A/N: Ayooo, attendance time!
Elizabeth
Another day of long hours and hard work always pays off for Lizzie. She and the rest of the cast have been filming WandaVision for a few months now and she can honestly admit that she has loved every single moment of it. Being on the Warner Bros ranch in Burbank hasn't been the worst location to film and she also has been able to try so many different things thus far.
It's a different kind of project than the ones she has done in the past, even her previous Marvel projects.
She's glad that she gets to show this side to the character she loves so much, getting to display Wanda in a more fun and care-free way, at least for the first few episodes and then it goes back to being dark.
But overall she has been impressed with the way this show has been written and produced so far, how Wanda is going through the stages of grief with losing Vision, her brother, her family, her entire country, and, mostly, herself.
Elizabeth wasn't aware that people loved her character this much, she wasn't used to being in the spotlight so much, she was always known as Mary-Kate and Ashley's "little sister," but now she feels like she is finally carving her own name into the world, getting the recognition and success she has worked so hard for over the years.
Of course, she has had notable works in the past, working with Sarah Paulson, Aubrey just a few years back, Ed Harris, Jason Sudeikis, Dakota Fanning, her own show on Facebook Watch, and a few of her Marvel co-stars in different projects outside of the MCU.
But this work, this show, it's something special. And she knows it. They've given her a hand in production as well, the directors and producers and whole crew trusting her opinion and her knowledge of her own character and her own character's inner monologue. She has been grateful to have been given this type of control and trust.
And she is finally done for the day after filming a few touch-up scenes for the pilot episode again. She doesn't mind working so much for WandaVision, she appreciates everyone's dedication to this project, determination to make it as close to perfect as possible.
She is all for it.
Elizabeth Olsen isn't one to settle for anything less than the best she could possibly do, and the directors and producers have listened to her and applauded her when she would ask to do another take if she wasn't satisfied with the previous one.
Over the years she has grown into her own, trusted her instincts and her talent.
In the past she wasn't so confident. Back at NYU, she always felt like she had to prove herself, prove to the people and professors around her that she wasn't just another famous baby, she wasn't just the sister to the world's most famous twin-sister celebrities.
Many times, it hurt when she heard the whispers, felt the glares, the judgment.
One person in particular made it extra hard for her confidence to shine through. Whenever she got excited about something, felt proud of herself, Carson Mills was always there to shut her down.
And she hated her for it.
She knew that Carson Mills was going to be the first of many to judge her, to criticize her and her upbringing, but for some reason she always found it hard to not let her classmate's words get to her.
At least at the beginning. It wasn't like Carson was outright cruel to her either, Lizzie could admit that she started a lot of their issues, especially when she inserted herself into the situation between her roommate and Carson's situationship or whatever they called it.
But she was looking out for her friend, she knew Carson's reputation on campus, how she would play every single girl she slept with. And it drove Lizzie mad. Especially when she found Carson in her dorm room one morning, in bed with Shana, her roommate.
It wasn't so much that she was surprised that Carson was there, it was more that she was surprised her roommate fell for the player's charm and games.
And then she got angry as the weeks went on, as she had to deal with Shana crying whenever she and Carson would get into an argument about what they were to one another. She got angry whenever Shana would bring Carson over and disturb her study time, keeping her up until 3 am every single night while they messed around.
Elizabeth was sick knowing that Carson was leading Shana on, that Carson was just using her as a warm body before she would throw her back out to the wolves and leave her stranded and broken.
She knew because Shana would gush about Carson, light up every single time she got a text, blush when Carson complimented her, melted into her disgusting fuck girl hands whenever her ridiculously charming accent called her "darling" or "love."
And Carson knew it bothered Lizzie. And then things escalated as Lizzie's hatred grew and grew, along with Carson's for her.
She knew how to get under Elizabeth's skin, she knew that calling her a "nepo baby" would twist the knife already planted in her gut by the media. She knew that she could beat Lizzie out for a role just by tearing down her confidence.
But like earlier, this was only at the beginning. Elizabeth caught on, studied Carson more, and noticed her weaknesses in her performances. And from just watching the girl, she learned what to do and what not to do in order to show that she was the better actor.
And she did just that. She poured all of her hatred into a fire that lit her up and surged her forward, propelling her towards the goal she had always had: to make it.
