Elizabeth Olsen shares why she avoids modern rom-coms.
Though part of the MCU’s huge wave, the actor admits feeling strangely detached: “I don’t quite grasp today’s pop culture—it feels distant, like I’m watching from afar, not living it.”
Elizabeth Olsen has often been described as an old soul, a phrase that has followed her throughout her career and personal life. While she’s always understood what people meant, her latest film, Eternity, has given her an even deeper connection to that idea, helping her to explore and express it in new, meaningful ways.
In Eternity, a whimsical fantasy romantic comedy directed by David Freyne, Olsen takes on the role of Joan Cutler, a 90-year-old matriarch portrayed through a unique lens. The story begins with Joan and her husband, Larry, played by Miles Teller, both passing away within a week of each other. They find themselves at a surreal place known as Afterlife Junction—a kind of celestial crossroads featuring a train station, a convention floor, and a hotel. Here, the recently departed are granted one final week to decide how they want to spend eternity.
On the surface, Eternity offers a mix of lighthearted humor, romance, and the supernatural. But the heart of the story lies in the emotional complexities it explores. Joan’s peaceful afterlife plans face a dramatic shift when her first husband, Luke, played by Callum Turner, unexpectedly appears. Luke, a fallen war hero, had delayed his afterlife decision for 67 years because he wanted one last chance to reconnect with Joan. This creates a compelling love triangle, with Joan caught between her devoted, though unremarkable, 65-year relationship with Larry, and the passionate, complicated history she shares with Luke.
For Olsen, portraying Joan was an opportunity unlike any other—a chance to embody not just a character, but a perspective that felt deeply aligned with her own sense of self. in the modern world. I don’t really feel like I know how to capture pop culture of this moment, because I’m so distant from it.”
This distance she feels from current trends and pop culture isn’t something Olsen views as a barrier; rather, it’s something that allowed her to bring an authentic nuance to Joan’s character. Playing a 90-year-old woman trapped in the body of someone in her 30s—a woman caught between eras and experiences—felt like a perfect fit. It’s a role that speaks to her own feelings of being out of step with contemporary culture, and yet simultaneously feeling connected to something timeless and enduring.
Olsen’s take on Eternity reveals an artist who is deeply reflective and unafraid to explore unconventional roles that challenge both her and the audience. Instead of portraying a youthful character trying to navigate fleeting social trends, she chose to dive into a story about love, memory, and the choices that define our lives across the decades. In many ways, Joan’s story allows Olsen to embody an old soul’s perspective—one that views the world with a mix of wisdom, nostalgia, and a desire to find meaning beyond surface-level experiences.
Eternity also subtly challenges how we think about love and commitment. Through Joan’s dilemma, we see the complexity of human relationships, how time shapes them, and how sometimes love doesn’t fit neatly into modern narratives. It’s about the endurance of affection and the tug-of-war between comfort and passion, familiarity and longing.
For Elizabeth Olsen, the role was a rare chance to step away from the relentless pace of today’s pop culture and step into a story that feels both fresh and familiar. She doesn’t need to chase the latest trends or reflect the most current social moods to connect with audiences. Instead, she connects on a human level—through vulnerability, humor, and the timeless struggle to define one’s own path through life’s uncertainties.
In supporting the November 26 theatrical release of Eternity, Olsen brings to life more than just a quirky rom-com character; she invites viewers to consider their own relationships with time, love, and the moments that shape who we are. In doing so, she embraces her old soul identity not as a limitation, but as a powerful lens through which to tell stories that resonate beyond the fleeting buzz of now.