Oscar winner Brie Larson dishes on going ape

LOS ANGELES • Things have been happening for Brie Larson since her best actress Academy Award last year for her Room portrayal. Certainly, the opportunities have been much bigger than Room, the independent Canadian co-production that earned her the Oscar.

The 27-year-old won the coveted female Captain Marvel role who will be introduced in 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War. More immediately, she plays photojournalist Mason Weaver in Kong: Skull Island, a reboot of the King Kong monster series.

Set in the 1973 Vietnam War era, the adventure also stars Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson and John Goodman.

A confident Larson offered her thoughts:

On the experience of shooting the creature feature:

“It’s less about a particular scene than the experience as a whole,” says Larson. “It was like running in an obstacle course.”

On the energy required:

“It’s taxing on the body,” she says. “I’ve experienced mental drain on movies in the past, but this was physical. It’s amazing what your body can do.”

On how she prepared:

“(The studio) got me a trainer, and I had trained before when I did Room,” Larson says. “For Room, I had to get wiry and small. (Kong) was about being strong in my body.”

On what it’s like to be in the palm of Kong’s hand:

“My Kong was a tape mark,” she says of the greenscreen special effects sequence. “There was like a foam pad I had to lay on. ”

On portraying a damsel notso-in-distress:

“That’s one of the reasons I did this,” says Larson. “I wanted to turn this allegory on its head. We’re in a different time. We’re ready to see a different type of female hero.”

On refining the role:

“She’s strong and tough, but sensitive,” says the actress of her character. “She’s using her heart and her humanity to actually save all of them in the end.”

On playing a combat photographer:

“I had taken photography classes years ago and knew how to develop film,” Larson says.

On taking pictures on various sets in Vietnam, Australia and Hawaii:

“I started taking photos as a way to keep my mind active,” she says.

On playing Captain Marvel in the upcoming production:

“The whole thing feels so big and secretive,” she says. “I’m too scared to talk about it.”

On playing a superhero part usually associated with a male:

“Women have their own set of skills that are worth exploring on screen,” says Larson. “You don’t have her do all the same things a male does. I want to explore how women lead and how that is different and unique.

On what’s next:

“I just directed a film that Sam Jackson is in called Unicorn Store,” Larson says of the comedy she also produced and starred in.