I am not Martha
Young actress Elizabeth Olsen
finds her breakout role
By Steve Fisher
ELIZABETH (LIZZIE) OLSEN might have
been able to bank on the fame of her older
sisters’ (Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen), but
she made “a conscious effort to try and make
a career happen on my own, and get an agent
and get work based on my own merit.”
The actress, who spoke with The
Connection via phone, turns 23 in February,
and more than proves that merit with a rivet-
ing performance as the title character in
Martha Marcy May Marlene, an independent
film out on DVD this month. Written and
COURTESY OF FOX SEARCHLIGHT
directed by Sean Durkin—also in his 20s—
the movie examines a young woman who
escapes from a cult but is haunted by the
experience, slowly revealed with increasing
tension. Olsen, who has been doing theater
since the age of 4 and has trained at NYU’s
Tisch School of the Arts and the Atlantic
Theater Company, gives a multidimensional
performance that has garnered rave reviews,
won or been nominated for numerous awards,
and landed on many critics’ lists for an Oscar
nomination. (Oscar nominations will be
Elizabeth Olsen as Martha Marcy May
Marlene, trying to adjust to life.
announced after The Connection’s press date.)
“It sounds so cliché to say it’s changed my
life. But it did,” Olsen says of the film. “When
I was making this movie, I didn’t know what
could come of it. Obviously I’m aware of what
happens to some independent films if they
get a lot of hype and buzz about them. And
what can happen to the actors in the film if
CONTINUED ON PAGE 32
buyers’ picks
February
Book buyers’ picks
FRANCE FREEMAN
Juvenile
Barnyard Dance!, Belly Button Book! and
Pajama Time!, by Sandra Boynton. As the
father of five young children, I know the
value of a book that’s fun for children to listen
to and for adults to read. These three sturdy
board books from Boynton are a great solu-
tion. Filled with charming illustrations and
rhymes, these large books are easy for tod-
dlers to grasp, and adults will enjoy reading
them aloud to an eager audience.
—Josh Lilly, inventory control specialist, books
Fiction
Kill Shot, by Vince Flynn. When it comes to
political thrillers, Vince Flynn is a master.
Since the late 1990s, he’s
written more than a
dozen novels, each more
heart-pounding than the
last. In Kill Shot, counter-terrorism operative Mitch
Rapp is tracking down
the men responsible for the Pan Am
Lockerbie plane bomb when he moves from
hunter to hunted. Wounded in a gunfight,
Rapp is on the run. His handlers hope he’ll
remain free while dying quietly. Because this
is Mitch Rapp, there’s little chance of that
happening.
— Jeffrey Purtell
inventory control specialist, books
Lethal, by Sandra Brown. During the long,
gray days of a Pacific Northwest winter, my
reading preferences tend to be page-turners
that I can read in the safety of a blanket
cocoon. If you feel the same, this novel is for
you. When Honor Gillette’s 4-year-old
daughter says there’s a sick man in their front
yard, Gillette can’t help but lend a helping
hand. The man, she soon learns, has been
accused of killing seven people; he offers
Gillette and her daughter safety if they do as
he says.—Shana Lind, assistant buyer, books
FEBRUARY 2012 The Costco Connection 31
Nonfiction
The Book of Amazing History, The Book
of Bizarre Truths and The Book of Useless
Information, from Publications International. Did you know that human thumbs
have their own “control room” in the brain, or
that a Yale study proved that both men and
women are subject to the power of bad-hair
days? Whether you’re looking to arm yourself
with an arsenal of tidbits for your next party
or just love trivia, these books are for you.
From geography to anatomy and health to
romance, each book is jam-packed with more
than 600 pages of amazing, bizarre and—
some might say—“useless” information.
