Elizabeth Olsen states the obvious: “I’m the curvy one of the family”

Elizabeth “Lizzie” Olsen is still steadily navigating the waters of Oscar buzz for her role in Martha Marcy May Marlene. As such, the youngest Olsen sister has posed for a brief yet quite glamorous Marie Claire photo spread that does her much more justice than that horrible Nylon shoot from a few months ago. Lizzie also sat down for a brief interview, in which she discussed that by-now famous 300-square-foot apartment (that is small but not quite squalor material), and she also reveals a few more surprises in these excerpts. Namely, the fact that she and her twin sisters enjoy preparing (and presumably eating) holiday food:

On Her Atypical “Olsen” Figure:“I’m the curvy one of the family.” Kewpie eyes and nose aside, Lizzie Olsen’s 5’7″ frame and shapely figure belie her shared parentage with the famously petite Mary-Kate and Ashley. Yet “it’s very clear that I’m the younger sister,” she asserts. “My whole life they’ve been like women, while I’ve been trying to be a woman but still a kid.”

On Distinguishing Herself: “I’ve always had a complex about being taken seriously.” she says over lunch of fava-bean salad and burrata. “I never wanted anyone to think that I would use my family name to get me anywhere.” So she plunged into an ongoing study of her craft, spending summers at musical theater camp and attending the prestigious Atlantic Theater Company at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts – with a semester in Russia at the Moscow Art Theater School for good measure. “I’ve always loved being a student,” Olsen says. (She refused to read the Spy Kids script for her very first audition because “it was too big, and I had schoolwork.”)

On Being Treated Differently In College: “That’s the only time in my life I ever felt different for having sisters in the public eye,” she says. “People would knock on my door and be like, ‘I heard there was a party here,’ just because they knew that I lived in that room. It was so weird.”

On Her Tiny New York Apartment: “It’s like a closet — I need to stop doing independent films so I don’t have to live in 300 square feet.” Her upcoming thriller, Red Lights, with Robert De Niro, Sigourney Weaver, and Cillian Murphy, may be just the ticket.

On Looking Forward To The Holidays: “My sisters and I do most of the cooking because we love it. We jazz up the holidays with mashed cauliflower. It’s so delicious; it’s Mary-Kate’s signature.” A family of fashion designers, style icons, actresses, and chefs – it’s an Olsen world, we just live in it.

[From Marie Claire]

Mashed cauliflower? That sounds pretty weird but might actually be better than it sounds because, while I’ve never indulged in such a delicacy, I did have some cauliflower “meatballs” the other day that were surprisingly delicious. Also, I love that Lizzie has a more realistic figure than either of her twin sisters have ever possessed. She’s thin and very beautiful but still looks like a human being.

Seriously though, her nose still appears pretty damn tweaked to me, and I know it bothers some of you when the topic arises. But there’s something about the angle in the below photo, which is otherwise quite striking, that just screams “early nose job.” (God, I am such a jerk.) Still, I adore what I’ve seen so far of Lizzie’s acting, and her unentitled attitude is very rare and refreshing for a soon-to-be “it girl.” Let’s hope she stays grounded as her star inevitably rises.

Photos courtesy of Marie Claire

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61 Responses to “Elizabeth Olsen states the obvious: “I’m the curvy one of the family””

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  1. Lauren says:

    If THAT is curvy then I’m just one big fat cow. Sigh.

  2. Danziger says:

    I don’t think her nose’s tweaked. Some people just have weird noses. Especially the weird angle.

    • cmc says:

      I agree…especially since everyone in the family seems to have the same weird nose. It’s much easier to believe that they all inherited it than that they all got crappy nose jobs.

      • Darla says:

        her nose is probably tweaked since both her sister’s also had multiple nose jobs, and just by judging by the shape.

  3. Chrissy says:

    People mash steamed cauliflower in the place of mashed potatoes. It’s not bad … I add coconut milk and salt snd pepper to mine … but really the only reason to do it is to avoid starchy carbs. Pretty funny that THAT is their way of indulging.

