Why Elizabeth Olsen agreed to a rom-com as a 90-year-old in 'Eternity'

Elizabeth Olsen may be stepping into a romantic comedy with her new A24 film Eternity, but she admits that traditional, contemporary rom-coms don’t feel like the right fit for her at all.

In fact, she says she can’t picture herself starring in one set in today’s world.

In Eternity, Olsen plays Joan Cutler, a 90-year-old woman who appears in her 30s in an afterlife waystation where loved ones reunite and choose the eternity they want to inhabit.

The fantastical setup gave Olsen a rare entry point into a genre she usually feels disconnected from.

“This might sound silly, but being 36 years old, I can’t really imagine myself doing a romantic comedy as someone in the modern world,” she told The Hollywood Reporter.

“I don’t really feel like I know how to capture pop culture of this moment, because I’m so distant from it.”

Olsen shares that is precisely why Eternity made sense. Playing a woman with a lifetime behind her — despite her youthful appearance — allowed her to lean into something that felt more truthful than a typical meet-cute.

“I felt like I could do this romantic comedy as a 90-year-old [in a 30-something woman’s body], and it felt like an opportunity that I wouldn’t have again,” she explained. “It’s something that feels unique to how I feel in some ways.”

The actress says the script reminded her of older films her mother loved — stories with a timeless, screwball charm rather than modern cultural references.

For now, Eternity may be the closest fans get to seeing Olsen in a rom-com — just one with a lot more soul, and a lot less TikTok culture.