Brie Larson is an American actress, musician, and director. She is the recipient of several awards, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Golden Globe Award. She began her acting career as a teenager in the television series Raising Dad (2001–2002) and has since appeared in a number of independent films and television programs. Her breakthrough role came with the independent film Short Term 12 (2013), for which she received critical acclaim.
Larson’s other notable films include the comedies Hoot (2006) and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010), the dramas Greenberg (2010) and Room (2015), for which she won the Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Critics’ Choice Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actress. She also wrote, directed, and starred in the independent drama film Unicorn Store (2017).
Table of Contents:
1. Biography
2. Awards and nominations
3. Filmography
4. Television
5. Music
6. Directorial debut
7. Writing
8. Personal life
9. In the media
10. Brie Larson Quotes
- Biography
Brie Larson was born in Sacramento, California, the daughter of Heather (née Desaulniers), a middle school history teacher, and Sylvain Desaulniers, a financial consultant. Her parents were born in Canada and her maternal grandparents were of French-Canadian descent. As a child, Larson’s first language was French. She did not learn English until she was six years old. Her parents divorced when she was seven. She was raised by her mother in the Sacramento area, where she attended the American Conservatory Theater.
Larson’s television debut came in 2001, with a minor role in the CBS sitcom Raising Dad. She had her first leading role in the 2003 independent film 13 Going on 30. She starred in the 2004 comedy film Sleepover as a teenager who sneaks out of her house to go to a party.
In 2006, Larson co-starred in the film Hoot, opposite Logan Lerman and Robert Wagner. The film was based on the Carl Hiaasen novel of the same name. She also appeared in the 2006 film Greenberg, opposite Ben Stiller.
In 2010, Larson co-starred in the film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, based on the Bryan Lee O’Malley graphic novel series of the same name. She also co-starred in the film adaptation of the best-selling novel The Spectacular Now, opposite Miles Teller.
Larson’s breakthrough role came in 2013 with the independent film Short Term 12. The film was based on the real-life experiences of director Destin Daniel Cretton, who worked in a group home for at-risk teenagers. Larson gave an acclaimed performance as a troubled 20-year-old supervisor at the home.
In 2015, Larson starred in the critically acclaimed drama film Room, based on the novel of the same name by Emma Donoghue. She played a young mother who is held captive with her five-year-old son (Jacob Tremblay) in a small room. Larson’s performance was praised by critics, and she won the Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Critics’ Choice Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actress.
Larson made her directorial debut with the 2017 independent film Unicorn Store. She also wrote and starred in the film, which follows a woman (Larson) who moves back in with her parents after her dreams of becoming a successful artist are dashed.
- Awards and nominations
Larson has won numerous awards for her work in film and television. She won the Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Critics’ Choice Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actress for her performance in Room (2015).
She has also been nominated for several other awards, including the Saturn Award for Best Actress for her work in Short Term 12 (2013), and the MTV Movie Award for Best Female Performance for her work in The Spectacular Now (2013).
- Filmography
Larson’s filmography includes the following films and television shows:
-Raising Dad (2001–2002)
-13 Going on 30 (2004)
-Sleepover (2004)
-Hoot (2006)
-Greenberg (2010)
-Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)
-The Spectacular Now (2013)
-Short Term 12 (2013)
-Room (2015)
-Unicorn Store (2017)
- Television
In addition to her work in film, Larson has also appeared in a number of television shows. Her television credits include the following:
-Raising Dad (2001–2002)
-The United States of Leland (2003)
-Hope & Faith (2004)
-CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2005)
-Grey’s Anatomy (2006)
-Community (2011)
-Saturday Night Live (2012, 2015)
- Music
Larson is also a musician. She has released two albums:
-Finally Out of P.E. (2005)
-Weighted Down (2007)
- Directorial debut
Larson made her directorial debut with the 2017 independent film Unicorn Store. She also wrote and starred in the film, which follows a woman (Larson) who moves back in with her parents after her dreams of becoming a successful artist are dashed.
- Writing
In addition to her work as an actress and director, Larson is also a writer. She has written the following films:
-Unicorn Store (2017)
- Personal life
Larson is a private person and does not share much about her personal life with the public. In 2018, she began dating actor Alex Greenwald.
- In the media
Larson has been the subject of media scrutiny due to her private nature. In 2015, she was criticized for not smiling during the red-carpet premiere of Room. In 2016, she was accused of being “rude” and “ungrateful” when she did not clap during an acceptance speech by director Ang Lee at the Golden Globe Awards.
