At this year’s Toronto International Film Festival I landed an exclusive video interview with Elizabeth Olsen. She was at the fest promoting director Marc Abraham’s biopic I Saw the Light. The film chronicles the rise and fall of legendary country musician Hank Williams (Tom Hiddleston), who quickly shot to fame only to reach an untimely death at the age of 29. Elizabeth Olsen plays Williams’ wife, Audrey Sheppard, who was both his manager and duet partner. The two had a tumultuous marriage, worsened by Williams’ addictions to alcohol, morphine, and other painkillers he was prescribed for his spina bifida. The film also stars Bradley Whitford, David Krumholtz, Maddie Hasson, and Cherry Jones and will be in theaters November 27th.

During the interview Olsen talked about making I Saw the Light, researching Audrey Mae Williams, how much changed from script to screen, what specifics for Audrey she wanted to be included in the film, how her process has changed as an actor, Captain America: Civil War, Scarlet Witch, her desire to do a TV miniseries, and a lot more. It’s a fun conversation which you can check out below.


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Elizabeth Olsen Time Index:

  • 0:20 – Talks about her desire to work on smaller films alongside opportunities to work on big franchise movies.
  • 1:04 – Reveals how she got involved with I Saw the Lightand researching Audrey Mae Williams.
  • 2:35 – Talks about transitioning away from a big franchise film and the rehearsal process for I Saw the Light.
  • 3:25 – Comments on how her process has changed as an actor and says that this is her favorite experience on a film since Martha Marcy Mae Marlene.
  • 4:17 – Reveals how much changed from script to screen.
  • 5:20 – Talks about what specifics for Audrey she wanted to be included in the film.
  • 7:50 – Confirms the positive reaction of the filmmakers to Captain America: Civil War, its script, and the dark, scary fun of going up against other humans rather than just robots this time.
  • 9:35 – Reveals that she isn’t sure whether or not Scarlet Witch will appear in the next Avengers
  • 9:50 – Talks about what’s next on her schedule, including her desire to do a TV miniseries.
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Image via Sony Pictures Classics