But her rival caught on and fought back just as hard. They were competitors, everyone noticed that. They fed off one another like animals and battled for roles consistently.
Still, the comments would irritate Lizzie, some would even still sting, but she started dishing back the same to the Brit. She would intimidate her, sometimes even agree with her just to rile her up.
"You're right, I guess I am famous because of my sisters. Guess that's why you'll never beat me, huh? Because I get everything, right?"
She watched as the words burned into Mills' skin and drove a fire into her eyes. A fire Lizzie enjoyed watching while her rival nearly crumbled and spiraled.
"At least you are self-aware now," CJ spit back, arms folded across her chest as they stood in front of the cast list labeling Lizzie as the lead and CJ as the under-study for her role.
Elizabeth laughed then, and shrugged, not even sparing a second glance at the actress beside her before stating with nonchalance,
"Or, maybe, I am just the better actor and everyone here knows it. People reward talent, Mills. Guess that's why you're my under-study."
She shot a cocky smirk up at the Brit, catching her surprised expression and wavering confidence before Elizabeth walks off with a proud grin painted onto her face. Once she knows CJ Mills can no longer see her facial expressions, the smile falls and an unsettling shame falls over her.
No matter how much she hated the girl, she hated being mean more. But she couldn't help it when she was around Carson Mills, the girl just yanks it right out of her. It's like she is some sort of magnet for anger and fury.
Lizzie wasn't a mean girl. She isn't. But some people just love to push her buttons a bit too much, shoving her too close to the edge and boiling her up too high to the point she bursts.
Generally, she was a nice person. She loves her friends, loves her life, loves her family, and loves most people overall.
But Carson Mills was the first person she had ever encountered that made that niceness go away, that chipped away at her confidence and zest for success. She promised herself once Carson Mills transferred, that she would never let anyone make her feel like that again.
In a way, she is sort of thankful to the British actor. Because of her, Lizzie learned to stand her ground, to be proud of who she is and where she comes from but to also prove herself not to anyone else, but to her own self. She learned to not back down from a challenge.
Those years bickering and fighting with that one girl from NYU made her into a better actor today.
She would never admit that though. If she ever saw that woman again, Lizzie fears that she would punch her in the face and end up on TMZ.
"I have good news for you, sweetheart." Rhonda Price, Elizabeth's agent, speaks through her car's bluetooth speaker.
Lizzie laughs as she brakes gradually at a red light, looking out to the sidewalks of Burbank, watching a group of younger adults laughing giddily and stumbling out of a bar. Two of them, both women, walk hand-in-hand, the taller one kissing the shorter one's cheek, bringing both of them to wide-set smiles as they slow down to gain their own space from their drunken friends.
It makes the actress smile, watching normal people living their normal lives. It's well past midnight and they don't seem to have a care in the world about every stressor in life, they are just living in the moment.
Elizabeth misses living like that. All she has had on her mind the past few years is work. She misses when she would allow herself to have fun, she even misses going out to the clubs with the Avengers cast in Scotland and London and all other cities.
"Talk to me, I'm all ears," She responds to her agent once the refraction of the glowing green light shines through her windshield, pulling her back to her own reality and away from her previous life.
"I got word of a new project, and I think it's one you're going to like."
She gets a few tingles of excitement now, she loves new things, and she loves when Rhonda gets excited telling her about them. That means it's got to be something good.
"Oh yeah?"
"That's right. It's a romance, kind of a rom-com, but spicier. Queer romance film centered around two women, one a literary agent who is all focused on work and buries herself in it instead of socializing and allowing others to get too close, and one an editor who works similarly but is also a bit cruel and shark-like. Enemies to lovers sort of tale."
Elizabeth's eyebrows raise in intrigue. A rom-com. She's never really done one of those. Sure she did Kodachrome, but that was more of a dark-comedy romance, coming-of-age film. And this film is queer. Meaning she'd have to play a gay woman.
One could argue that her indie film Ingrid Goes West with Aubrey fell under that as well, but the lines were more blurred there and well...Aubrey played a character that was a bit obsessive and stalker-like. That movie was also dark.
Beside the point, Lizzie would get to act in a romance beside another woman...it was interesting to her. She's always been partnered with a male counterpart in films. And she'd be lying if she said she hadn't seen fans online "shipping" her with female characters in her movies like Ingrid and even Natasha Romanoff in the MCU.