  4. Amy says:

    I am diabetic and have used mashed cauliflower instead of mashed potatoes for years. It really is damned good with garlic and cream cheese. Had it last night with pot roast, in fact!

    • normades says:

      I avoid starchy carb foods for that reason too. Other good substitutions: Sweet potato “fries”, califlower “rice”, celeri root “pasta”, pot roast with turnip…

      Lizzie needs to dress better for her body type. She looked really thick waisted in her last several choices.

  5. Havana says:

    Her nose is definitely tweaked, that’s why the skin around her eye has that weird pull around the nose/eye area. You can tell in the head over shoulder photo. If you look at old old family photos you can tell her nose was way wider. Same with her two sisters.

    • nope says:

      That’s not even how nose jobs work. The ‘pulling’ you’re talking about is a very, very slight epicanthal fold.

  6. Havana says:

    Boiled then mashed cauliflower is delicious with a bit of salt and some french feta sprinkled over it!

  7. t says:

    Though no current actress comes close to Grace Kelly’s beauty, does anyone else think this Olsen looks enough like her to play her in the movie?

  8. considerit says:

    so “curvy” means “not anorexic”?
    what a ditz.

  9. TXCinderella says:

    You would think with all of her sisters millions, they would buy her a decent apartment. Some of these celebs are so selfish with their money. If I had all that money, I would make sure my family at least had a nice place to live.

    • Derpy says:

      Billions. Also, isn’t it kind of clear she wants to make it on her own merits? To her, if that means living in a tiny NY apartment while working her way up, so be it. Who are you to judge her or her sisters?

  10. Sunday says:

    Man, that´s the worst nose job ever…

  11. Jayna says:

    TXCinnderella. No,young people need to experience struggling for what you want. It’s a good character-building experience. Her parents also made enough money off the Olsen twins empire that they could pay for a bigger apartment. I think this girl doesn’t want to be the rich kid getting into movies. She wanted to fit in among her struggling young peers she hung with making the rounds. Kudos to her, unlike the Kardashians buying their 16-year-old daughter a $70,000 car. Plus, I had a friend who lived in really small apartments in NY and Paris, but they were trendy, sought-after areas. They
    weren’t cheap, but it was the most she could afford. She gave up size for location. Kind of like Carrie’s apartment on Sex and the City.

  12. ella says:

    So I did the conversion and 300 square feet is like 28 square meters? Are apartments in America huge or how is that a “closet”? In many European cities 28 square meters is pretty standard if not even plentiful for just one person.

    Well, I still like her and I like mashed cauliflower too. She seems grounded despite her famous and rich sisters.

    • taylor says:

      I think it depends where you live. On the East Coast, especially in the old cities like NYC, apartments and houses are more similar in size to European ones (very broadly speaking, of course), while out West, both houses and apartments are larger. And then the suburbs also have larger house/apt. sizes, in general, even on the East Coast.

      • Original Tiffany says:

        Anything smaller than 900 sq. feet for two is crazy. Anything smaller than 1700 for a family of 4 is nuts too. Couldn’t do it.
        When we get put into big places it’s great, when we get a little one we are all irritable. We on tour with Cirque and it’s a crapshoot.
        I’m shocked she lives like that. It’s like one small room, right? Last year we lived in two rooms at the Hilton for 6 weeks. Almost killed us.

  13. I.want.shoes says:

    That’s not curvy. She’s what, a size 4?

    • Jayna says:

      When you have size zero, five foot one tall sisters you have been around your whole life, yes, you feel like a curvy, bigger girl.

    • Franny says:

      first off, she said she was the curvy one of her family…compared to MK&A, she is curvier.

      and second of all, she said curvy, not fat. curvy means having an ass and some boobs (not overweight with rolls, which is how many people now a days mean it).

      • L says:

        Exactly. Curvy does not always equal plus sized.