Brie Larson Quotes
“Women are such strong, powerful leaders, and a lot of the time, we play it silent.” – Brie Larson
“In the past I’ve been very into the falling part, very into the swimming in the dark, deep emotional water. ‘Rampart’ I really went into it and it took me three times as long to get out of that depression as it did to just do the scenes. I had to learn to give it my all and then go home and laugh.” – Brie Larson
“I don’t take roles that are ‘just another role.’ I’m interested in learning more about myself and about humanity. So it should change you by the time it’s done.” – Brie Larson
“I really love learning about animals. I pull from a deck of spirit animal cards. You pull one, and it’s about 5 or 6 different animals, and then that day you read whichever animal you pull. And it kind of gives you insight.” – Brie Larson
“I’m just not in a place in my life where I worry about something unnecessarily.” – Brie Larson
“Lately, I’ve been getting too much attention with the Met Gala and work going so well that I try to find rejection in my day. I’ll seek out someone on the street or at the farmers’ market and ask for something where I know they’ll say no. No one likes rejection, but it’s real. And I don’t want to lose that feeling.” – Brie Larson
“I’m competitive with myself.” – Brie Larson
“There were times my mom and I butted heads – over my curfew, over something like that. Whenever we would hit these moments of emotional backfire, she would say, ‘You just don’t understand what it’s like to be a mother… I could never handle losing you.’ I was like, ‘OK, but just, like, chill out.'” – Brie Larson
“I made three or four different fonts during ‘Short Term 12’ -‘ it was how I’d calm my mind between scenes. I have graph paper and gel pens, and I would do the alphabet: just do ‘a’ over and over again until I got it perfect and then go to ‘b’ and then ‘c’.” – Brie Larson
“For some reason, chewing gum for me gets my brain going.” – Brie Larson
“I hope to direct at some point, but I don’t feel the pressure to rush it. I want to really know what it is that I’m doing.” – Brie Larson
“I was the type of person that would show a PowerPoint presentation about why I should do something versus crying and screaming over it.” – Brie Larson
“I have a sister and her name is Mimsy, like from ‘Alice in Wonderland,’ so we’ve got some strange names in our family.” – Brie Larson
“I think it starts to feel really redundant when you start to do something the same way over and over again. I don’t think it’s good to become so dependent on a certain writing process.” – Brie Larson
“I love storytelling.” – Brie Larson
“For me, the dumbest rule is that you can’t chew gum in school.” – Brie Larson
“I’m so used to swimming with the piranhas. And they’re really not that bad.” – Brie Larson
“I can’t help but trip out about how similar my life is to ‘Room.’ It’s me wanting to stay in my own little bubble and remain anonymous and invisible and at the same time needing to step up to this hand that I’ve been given.” – Brie Larson
“A big producer offered me the part of the pretty girl that waits at home for the guy, and I couldn’t do it. That’s not a story I ever want to tell.” – Brie Larson
“Whenever you want something that you’re not going to get, suddenly the whiney 3-year-old comes out in you.” – Brie Larson
“I watch clothes on other people, and it’s like having a conversation before opening your mouth. For me, clothes come from the mind. They represent what’s happening inside, and as long as they feel honestly like what I’m thinking about and going toward, I’m happy to bounce around and experience different things.” – Brie Larson
“I started acting in second grade – my first role was in the Thanksgiving play. I was the Indian chasing the turkey. All the other mom’s encouraged my mom to get me into acting after that. Also, when I saw ‘The Sound of Music’ at Music Circus, I knew I wanted to act.” – Brie Larson
“I wasn’t perfect and didn’t have it together. I felt alone. So through acting, I decided to be a shapeshifter and with every role become the character instead of being myself. It meant about 1 year of no one knowing I was the same person in every movie.” – Brie Larson
“I think it’s always the moments that are the trials that end up making you become a hero in the end. You’re not a hero unless you’ve gone through the trials. And it makes these moments so much sweeter, so much better. I don’t believe in ‘deserved,’ but I might believe in ‘earned.'” – Brie Larson
“My identity was tangled up in the parts that I had played since I was a child. I would go through my closet and only see audition clothes: Brie looking older, Brie looking ‘6s, Brie looking ‘4s, Brie looking younger in the future.” – Brie Larson
“I was 3 when I told my mom that I knew what my dharma was and that I wanted to be an actor.” – Brie Larson
“We have to choose every day to be active participants. To wake up in the morning and choose this life and make something of it is an incredible thing. Not many living creatures have that option. We have so many opportunities and options – it’s a huge burden, but it’s also the most freeing part of our lives.” – Brie Larson
“I didn’t have a regular school experience and wanted a more abstract way of learning. I started exploring in lots of different creative ways. It gave me the opportunity to travel and play music, so it was good for me.” – Brie Larson
“The idea of singing and dancing throughout my life and finding that bliss is something I wanted to express and explore within myself and hopefully spread that idea to other people.” – Brie Larson