She always liked the idea but no one really went with it and plus, she loved working with Paul anyways.
But this is a whole other ball-park, one that she would be determined to do right. For her and for the community she knows deserves more recognition than they get in today's media.
"Consider me interested. There a script yet?"
"Yep, have it pulled up right now."
"Great, send me a copy?"
Rhonda agrees and tells Elizabeth to call her after she checks it out, tell her how she feels. She also tells her not to make her decision now, even though she knows how thorough Lizzie is when it comes to work and prospective projects.
Lizzie never makes an impulse decision unless it involves her in a plant store.
Work-wise, she is very detail-oriented, thoughtful, and observing. She studies things, thinks them through, likes to get all the information needed before making a decision, before pursuing.
Though once they hang up, Lizzie is left driving home with a bright grin on her face, excited to read the screenplay, to dive into a new character in a new world, a new genre she has been curious of dipping her toes in.
By the time she gets home, she seems that most of the lights are off, indicating that Robbie is already asleep.
She figured he would be after they called one another earlier in the day and he mentioned how grueling his band's rehearsal had been.
He did say he wanted to see her before falling asleep, so she was a bit saddened that he hadn't stayed true to that desire since she hasn't seen him in about a week.
Robbie Arnett, Elizabeth's current boyfriend, is in a band called Milo Greene and for the past week they've been performing shows all over California.
Of course, Lizzie was happy for him since he had missed performing, but last week she finally had a few days off of work and he was too busy to see her. Even when he was performing just a town away, he stayed in a hotel instead of going to see her.
Normally, she would go to his shows to support him, but she had been feeling a bit anxious lately and big crowds have always made the actress uncomfortable. Especially since more people know her now, Lizzie doesn't like being attacked by people asking for autographs and pictures and bombarding her with questions about Marvel that they should know by now she cannot answer.
It's not like she hates interacting with fans, she loves it, but sometimes it gets overwhelming and Robbie knows that. So she had hoped he'd stay with her for the night, she had hoped he'd ask if he could do anything to help her with her anxiety but lately not much has been given from him.
She isn't a whiner, though. She never wants someone to feel obligated to care for her and ask her how she is feeling 24/7, but offering help and comfort during those periods where the noise gets too loud every now and then would be nice.
She hangs her keys on the hook beside her door and heads up to her room, attempting to ignore the way Robbie had messily taken his shoes off and tossed them beside the front door, only one landing on the shoe mat, and it wasn't even upright.
Everything feels so heavy right now for her, mostly her eyelids. She was exhausted from the past few days and wanted to just relax. Normally, she'd get a glass of wine, watch a show, and sleep, but since Robbie was probably already snoring in her bed after using the key she had given him to her home, she had to be as quiet as possible and had to fall asleep instantly.
In this case, given how tired she feels, she doesn't mind.
So she approaches cautiously into her room, glancing at the snoring man in her bed, one of his legs dangling off the edge, the side of his face smushed into the pillow. It brings a smile to the actor's lips. She's glad that at least he seems to be sleeping peacefully but the disappointment that he wasn't awake for her to greet him and discuss their past week without one another weighed on her like the world on Atlas' shoulders.
Elizabeth tiptoes towards her walk-in closet, shutting the door behind her to shield any noise she may make before slipping out of her shoes, placing them gently in their respective spot on her shoe rack, and undresses while grabbing her pajamas.
Once those steps are finished, she sneaks out and into her bathroom, attempting to brush her teeth quietly but her toothbrush is electronic. She winces as it buzzes to life and gets even louder once the bristles rub against her teeth.
The sink faucet even seems to be screaming and for a moment, she hopes it wakes Robbie up just so that he could say at least a "hello" to her, but when she glances through the mirror, seeing the reflection of his sleeping frame, her shoulders slump and she goes about her nightly routine before slipping into her bed beside him.
She forgot just how much of a heavy sleeper he was. And in this moment, she despises it because he is sprawled out across the mattress, taking up three quarters of the whole surface area.
The actor internally groans before lifting his arm and dropping it closer to his body so she could gain more space of her own bed spread. As she finally settles in and gets comfortable, she thinks about the script she will be receiving tomorrow and a gentle grin forms on her face as her eyelids grow heavier and louder with need for resting.
It was going to be a good day tomorrow.
Though it didn't start off that way.