        Plus she’s just comparing herself to the other members of her family. And yes-compared to Mary Kate and Ashley she is the curvy one.

  14. Alexis says:

    I’m sure she doesn’t mean that she’s heavy in any way — since when does curvy always mean plus-sized? She has boobs and a butt and her sisters eat so little as to not to really have either. I think it’s a fair statement.

    Also – yay for 5’7″ girls!

    • INeedANap says:

      Why? In our society that is considered a beautiful height. Clothes are designed for 5’7″ girls, models are tall, and “short” is synonymous with “ugly” (with very few exceptions). If you are 5’7″, how do you feel marginalized?

      • Alexis says:

        Haha, I don’t feel marginalized. A lot of actresses are really short though, to make average-height actors seem tall in part, so I love seeing actresses who are around my height.

      • Original Tiffany says:

        ITA, I’m 5’9″ and I love being tall. I wear high heels up to 6 inches as well at times. Gotta work what your mama gave you. When I was growing up I always wanted to be the “cute” little blond, short girl. I felt huge at my height in 7th grade. You grow into it.
        My daughter is 5’6″ at 13 and has bigger feet than me and we are both hoping for tallness.
        This girl’s nose is not very attractive, sorry to say.

      • Jo 'Mama' Besser says:

        This is true. My sisters (also older, fraternal twins) are half a foot taller than me, and I’ve been catching shit for it from every Tom, Dick and Raheem for since day one, like it’s a social disease or sign of my own moral decrepitude or a curious life choice–to look like an undesireable, underaged space potato from beyond the Aztec Moon. Basically, it’s just one way people can take nothing at all and manage to read it as some kind of sign and decide to punish you for it. Somehow, I get the feeling that Elizabeth is considered to be the ‘lucky’ one, since she got all the height and a bust.

        I think I’ve just been saying that we’re all kind of jerks.

  15. Jayna says:

    They took too much of the tip of her nose off. You have to be careful or you can get the miss piggy effect, the end of the nose tilting upward too much and showing the nostrils too much. She doesn’t have it that bad, but the surgeon took a liitle too much off the tip.

  16. Scout says:

    Mashed roasted garlic cauliflower is also a great way to make it. The olive oil used in the roasting process adds some calorie but you don’t need much and olive oil is good fat! Plus the added bonus of the garlic.

  17. Shelly says:

    Mashed cauliflower is actually quite good!

  18. k says:

    Looks like a normal Scandanavian nose to me.

  19. Jen34 says:

    Her nose has definitely been pinched.

  20. z says:

    her sisters noses were tweaked early as well…

  21. hay says:

    300 sq ft in NYC is not all unusual – and depending on the apt (doorman, location, etc) – 300 sq ft can be VERY expensive!

    I think mashed cauliflower sounds good – I’ve never had it. Will try it…

  22. bored says:

    Mashed cauliflower is okay – but it’s basically diet food, not a holiday indulgence. I do half and half cauli and potato boiled with a head of garlic (peeled) in a small amount of broth and then mash with some non fat sour cream and chives.

  23. Chereth Cutestory says:

    I’m not sure that mashed cauliflower can “jazz” ANYTHING up.

  24. layla says:

    I HATE cauliflower… but LOVE mashed cauliflower.
    Great as a potato substitute! When my room mate was first makeign it I was like… yeah, okay, whatevs. But wow. So delicious…. with garlic and cheese!!! Mmmmmmmm.

  25. MellaYella says:

    I think she is the pretty one of the family

  26. connie says:

    ohmygoodness roasted garlic in cauliflower mashed?!? genious! I have always loooved my veggies and I absolutely love mashed cauliflower and happen to prefer it over mashed potatoes! i wouldn’t consider it an indulgence, but it is def one of my favorite side items

  27. Sassy says:

    She looks like she had an early plastic surgery nose job, where everyone got the same turned up nose, and yes, nostrils visible. Her age belies this though, since most current plastic surgeons are doing minimal adjustments to noses, so who knows? Perhaps the person who did her nose wasn’t very good.

