Brie Larson Is Being Praised After She Revealed That She “Always” Reaches Out To Actors When They Are First Cast In A Superhero Movie To Offer Her Advice

“You feel scared,” Brie said of playing a superhero. “It’s so hard to be the cool, confident one when you’re like, ‘Do I know what I’m supposed to be doing?’”

By
Stephanie Soteriou
by Stephanie Soteriou

BuzzFeed Staff

Last year, Samuel L. Jackson revealed that when his good friend Brie Larson was first offered a role in the Marvel cinematic universe, she turned to him for advice.

Brie Larson smiles with eyes closed while hugging Samuel L. Jackson, who is wearing a knit hat, glasses, and a patterned scarf indoors
Bruce Glikas / Bruce Glikas / WireImage

The two stars forged a close friendship when they met on the Kong: Skull Island set in 2015, and Samuel — who plays Nick Fury in the MCU — said that he was the one who encouraged the Oscar-winning actor to take on Captain Marvel.


Samuel explained to Rolling Stone at the time: “When she got Captain Marvel, she called me and was like, ‘They want me in the Marvel Universe. Should I do it?’ And I was like, ‘Hell yeah! Let’s do it!’”

Brie was officially cast as Carol Danvers, aka Captain Marvel, in 2016, and Samuel has remained her biggest cheerleader amid the onslaught of cruel backlash that Brie has faced from comic book fans.

Brie Larson attends the Captain Marvel premiere in a sequined dress with a deep V-neckline
Dia Dipasupil / WireImage

For context, Captain Marvel was the first Marvel movie solely led by a woman superhero, which led to Brie being subjected to a relentless and misogynistic smear campaign as fans shared their outrage that a woman was now playing the popular character — who was originally a man.


The character of Carol debuted in her own comic book series, Ms. Marvel, in 1977, but took on the role of Captain Marvel in a 2012 series. 


In 2018, two years after her casting was announced, Brie was criticized even more as Marvel fans scolded her for not smiling more in the trailer — with trolls even photoshopping a smile onto Brie’s face, claiming that they had “fixed” her.


And before the movie’s 2019 release, review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes was flooded with negative reviews that primarily lambasted Brie on a personal level.

Despite all of this, it’s worth mentioning that Captain Marvel was a huge success and grossed more than $1 billion globally — and Brie has consistently taken all of the online abuse in her stride.

Brie Larson, as Captain Marvel, looks intently over her shoulder in an action scene, wearing her character's signature armored suit
Marvel / Via youtube.com

In 2019, Brie casually stated: “I have genuinely never needed to look at the internet to explain to me who I am."


And when recently asked about the “vitriol” that she has faced from Marvel fans during the Hollywood Reporter’s Drama Actress Roundtable, Brie played it down as she said: “I don’t know if it’s specific to Marvel.”

However, elsewhere in the same conversation, Brie revealed that she is somewhat of a “superhero mentor” and is “the first person” to contact actors when they are cast in a superhero movie.

Brie Larson at an event in a strapless gown with gold earrings, standing in front of a greenery-decorated background
Dia Dipasupil / Getty Images

Brie did not reference the negative public reaction to her own casting announcement, and instead said that she likes to lend a helping hand because being a superhero is “very specific and very strange.”


Brie told her peers that she “always” reaches out, adding: “I’m the first person to email everybody because it’s very specific and very strange. People are like: ‘I don’t know how to do this.’ Yeah, no one does. Why would you?”

Sharing the advice that she gives, Brie added: “I’ll say: ‘Train, because you’ll want to be as prepared in your body as you possibly can because it only gets harder as the job goes on. And really understand how to be able to go to the bathroom in your suit.’ The first Captain Marvel, it was a 45-minute thing to get me in and out of that costume.”

Brie Larson standing against a backdrop with text. She is wearing a black sleeveless dress over a red and white striped shirt
Gregg Deguire / Deadline via Getty Images

“I can’t stand when people have to wait for me to go to the bathroom, so I’d have to time it out,” she added. “It’s a whole thing, and it’s a lot of pressure. And I think it’s a strange thing, especially when you’re a newcomer and you’re tasked with being the most powerful blah, blah, blah of blah, blah, blah, and you feel scared. It’s so hard to be the cool, confident one when you’re like, ‘Do I know what I’m supposed to be doing?’”


Brie has won widespread praise on social media for this sweet display of camaraderie, especially considering how Marvel fans have treated her for the last eight years.


One popular tweet reads: “That’s such a kind gesture. Truly despicable how much hate she gets for being, by all accounts, just a nice and talented person.”


“Ya’ll could NEVER make me hate Brie Larson,” somebody else wrote.


One more added: “Mind u she suffered one of the worst hate trains of any actor ever. the way the media and people online twists her words is so insane she’s such a kindhearted human being.”


While another user wrote: “That's so thoughtful of her. It's got to be a wild ride joining the superhero universe, and that little bit of support might make all the difference."

Elsewhere in the roundtable, Brie revealed that it took her a full year to get out of the “dark” place she went to when shooting Room, and admitted that it was “really scary” not to be able to do the “basic things” that she “used to enjoy.”

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