SHE’S A MARVEL Brie Larsen on her superhero role
After getting buff to star in Marvel’s first female-led superhero film, the Oscar-winner found strength she didn’t know she had
At just 26, Brie Larson shot to the pinnacle of Hollywood success, winning an Oscar for her turn as a kidnapping survivor in Room in 2016. Now, she’s the first female superhero to lead a Marvel movie in Captain Marvel (in cinemas now), with the film raking in $645 million in its opening weekend. Three years after her Oscar, Larson, 29, feels transformed – physically and emotionally. “I think a huge part of it is recognising that doing the right thing doesn’t mean you please everybody,” Larson, who is newly single after splitting with fiancé Alex Greenwald says. “And training in martial arts and boxing, I learned that action is powerful; I don’t need to say as much. I can just do it!”
SHE’S ALWAYS WANTED TO PLAY A STRONG WOMAN.
Growing up, “I wanted to be Princess Leia,” says Larson, who started acting as a pre-teen. (Her first big role: Bob Saget’s daughter on the sitcom Raising Dad.) “I had a shirt that was way too big for me that I held onto forever. I was convinced they were going to do a movie where they would need a young Princess Leia, and I was going to audition for it, and that was the shirt I was going to wear!”
SHE CAN LIFT 102KG ... AND PUSH A 2268KG CAR!
That’s not a typo. Larson prepped for nine months to play Captain Marvel. “I was like, ‘I’m just going to hit it as hard as I can and see how far I can go,’ ” she says. “I never would have thought I could deadlift 102kg in my life; I never thought I could hipthrust 181kg. I love the space that my brain gets into when I’m doing it. You just feel more capable.”
SHE’S MORE CONFIDENT NOW — BUT DOESN’T HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS.
“I don’t know if it’s just because this movie’s very inspiring, but people have asked me a lot for life advice,” she says. “I am actually really glad that I come across as being that together!”
Mary Green, with additional reporting by Kara Warner