'I don't like to be the center of attention anymore,' she tells Elle U.K.
By Jocelyn Vena

Ashley Olsen on the April issue of <i>Elle U.K.</i>
Photo: Elle UK/Alexei Hay

While her little sister Elizabeth Olsen is currently Hollywood's "It" girl, one half of the Olsen twins, Ashley, has announced that she no longer has plans to act.

"We worked non-stop until we were 18," the fashion mogul said in an interview with Elle U.K. "Then we decided to take a break and go to school — and that was when we decided to question whether we would carry on in entertainment. It was time to step behind the process. I wanted to work on other things. It doesn't mean I'm not interested in Hollywood, I like the way it operates and the people who are involved and the sense of possibility. But if I ever do get back in, it's not going to be as an actress. It just felt right to move away."

It seems her focus will be on her three fashion lines with Mary-Kate, and perhaps a move behind the camera. "I don't have to be a pretty face," she said, reports E! News. "I've done that, but now it's important and liberating to be on the other side of the lens. I don't like to be the center of attention anymore.

"We are perfectionists," she added about her work as a fashion designer. "We've always wanted to be closely involved with everything, totally hands on — that's why it works. If we step away, it stops working. I know it sounds controlling, but that's how it has to be."

At the end of the day, MK and Ash still seem to share a similar work ethic. "We're attracted to different things, but we arrive at the same place," she said. "I think we're probably unaware of how intuitive it might seem from the outside. It's basically one thought process shared between two people."

What do you think of Ashley Olsen's decision to quit acting? Leave your comment below!