Ask Bartonville resident Allie Melson who her favorite actress is, and she’ll tell you without hesitation and with a hint of reverence in her voice that it’s Elizabeth Olsen. At 13, Melson can list every Hollywood credit Olsen has, from her ongoing role as Wanda Maximoff—The Scarlet Witch in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to her gripping portrayal of the infamous Candy Montgomery in “Love & Death.” Her fandom knows no limits, and she’s convinced Olsen is just as amazing in person as she is on screen.
But rather than stand in line for hours on end at the next Comic-Con event or hope for that one chance encounter that may never come, Melson has her sights set on a more ambitious goal — one day starring alongside Olsen in a future Hollywood blockbuster.
“That would be amazing,” Melson said. “I admire how hard she worked to get to where she is now. I want to have that type of career.”
Melson’s aspirations aren’t so far-fetched that they’d require the reality-warping and illusionist powers of Olsen’s Scarlet Witch character. She recently wrapped filming at Warner Bros. Studios in Hollywood for her first film role in the upcoming kids’ movie “Monster Metaverse: The Bloodstone.” An extension of the ongoing “Go Iguanas!” television series, “Monster Metaverse” follows a group of teenage monster hunters as they fight zombies and vampires. And at the heart of the plot is a powerful necklace called the bloodstone.
Melson’s super-powered character, Gloria, is a central figure and utilizes energy blasts.
The movie won’t be released until February, but Melson has already been cast in at least one sequel. She has been asked to be in an unrelated vampire drama down the line and will audition to be an extra in a future MCU Spider-Man project starring Tom Holland.
“At that point, I’d officially be in the MCU … just like Elizabeth Olsen,” Melson said with a laugh. “You never know.”
She added, “I grew up in California, so it was nice to be back out there, and it was awesome to be on the Warner Bros. lot. I was freaking out because we met so many great people. We saw the sets where they filmed “Friends” and “Full House” — and I didn’t know then that “WandaVision” was also filmed there. Filming took about a week to finish. It was very intense but also incredibly fun.”
Melson’s mother, Bridget, agreed that the filming schedule was intense but marvels daily at how easily her daughter adapts to life in the spotlight. Allie is in her freshman year at Liberty Christian School in Argyle. She’s a straight-A honors student who plans to study neuroscience at Baylor. Meanwhile, she is a master-level student at Cathryn Sullivan’s Acting for Film in Lewisville and, in her free time, enjoys scriptwriting, drawing, and participating in her youth group.
“It’s always impressed me because she has an extremely high work ethic. And she’s very creative — I’m not sure where she gets it because it didn’t come from us,” Bridget Melson said with a laugh. “The Hollywood industry is notoriously questionable for kids. We certainly don’t want to shelter her, but you must go in with a strong moral foundation. And she has that. She went in there and remained herself the entire time. She’s still the God-focused Allie who always works hard.”
With so much success under her belt, one might think she’s been in the acting world all her life. The reality is that Melson only started this new journey about a year ago, working her way up the ranks at Cathryn Sullivan’s and earning the chance to audition in front of Hollywood agents. That’s when she heard about the upcoming Monster Metaverse movies.
She and a friend auditioned and nailed their callbacks to earn starring roles in what could be a budding franchise.
“This has all been happening very fast, and I often wonder how I can juggle it all. But this is my dream, and it’s very exciting.”
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