“There isn’t anyone in my life who is going to get upset about how much traveling I have to do or whether or not I’m available for drinks that night.” – Brie Larson
“I love discussing social issues, but I’m not interested in scare tactics. I believe there is a way to bring awareness in tandem with forgiveness and love.” – Brie Larson
“As much as I love acting, I just want to be a healthy person.” – Brie Larson
“I’m not really out in the world all that much. I mean, I live with no phone signal, in the hills surrounded by trees, and I have, like, a mom and two baby deer that come by all the time, and my dogs and the squirrels are in a full-on feud every morning.” – Brie Larson
“When I was younger, watching movies, it felt like everything was glossy and beautiful, and I didn’t really relate to it.” – Brie Larson
“A lot of stuff I was reading in mythology was about how women used to be taught to be wild. The wild woman was an essence that existed in the world. We’re still coming back from many years of us being chiseled out to be identical and quiet.” – Brie Larson
“Each step of the way, I’m learning. When I leave an interview, I learn whether I feel, ‘Oh, that was nice,’ or that made me feel like a little piece of me was taken.” – Brie Larson
“I know what my dharma is: I’m supposed to be an actor.” – Brie Larson
“I’m extremely interested in art, every form of art, but I’m interested in it when it’s good and interested in it when it’s interesting.” – Brie Larson
“I don’t like being able to be reached. I enjoy my solitude. Even people having my phone number seems like too much.” – Brie Larson
“I don’t really have any people in my life who aren’t gypsies.” – Brie Larson
“The hardest pill for me to swallow has been receiving recognition, getting dressed up, going to events. That’s the part that has always terrified me. You can see dozens of photos where I have zero hair and makeup and I’m wearing my own jeans and T-shirt because I was not that interested in that side of it.” – Brie Larson
“I had collages in my bedroom when I was a teenager.” – Brie Larson
“Who would I be in ‘Game of Thrones?’ I love Brienne.” – Brie Larson
“I’m just a person. I’m not anything!” – Brie Larson
“I just really like learning. I have to keep using my brain; otherwise, I get depressed.” – Brie Larson
“The entire process of making a movie is sort of blind trust because, otherwise, all of it just doesn’t make any sense: the fact that we can create any sense of reality or emotion given the arbitrariness of a day.” – Brie Larson
“Sometimes you never fully understand why you are attracted to a project until you get deeper into it.” – Brie Larson
“I can be whoever I want. I can feel however I want.” – Brie Larson
“I’m trying to find new ways to entertain myself because, if my whole world is doing interviews, I might as well put them in places I’ve wanted to see.” – Brie Larson
“Singing is an incredible expression and something that is important to me, but where I feel comfortable with how much I reveal about myself is acting. I enjoy the characters, the costumes, the wigs and just being a chameleon.” – Brie Larson
“As I have had to meet different challenges, I realize I am coming into myself, and whatever I’m wearing is another chance for me to explore a new version of myself.” – Brie Larson
“I know that I’m an actor and I guess I could kind of put on an act, but it takes so much more time to be someone you are not. I feel so much better just being comfortable with myself and hopefully, girls will accept that.” – Brie Larson
“I wasn’t interested in going to the school dances. I wasn’t interested in going to the football games. What I wanted was to be in my room painting my walls and doing weird stuff. That’s what I wanted and I got to do what I wanted, so that, to me, is my high school experience.” – Brie Larson
“I had a tough time fitting in, as I guess most kids do. I felt like school was kind of a grand opportunity to figure yourself out and to figure out what you wanted.” – Brie Larson
“For the most part, I’ve stayed as far away as possible from high school movies. I just don’t find them to be that relatable to everybody? They become like this: ‘Look at that period of time. Isn’t that interesting?'” – Brie Larson
“Sometimes I laugh with my parents, and sometimes I yell at them, and both are therapeutic.” – Brie Larson
“I’ve been so impressed by the material that’s been sent to me, but I don’t think that’s because it’s me.” – Brie Larson
“I love exploring the characters that I play, but the reason I sign on for something isn’t the details of the story but the universal message.” – Brie Larson
“When you audition for something, and you book it, you think, ‘Okay, well, I got the job, and now I actually have to show up on set and do it.’ So, you show up on set, and you don’t know, ‘Am I going to get swallowed up by these people?'” – Brie Larson
“Because we put ourselves in a movie or on TV, then it must mean we want to be completely open to the world. Sometimes, people will run up to you as if this is Disneyland and I’m a character. I understand their point of view, but it’s difficult to explain how terrified it makes me. I’m so nervous.” – Brie Larson
“When I was seven, I had been very vocal about wanting to be an actor. And my mom decided that we would try it out for a couple of weeks and come to L.A. from Sacramento.” – Brie Larson
“The point to have a child is to introduce them to this planet that is in some ways dying and hopefully, this new generation, these new untainted brains, will be the people to fix some of these things that this generation can’t.” – Brie Larson
