Interview Elizabeth Olsen _ Paul Bettany AVENGERS_ INFINITY WAR

Well, I guess it's no secret that you guys have worked together before because of Captain America, so what are you most looking forward to in this one? Because the fans are going to be on a ride that they've never had before. Personally, I'm excited to see what it was that we filmed together because we had a really unique character arc and storyline that I'm proud of and I'm excited to watch and I'm excited to see what the tone is that we find with all these different movies in one film. I'm really curious to see how that turns out. When we met last night, you were just about to get in and watch the footage for the first time, so what did you think? I was blown away by it and seriously, I've been talking about it all day long. I couldn't believe it. The confidence of the filmmaking, their ability to turn the tone 180 degrees on a dime and you just totally go with it. It's really something. About 25 minutes, I was blown away. Yeah, me too. It felt like there was a lot of room for improvisation, although you would think that for movies like that with so many actors, it had to be very tight in terms of script, but were you able to just infuse more things? 100%. Rizzo brothers were really, really open to that stuff. In fact, they were, they really wanted us to. Yeah, I mean, I can't remember improvising. I feel like we improvised. Oh yeah, we did. Did we? Yeah. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Sorry, yeah, that was all improvised. I totally forgot. And that was a really heightened moment. Well, because, you know, we don't know too much about it and I guess you don't know a lot about it either. Do you go back to the comic books and to, you know, the characters themselves to try to dive as much information as possible on them and how much is available? I did in the beginning and then the character became her own being from the films because it's, the comic books are nice source material for her stories to come, but she's now a part of, she's a different version of herself in the movies than she is in the comics because of this no X-Men situation and she's actually a mutant. And so for our purposes, between our characters, it's actually more interesting that we end up having a romance because my backstory that we've created has been that my powers have come from the stone that is in his head. And so that's an extra layer of connection that we share. Yeah, we share the same source of our power. Yeah, yeah. Were you looking at comic books ever again? I did, but, you know, you're working with, like, you know, Kevin Feige is like the Yoda of Marvel. He knows, you know, if you have a question or if you do something, you know, you're moving in the wrong direction, you're going to get steered very quickly, you know, to the right direction, you know, and you're incredibly supported by all these people. I mean, some actors would not have been familiar with the superheroes in comic books before they started being in the MCU and others would have. Where do you stand in how much you become a fan because you're so immersed in that experience? I wasn't a comic book reader, but my friend, my brother was. And so even when I had my first meeting with Joss, he was one of those fans that was trying to guess which character it was. And he was like, I'm pretty sure it's not a witch and it's already been talking about introducing them. So he had all the information at the beginning for me, which was fun. And then I used him as a fan to see what it is about the character and her stories that he as a fan finds most interesting, kind of started there. And now I'm just a fan of this world and these films and definitely of hers. And I have ideas of where I'd like her to go if they continue to use me. No, I mean, it didn't seem to be such a big thing in the 70s in London. But definitely a fan now. And it's been an incredible ride and they're really rich stories. Do you guys watch the other films? Obviously, this one is the graduation party, but do you watch the others? Like have you watched Black Panther or the ones you were not in? I think I've watched everyone except for Thor 2. We got asked this earlier. I was thinking, oh, I've seen everyone. And then I thought, no, I haven't. I haven't seen Thor 2. I'm missing 2. I don't want to. 2 of 90? Yeah. 2 is the one set in Asgard, right? Huh? No, no. Thor 2? No, the first one is set in Asgard. Thor 2 is the one where they're on Earth. Oh. They're trying to make it work on Earth. And they're like fighting through portals. Oh, okay. Yeah. And then Thor 1 is the one that can't climb a tree. Oh, opposite way round. But both of them go to Asgard at some point. And how do I remember this? I have no idea. But I feel like me too, you know, as a journalist, I'm immersed into the world as well by covering them. And I do get very curious about the characters and go back on Wikipedia and listen to the fans and stuff like that. So how much are the fans important to your journey with the MCU? They make this universe possible. I think we are making the movies for them. And that's pretty much the goal is to make them happy and surprised and excited. Does that mean that going to Comic Con is a unique experience? It's certainly that. It's definitely unique. I haven't been in a long time. Did you go? Last time I thought I was there was for Ultron. Oh, maybe that's right. That was only two years ago. Four. Four? Really? Okay, yeah. Time is really flying. And how much preparation are we talking about every time? Do you have to retrain all the time? Do you have to be physically in shape for them? I try and stay in shape generally. That's true. You're an actress in Hollywood. You have to get skinny or something. Well, you know, I try and stay in shape too, because 46 is just a lot of work. If you let it get too far, it takes forever. It used to be like two weeks before you'd start. I gotta try and keep myself svelte. Well, on another note, completely, you're quite active on social media about the films and about the character. How much do you enjoy that rapport with the fans? Yeah, I don't know. That's an interesting thing. I really like having a real... It's really nice when you meet somebody on the street and they say, you know, I love the films or whatever. That's a really nice interaction. I'm really conflicted about social media. I do it. It's a work thing. I've tried to sort of embrace it. I don't let my kids do it. So yeah, I'm conflicted about it. I'm in the same boat. I think I should delete it every day. Well, I think that's an easy decision to make. For your work, it's great. For your personal life, it shouldn't be relevant. This is my viewpoint on it. And finally, besides your characters, what are your favourite characters from the X-Men? I'm loving Tessa Thompson's character. Valkyrie, I'm just loving. It's just funny and fun. And she gets to be just like a drunk. And it's just really funny. And Trax is amazing.