Elizabeth Olsen Almost Quit Acting Because of Sisters Mary-Kate and Ashley (Thankfully, She Didn't!)

Younger sibling admits she she was wary of going into show business after watching how "abusive" media could be to the famous twins

By Marc Malkin, Brett Malec Oct 06, 2011 10:31 PMTags
Ashley Olsen, Elizabeth Olsen, Mary- Kate OlsenJamie McCarthy/WireImage

You'd think having Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen are your sisters would put you on the fast-track to big time Hollywood stardom.

But little sister, up-and-comer Elizabeth Olsen says the twins' over-the-top fame almost made her quit acting altogether...

The 22-year-old tells Nylon magazine that the media frenzy surrounding Mary-Kate's 2004 health scare and reported battle with an eating disorder showed her the harsh realities of the biz.

"That was when the media was what I found to be abusive to my sisters, and I thought I really didn't want to be in the industry," she says in the mag. "They turned 18 and what was going on in her life—I'm talking about Mary-Kate—was all over the news. They would follow us shopping and [Mary-Kate and Ashley] would almost get into car accidents because of the paparazzi, and I didn't want to be a pat of it. I just thought, This is such bulls--t."

Elizabeth continued acting however, landing parts like her breakout role in Martha Marcy May Marlene (out Oct. 21) followed by next year's Silent House. (FYI: We've seen Martha Marcy May Marlene. The Oscar buzz for Elizabeth's work playing a woman who escapes from a cult is well deserved and then some!)

"I went through a phase when I first got into college where I was thinking if I don't get a manager or agent, I'll ask the girls [Mary-Kate and Ashley] to help me," she says. "I was OK with that idea, but I never needed it. It's like my brother [Trent, a screenwriter]. He really doesn't want to use any connections that he actually has."

Mary-Kate and Ashley were on hand last night, as was our Eclipse star pal Xavier Samuel, to help Elizabeth celebrate her Nylon "It Girl" cover with A|X Armani Exchange at a private dinner at hot spot Sons of Essex.