Elizabeth Olsen discusses childhood with sisters Mary-Kate and Ashley

Elizabeth Olsen revealed she didn’t pursue an acting career as a child because she feared being linked to her famous twin sisters Mary-Kate and Ashley.

The Wandavision star, 32, reflected on her childhood in an interview with Glamour UK’s April Digital Issue, saying she ‘understood what nepotism was’ as a young girl and was keen to not try and make a career on the back of her siblings’ success.

She also admitted she suffered from ‘major panic attacks’ in her twenties, revealing she had to use ‘a bunch of brain tricks’ to learn to manage and overcome her anxiety.

Looking back at her childhood, Elizabeth said: ‘I was 10 and I was curious about auditioning… and I realised very quickly it wasn’t for me because I was missing my sports teams, my dance class and all the extracurricular activities at school.

‘But during that time, I thought “I don’t want to be associated with [Mary-Kate and Ashley]”, for some reason. 

‘I guess I understood what nepotism was like inherently as a 10-year-old. I don’t know if I knew the word, but there is some sort of association of not earning something that I think bothered me at a very young age.

‘It had to do with my own insecurities, but I was 10. So I don’t know how much I processed, but I did think, “I’m going to be Elizabeth Chase [her middle name] when I become an actress.”‘

Mary-Kate and Ashley first rose to fame on sitcom Full House which they starred in from the age of nine-months-old, both sharing the role of Michelle Tanner from 1987 to 1995.

The twins went on to star in a number of hugely-successful films together including Passport to Paris, Switching Goals, and Winning London.

In 2012, Mary-Kate and Ashley retired from the acting industry in order to focus on their join careers as fashion designers. 

Elizabeth went on to speak about her mental health issues, admitting: ‘I had major panic attacks for a long time. It was totally debilitating. I was living in New York on my own and I was 22. 

‘I didn’t realise it [anxiety] was something that you could not control. And the issue is the control part. 

‘And then I just learned a bunch of brain tricks from friends who actually went to a neuropsychiatrist and instead of medicating, I decided to do it that way.’

She went on: ‘With panic attacks, you have to put your attention off “whatever’s making you spin” onto something else. 

‘It was [about] being present in the moment and identifying all the things around you in order to not spin.’ 

The Avengers: Endgame star went on to say she previously thought she wouldn’t become an actress, and instead had plans to go into finance.

‘I thought I was going to be on Wall Street,’ Elizabeth claimed. ‘I don’t know what I wanted, I was just good at math. 

‘And I’m good at sciences so [I thought] maybe I should do something like that. But at the end of the day, I really love acting.’ 

Elizabeth also said she doesn’t have plans to return to social media because she didn’t enjoy the ‘character version of [herself]’ on it.

She said: ‘I’m never going back to social media. And it’s not even like I was bullied. It’s not even like anything happened.

‘[I thought] wait why am I even trying to create a character version of myself and put it out in the world? 

‘And the whole thing just made me uncomfortable and it’s not even like I was really paying attention to comments or anything. 

‘I just felt weird how it organised my brain…I’m not someone who’s obsessed with using a platform in any way.’

Read the full interview in the GLAMOUR UK April Digital Issue online now.