After the utter failure of their attempt to transition to more mainstream moviemaking with New York Minute in 2004, the Olsen Twins dropped off America’s radar. The truth is, the second they turned 18 we were all done with them. Adults stopped caring when their countdown to legality ended, and kids stopped caring when they were no longer kids. Both past their prime at the tender age of twenty-one Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen are staging a comeback. Both have roles in upcoming movies and Mary-Kate is set to make her debut on the pot-dealing themed, critically acclaimed television show Weeds.
Entertainment Weekly sat down with her to let her plug her show and whine about the paparazzi, and the results were surprisingly honest and interesting. Interesting because Mary-Kate admit she and her sister couldn’t act. She tells them, “If you look at our career, from 21 years ago to today, it was about entertaining a specific audience. It wasn’t about acting. It was about pleasing other people and making kids smile.” Well sure we all knew that I suppose, but it’s kind of shocking to hear her admit that their entire career was a profit driven enterprise meant to cash-in on the lowest common denominator, easy-to-please palates of kids who don’t know any better.
Don’t get me wrong, the rest of Entertainment Weekly’s article make her sound like she’s a still drugged out, anorexic bimbo, but if owning up to your mistakes is the path to redemption then it seems to me that Mary Kate Olsen just took a big step. She knows she’s sucked for a very long time, and with work on quality projects like Weeds and the upcoming Ben Kingsley movie The Wackness she’s trying to redeem herself. Maybe we should give her a chance.
