Elizabeth Olsen might not have been the face of Legendary’s Monster-verse, despite her status as an A-list celebrity, but the actress had what some would consider a wasted and small role in the first entry into the franchise, 2014’s Godzilla, directed by Gareth Edwards.
The actress revealed to Den of the Geek that, while the film focused on a 300-meter-tall nuclear lizard, Olsen was moved by the emotional beats of certain scenes in the film, which had also been something that fans had not expected from the movie, given its premise and the subject.
Elizabeth Olsen was “shocked” by a particular scene between Bryan Cranston and Juliette Binoche
Bryan Cranston‘s work in Edwards’ Godzilla has been critically praised all across the board, with the actor being hailed as the emotional core of the film in a sea of otherwise forgettable characters. Elizabeth Olsen told Den of Geek that she was “shocked” when she saw Cranston’s character, Joe Brody, lose his wife in the Nuclear meltdown in the opening scenes of the film. She said:
I think that shocked me. I never really worked with anyone except Carson [Bolde] who played my son and Aaron, very briefly—and this other actress Jill [Teed] who played one of the nurses—and so, it’s just nice to see what everyone else is doing.
There’s a part of me that thought I should have seen what everyone else was doing…But it’s good that I didn’t, because I’m not seeing everything they’re seeing. I’m seeing it from a very different perspective, and it’s just eye-opening to see what everyone else did.
The actress was unaware of what other actors were doing in the film and focused on her parts, which included Aaron-Taylor Johnson, who played her husband, and child actor Carson Bolde, who played their son in the film.
Could Elizabeth Olsen return to the Monster-verse?
Elizabeth Olsen and Aaron-Taylor Johnson did not appear in any subsequent Monsterverse films after their appearance in 2014’s Godzilla.
It seems unlikely that either of the actors will be returning to the franchise, as the director of Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Michael Dougherty, revealed to /Film that he would rather follow scientists rather than soldiers in the story. He said:
As much as I enjoyed the adventure that he had in the first film, to me the more interesting characters were Serizawa and Graham and the Monarch scientists working behind the curtain. I’d much rather be the scientists who get to study the creature versus the soldier who has to fight them.
This would indicate that there are no plans to get the characters back in the franchise, but given that Elizabeth Olsen’s character works as a nurse, it would be interesting to see how she might be coping as medical personnel in a world that is routinely ravaged by super-megafauna like the Titans every few years.
Godzilla (2014) is available on Netflix.
