Elizabeth Olsen Is Not Afraid Of Nude Scenes - But She Won't Do One Thing

Like many stars, Elizabeth Olsen performed nude scenes in movies when she was in the early days of her career, like in 2011's "Martha Marcy May Marlene" and Spike Lee's 2013 Hollywood version of "Oldboy." However, at this point of her career, Olsen has established herself many times over with roles like Wanda "Scarlet Witch" Maximoff in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Jane Banner in Taylor Sheridan's 2017 mystery drama "Wind River," and Christina in 2023's "His Three Daughters." While this would make it easy to assume that she's in a position to rule out future nude scenes altogether, she's actually made clear that she's not opposed to them — in part thanks to seeing Kate Winslet's performance in the 1999 Jane Campion movie "Holy Smoke."

"I remember watching 'Holy Smoke' and thinking that it was so reassuring to see a young Kate doing something that was so bold in so many ways," she said in a 2015 interview with The Edit (via E! Online). "I thought to myself, 'OK, so it doesn't destroy your career if you appear nude or take risks.'" Still, despite being open to being naked on camera, Olsen is adamant that she's not an actor who enjoys shooting nude scenes regardless of their nature; instead, she would be more likely to fight against unnecessary nude scenes. "You won't ever see me in a beauty shot in a bikini on a beach," she said in The Edit interview. "That's a character I will never play."

While Elizabeth Olsen has a pretty firm idea about risqué scenes that she considers worth filming, she also noted in her The Edit interview that her family's reaction to nude scenes has been somewhat different. "Not everyone in my family and group of friends thought it was the best idea to be naked in a movie," Olsen said. "There are actresses, young and old, who have decided never to do that, and they become these examples people talk to you about."

Despite the pushback from loved ones, Olsen has continued to maintain her open mindset about working sans clothing as her career has progressed, as proved by her intimate scenes with Jesse Plemons in the 2023 Max original miniseries "Love & Death." This production, in which she portrays real-life figure Candy Montgomery, called for her to take part in some incredibly intense sequences. In an interview she gave that year to Vanity Fair, the actor attributed her comparative comfort with such scenes to experience, noting that her history with nude scenes started well before her first big-screen starring role in "Martha Marcy May Marlene."

"I've been doing it since day one of this career," she said, referring to her early acting days in off-Broadway productions. "Even when I was understudying, if I had to go on, I was going to be naked onstage. If it makes sense to tell the story—it's not about my comfort, it's about being able to tell the story the way it should be. My body is a tool in that storytelling."