travel and the idea of escaping
this sort of COVID existence we're living here.
But London, sadly, is no party either.
-No.
I was really excited to come to London
'cause it sounded far more open than L.A. and New York were
most of the year last year.
And I got here the day before they announced
their second lockdown.
And then the world opened up for three weeks here,
and we have been living in a lockdown
since like mid-December, and will be till March.
-Well, it is outstanding wallpaper.
I will say that. -Thank you.
I feel like my skin is blending into it.
Like, I'm kind of worried about this, like, weird light
that's on my face and...
I don't know. -No. You look great.
It's a perfect match. -Right.
-It's so nice when actor and wallpaper can coexist
the way you are right now.
-Great. That was my goal.
It's a treasure map.
I'm in a children's room in my rental.
-[ Laughs ]
So, this show is so very good.
I'm glad that we're talking after four episodes
because whenever you talk to anyone
in a Marvel project like this,
you cannot talk ahead at all.
And I feel like after four episodes,
we at least have a better sense of what this show is about.
Has it been hard doing press about...
I feel like of the Marvel projects,
this one maybe has more secrecy
and more twists behind it as any.
-Yeah. It's really complicated.
I want to talk about all the sitcoms.
I want to talk about how it's like a sitcom,
but not just a sitcom.
And how do you tease that and keep people interested
who want the action and then get new people interested
in the sitcom part,
and hopefully you don't lose them in the action.
So, yeah, but it's always fun.
I mean, it's fun to see fan reactions.
I think that's what I look forward to most.
-I mean this with all sincerity --
One of the joys of watching this show
is realizing that you would have been a great actor
in literally every generation of sitcoms.
[ Both laugh ] Because you are so good
and authentic
in these styles from the '50s and '60s and '70s.
That must have been one of the most fun parts of doing this.
-It was. It was so --
I mean, I feel like any actor has...
It feels like a gift when you get to do a period piece
or a genre piece.
And we got to do that every single episode
and change what that was
and try and replicate even, like, the lens,
the lighting, mannerisms.
The whole thing was just...
And then also getting to, like,
nod to so many beautiful sitcoms.
And then I had Kathryn Hahn by my side,
who is just the queen of all things comedy.
And so, it was... And then, obviously,
Paul Bettany did such a great job
with all the physical comedy, and it was very Dick Van Dyke.
And it's been such a...
It was a really big joy, and really, really hard,
but it was a lot of fun.
-You filmed the first --
This was, of course, before COVID.
But you filmed the first episode, I believe,
in front of a live studio audience.
Was that -- I mean, I imagine
that's not something that you had done before.
How was that?
-I've only done, you know, theater before,
and then, like, going on your show
or, like, other shows like it.
And I get way more nervous for these kinds of things
than anything else.
I feel like I was really nervous before with the sitcom
because it was our first time filming this show
and it was in front of an audience.
So we're just, like, filming our failure.
You know, if it were going to fail,
it was gonna fail in front of a bunch of people.
But then I get into a rhythm 'cause I know how to --
I feel like I know how to do my job.
But this I don't know how to do ever,
and, like, I have to do breathing exercises
before, like, seeing your friendly face.
[ Both laugh ]
-Do you -- So, are you enjoying this era
of getting to do sort of this press junket
without having to come to an actual studio
where you have to do breathing exercises?
-Yeah. You know, I don't know.
I feel like the trap door usually freaks me out
before entering the stage on night shows.
But I like seeing you in person,
and so it's a bit strange,
but I really don't miss a junket.
You know, the four-minute cycle for 12 hours of strangers is --
and some familiar faces, but...
That's nicer from home.
-You sort of mentioned that this is a show
and, you know, obviously, a universe
where there is a great amount of fan interaction with it.
And I feel as though with Easter eggs
and with characters from different parts of this universe
showing up,
is that ever something that you did with a show?
Where, you know, it would air and then you would sort of go
and read about it in that sort of recappy fan service way?
-No. I'm, like, anti, like, looking at everything
on the internet, generally speaking,
when it comes to something I'm passionate about
'cause I don't want anyone else's ideas.
I don't want spoilers.
I usually binge "Game of Thrones"
after it's on air,
so I'm really good at avoiding stuff.
And, yeah, so, no.
I also never cared about, like, anything
that much as a child to, like, seek out,
I don't know, forums or something.
-The weird thing, and I think it really speaks to the fact
that I was probably a --
I was a child a lot longer ago than you, but...
Like, I feel like I would've -- -[ Laughing ]
See, I also don't think they had those.
-Yeah, right. I was like, "Oh, yeah, why didn't I do that?"
Oh, right, 'cause it was, like, in the back of a comic book.
It wasn't like you could go online.
You had to do a lot more work.
Was there a...
You know, you mentioned that, like, those shows,
those old sitcoms, which, again, like, you know, I wasn't --
I fortunately wasn't around
when those shows were airing in the '50s and '60s.
But I feel like when I was home sick from school,
I would watch them.
And I kind of underestimated
exactly how beautiful and fun they were.
And I think that's one of the sweetest things about this show
is it is really an homage to the way storytelling was done
in a sitcom form that far back.
Did you feel, like, how warm it was to do?
-Yeah. And also, I mean, it was...
The family sitcom throughout the eras,
I mean, even just like "Three's Company,"
which isn't really a family sitcom,
but the amount of joy you get
from watching people have a good time,
it's such -- it's such a fun...
I mean, I guess it's like a form of empathy.
You have to enjoy someone else's enjoyment.
But it really felt good.
And then the switch to other elements of this show
felt so strange because it felt so good to be --
to be a fool and to try and make one another laugh.
And also our director, Matt Shakman,
just, like, oozes warmth and friendliness and kindness.
And he had like three different viruses
directing all these episodes. [ Laughs ]
I'm convinced he had COVID in December.
He got so sick.
And he was -- he was really like our leader
throughout all this and directed the whole thing
with just so much warmth, genuinely.
-It's really great. I also -- I went out of my way
not to even ask you anything that you could spoil
because you have pointed out in the past
that you're really bad at keeping secrets.
So I hope I steered far enough away from it
to not put you in an awkward situation.
-I appreciate that, yeah.
I mean, I feel like I can dig my own hole for myself,
but, yes, I appreciate the help. [ Both laugh ]
-It's always so lovely to see you.
Stay safe over there, and congrats on the show.
-Thank you.
-New episodes of "WandaVision" are released on Fridays
and available on Disney+.