Elizabeth Olsen, best known for her role as Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), has recently expressed her views on acting in front of a green screen. While CGI and green screens are crucial in bringing Marvel’s larger-than-life visuals to the screen, Olsen admitted it is not her favourite part of the process, claiming it’s like “playing make-believe” on camera.
In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Olsen described how challenging it is to perform in scenes that rely heavily on special effects. She even suggested that Marvel should release the raw versions of their films, without any effects, so that people can see how difficult these scenes are for actors.
“It’s like acting with nothing. You really have to embrace this dumb point of view, where you feel like a 7-year-old playing make-believe. I do believe that at some point they should release a full version of one of the movies, without any of the special effects, so people can see how hard it is,” Olsen said.
In MCU, all actors face the challenge of performing with extensive visual effects, but Olsen’s character uses spell-casting abilities, meaning relying heavily on CGI to bring her magical powers to life. As a result, much of Olsen’s time in front of the green screen is spent performing dramatic arm movements and intricate hand gestures which may appear visually stunning once the effects are added but often feel awkward and exhausting during the actual shoot.
Olsen isn’t the only actor to speak about the challenges of working with green screens. Game of Thrones fame Emilia Clarke who joined Marvel’s Secret Invasion, discussed a similar issue last year. In an interview with The Los Angeles Times, Clarke said, “The stigma is that people don’t do any acting in these shows. [But] then you’re like, ‘Well, then why are they asking all these great actors to do it, and why are they saying yes?”
However, there have been actors who have shared a negative mindset about green-screen acting. Anthony Hopkins, who portrayed Odin in the first three Thor films, had expressed his frustration on Marvel’s reliance on green screens. In a 2021 interview with The New Yorker, Hopkins referred to acting in front of a green screen as “pointless acting.” Christian Bale, who played Gorr the God Butcher in Thor: Love and Thunder, shared a similar sentiment, calling the experience of green screen acting the “definition” of “monotony.”
Olsen is busy promoting His Three Daughters, an intense drama where she stars alongside Natasha Lyonne, known for The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Carrie Coon from The Leftovers.
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