When Elizabeth wakes up, she awakens to Robbie kissing her neck. The actor frowns slightly and lightly pushes him off with a soft yet uncomfortable laugh.
"First time you see me in over a week and you go straight to the kissing huh?" Lizzie tries to come off lighthearted, worried that she'd upset Robbie if she shows her irritation too much.
She's always concerned about seeming dramatic, like she's overreacting, but having not seen him and waking up to him kissing her instead of words happening first, that's not quite what she expected.
But a big part of her is saying she is overreacting, that Robbie shows his love in different ways than she does. And she loves physical touch, but waking up to him doing that when she was just upset last night that he fell asleep without even a "hello" to her just makes her annoyed.
"I missed you. Thought it'd be a nice way to wake you up so I can apologize," The man's smile shows genuine accountability and guilt. Of course he knew she'd be upset about last night.
And she starts to feel guilty for being annoyed with him overall.
"Apologize for what?" She tries to play it smooth, so as not to jump right down his throat and seem like a crazy person. She also wanted to see where he was going with it and didn't want to say anything to hinder the moment.
Robbie sighs and sits upright, giving space for Lizzie to do the same. He glances above her eyes, an endearing smile taking over his features before he reaches and uses his fingers to delicately push her hair out of her face, smoothing out what she can imagine is a messy heap of bed head.
"I tried to stay awake last night. I really wanted to see you, babe. I just got so tired and I was watching videos people took of our show to pass the time and next thing I knew I was passed out. I'm really sorry, Liz."
Elizabeth studies her boyfriend of 2 years and senses no sign of dishonesty or false apology. She clicks her tongue and looks down at her hands, feeling a swell of guilt for her emotions the past night and this morning filling her chest with a tight weight.
"It's no big deal. I understand."
"Really?" He smiles and all it takes for her to shove those emotions all the way down is that hopeful gleam in his dark eyes. And just like that, the emotions get pressurized down and down until she can squeeze the lid back on them and plaster her face with a smile.
"Really, it was late. I get it. No worries. Looks like you had a good show, though," She smiles but it doesn't quite reach her eyes.
While she knows this, she can see that Robbie can't tell and she is partially grateful for that, she doesn't feel like arguing right now or scolding him for not putting much effort in lately. They've had that fight in the past and she doesn't want to sound like a broken record or that she's too hard to please.
Maybe, she thinks, she is. She expects too much and it's unfair to him. They're both busy and she can't expect him to always be there, to drop everything for her, to come see her instead of being with his band after shows, to give up his guys' nights to spend time with her.
Her tongue pushes into her cheek as Robbie starts going on a rant about how great his show was last night with the band. All she can focus on is the possibility of her being too needy, she knows Robbie thinks it sometimes and it crushes her.
She doesn't try to be, she just likes knowing that someone is there for her. But maybe it is too much, she can't expect him to know what she is thinking, to cater to her needs and coddle her when her anxiety hits.
"The show was great, it was a good turnout. I mean of course, you wouldn't have liked it, but you know. It was a good time."
Lizzie catches the slight jab he gives her. Her whole body nearly flinches at the words, hearing him use her recent anxiety attacks as nearly a weapon to her destruction. She feels the tip of the blade searing through her skin and it rips away at her hopes for the day.
Not the way she wanted to start off today.
"It's not that I wouldn't like it. I love watching you perform, Robbie. You know that."
Her voice comes out shakier and softer than she'd prefer. It sounds like she's a scared little kid, losing her voice and posture. She watches as he looks at her with a mockingly knowing grin, chuckling.
"I know that, babe. But you know what I mean."
She can feel the anger rising again but just like before, she shoves it down, swallows the elephant whole. When he places his hand on her cheek, she bites down on the inside of her cheek, willing her emotions to stay in check while she reels down a spiral of knowing for a fact that her mental struggles are too much, they're overwhelming.
He doesn't deserve that.
"I should get ready. I have a long day today."
She mutters and slips out of bed before the conversation can go on longer. Once she drags herself to the bathroom she half expects Robbie to follow but when she hears him chuckling to a video on his phone, her eyes nearly roll to the back of her head as she prepares the shower.
"Good morning," She breathes out heavily and takes a step into the warm water in hopes to wash away the beginning of her day.
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A/N: How we liking so far? What are we thinking?
What do you think will happen?
What do you want to happen?