Aurora Starchild
It’s hard not to know of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, but have you ever met their bombshell younger sister, Elizabeth? In an interview with Harpers Bazaar, the youngest Olsen sister opens up about life, family, and the importance of following her own path.
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The Full House stars are two-and-a-half years older than Elizabeth, which she says was a good thing.
“I felt very clear about how I was going to navigate lots of things because of watching them. I also felt very protected…I actually think it’s an amazing feeling, being the younger sibling to twin sisters. If I was spoiled by one, the other wanted to match it. I loved it.”
Growing up as the younger sister of the most famous twins in the world wasn’t easy, though. Elizabeth credits her sisters for adoring her—but they also set a pretty intimidating standard. She mentions that following in her sisters’ footsteps led her to work extra hard in school, where she focused on the arts.
“I’ve always felt that presence, which made me work harder, and maybe have a chip on my shoulder to be over-prepared and disciplined, so I could feel like I was earning it… I had this need to be the hardest-working student when I was in school.”
Despite Elizabeth’s success (she was nominated for an Emmy for her role in WandaVision), she has a tendency to avoid the spotlight. Rather than follow the easy path, she found that school was more important than playing a world renown celebrity. The actress never became enamored with Instagram and stopped using it after a short stint between 2017 and 2020. Her reason?
“You have this influence, and there’s financial power in that kind of influence. That didn’t make me feel great.”
This may come as a surprise to hear of a person who could easily wield their popularity—with the taps of her fingers and a couple selfie-shots—to forgo the concept altogether.
Elizabeth instead spends her time at home with her boyfriend and practices pottery-making and gardening. She stays away from socialite events and dedicates her time volunteering for two charities, one which helps victims of sexual assault and the other which helps impoverished Nicaraguan communities.
The takeaway? She may have once been spoiled by her sisters, but Elizabeth Olsen is a down-to-earth, badass woman today.
Interview courtesy of Brooke Theis via Harper’s Bazaar