  28. T.C. says:

    Mashed steamed cauliflower is classic in low-carb dieting so I’m guessing the family really watches their weight even during the holidays. I know her sisters don’t have anorexia anymore but a lot of anorexia people are really into food prep (but don’t eat it). I really can’t look at her without seeing her sisters they look like triplets except Elizabeth looks like the woman while her sisters still look like little girls. It’s funny that she sees it the other way around. Oh and I doubt her family left her out of any money. I bet she has a pretty hefty trust-fund and investments but probably wants to still live like a frugal person. I went to school with a few kids from those types of families. It keeps people grounded so good for Lizzie.

  29. T.C. says:

    Oh I think by saying “curvy” she just means she has breasts as opposed to her sisters who have none. But she is no where voluptuous which is what MOST people associate with that word “curvy”.

  30. F5 says:

    oh Lawd now we’ll have to endure years of her weird owl face.. so “deep” and “serious”.. barf

  31. Mairead says:

    She is quite beautiful, it’ll be interesting to see how well she can act.

    +1 on the cauliflower thing. Although I would purée it with some milk, cream cheese (v. light Philadelphia is ideal) and seasoning. It is feckin’ delish. I tried it as part of a (vegetarian) low carb diet some years back and loved it. Although there’s a lot of faffing about, so I don’t make it often. Adding roast garlic sounds like a brilliant idea though!
    It tastes different to steamed/boiled cauliflower in a way that celery juice tastes totally different to celery stalks.

  32. BerMan says:

    Very pretty, the photos are nice and shows her interesting features. Luv the boots.

  33. whatevs says:

    lol i love how she is the older sister and yet looks waaay younger than the twins. that’s what happens when you starve yourself to no end and i am guessing they were keeping dehydrated, abusing substances and stuff to keep looking so anorexic back in their early twenties. i heard they were clients of rachel zoe and each and everyone of her clients started looking like tales of the crypt and their skins lost their glow and elasticity too. talk about aging 30 years overnight. then they got fillers-you can always tell when someone got them because it takes a while for them to set in, and it looks weird until it does. anyway they still look like old bag ladies sorry

    • PleaseICU says:

      She’s actually the younger Olsen sister. She’s 22 or 23 while MK and Ashley are 25 or 26. But IA that the twins often look older than their age. I thought they were closer to 30 than mid-twenties.

  34. KZ says:

    Re: “The Curvy One”: She is nude at times and (sorry if this sounds skeevy) conspicuously braless throughout Martha Marcy May Marlene. Her figure is much more generous that we’re used to seeing from young actresses.

    This is a gorgeous girl with tons of talent. Good luck to her!

  35. Jilli says:

    Her nose is too small for her face. It just looks over done.

  36. Shy says:

    I like how she doesn’t whine and cries to press: “Oh look at me. I am relative to rich celebrity. I’m poor because I don’t want to work. Why should I work? I have rich sibling. He/she should give me money”.

    No. She goes and works. And look at her now. Do you hear that Madonna’s brother?

  37. yoyobaby says:

    Saw the movie. The girl has breast implants. I know because I have small ones myself. My uncle is also a PS – he is very well known – so I know how to spot the good ones. She was laying down braless and I thought oh my she has breast implants. Not obivous, but from side angle her breast are sloped, but lying down don’t flatten like a natural breast. I bet she has had her nose done. To balance out bigger hips and flat chest, she had her breasts done. To be “curvy”

  38. Becca says:

    Her nose job is so bad that I can barely look at her.

  39. PiperB says:

    I can’t get passed the food they eat but to each his own. I am sure it is good just not my taste. But I like this girl and look forward to her films.

  40. Candice says:

    “Also, I love that Lizzie has a more realistic figure than either of her twin sisters have ever possessed. She’s thin and very beautiful but still looks like a human being.”

    How are their bodies not realistic? They’re not aliens, you know.