“I remembered moving from Sacramento to Los Angeles with my mum when I was seven and my sister was three or four.” – Brie Larson
“In this industry, where things change so quickly, I’ve found that having no expectations is the happiest way to go.” – Brie Larson
“There are so many opportunities to learn things online, like between Coursera and Khan Academy and Duolingo. There are these awesome websites that are kind of these little personal Aristotles. There are times when I’m preparing for a role of some kind, and then I’ll focus on a certain subject.” – Brie Larson
“The same myths are told in every culture, and they might swap out details, but it’s still the same story. It’s the same story, but with a different face.” – Brie Larson
“I’ve been really fortunate that I’ve worked with a lot of strong women who are also mothers.” – Brie Larson
“Girls in this industry sabotage one another.” – Brie Larson
“The cool thing about designers is they have very specific points of view, and because my inspiration is always changing, it’s easy to go, ‘This feels right.’ But just because I wear fancy dresses on weekends doesn’t mean in my heart of hearts I’m not a jeans and T-shirt person.” – Brie Larson
“I’m really interested in mythology and folklore. I’m interested in moralities, why we’re here, faith… all of these bigger questions that I think we can place in films that allow us to question and give us a safe place to feel. Those types of questions can pop up in all sorts of different types of films – drama, comedy, action movie.” – Brie Larson
“I was home-schooled, was always very close with my mom, and was very straight-laced and square. I was never the rebellious one, and I never threw hissy fits.” – Brie Larson
“The thing I was always most protective of was my mystery. I worried that if I gave too much of myself, then I would limit the characters I could fall into.” – Brie Larson
“You could put me on a stage in front of 1 person, and I could do a tap dance, but one-on-one was really difficult for me. And it took me most of my life to learn how to work with that anxiety, to embrace and be comfortable with it.” – Brie Larson
“I have no problem talking about how hard it’s been, how broke I’ve been, and how broke I was not even that long ago.” – Brie Larson
“Maybe you’re not perfect, but you’re willing to actually look at yourself and take some kind of accountability. That’s a change. It might not mean that you can turn everything around, but I think there’s something incredibly hopeful about that.” – Brie Larson
“I’m not a gourmet. I just like the planet.” – Brie Larson
“We’re coming into a new generation of women where there’s the submissive woman, and then our reaction to it is, ‘No, I’m a man, too, and I’m masculine,’ and then we fight against it, which isn’t the answer, either.” – Brie Larson
“I can’t tell you how many times I quit only to realize that when the work has been your life, you don’t really have a life without it.” – Brie Larson
“I won’t do things for money. I can’t. So I’ll hold out and say, in my mind, ‘There’s a really cool diner down the street from my house. They make really good pancakes; I’d be happy doing that.'” – Brie Larson
“My parents called me the WB frog. Because when I was onstage, I would do this whole song and dance, but if my parents had a family friend over, I would just go hide in the bedroom.” – Brie Larson
“It takes a lot of time and a lot of energy and a lot of focus and dedication to do a film, and it’s just not worth it if you’re going to be miserable for even a day.” – Brie Larson
“Everything is changing all the time, and I’m not going to stress out and spend my entire time chasing something that ultimately doesn’t exist.” – Brie Larson
“It’s very scary to allow the world to see you.” – Brie Larson
“I went through a phase of eating dinner in the shower because I thought, ‘Why don’t we do that?’ Then I realized, ‘Because it doesn’t make any sense.’ It doesn’t save any time, and you can’t really get into a steak and baked potato when there’s water pouring on you.” – Brie Larson
“It’s really hard to see yourself and to recognize that you are a human being like everybody else. You just think everybody’s judging you.” – Brie Larson
“I didn’t go to prom – I was homeschooled.” – Brie Larson
“I find that the projects I enjoy signing up to at the moment are with a director who’s interested in the script – isn’t completely sure what the movie is and isn’t concerned about it. He’s just interested in going on the journey and discovering it.” – Brie Larson
“I’m just getting my sea legs. The first time you make them laugh, you’re like, ‘Oh my God – that just happened.’ Then you’re like, ‘I made them laugh. I’ve earned this.'” – Brie Larson
“It can get really messy inside my head, and it’s usually just because everybody can get really self-centered at some point. And so what usually keeps me from quitting is that my reasons for quitting are just lame. I wouldn’t want anybody else to talk to myself the way that I talk to myself.” – Brie Larson
“To find the courage to do what I want to do for myself has been hard.” – Brie Larson
“I’m kind of a morbid person. I’m very optimistic, but I also feel like I’m going to die at any moment. I feel very much aware of my mortality. I’m here, and then I’m not.” – Brie Larson
“I think more things are becoming socially acceptable. I think that just by having more media, whether that’s TV or internet, we’re able to see more things.” – Brie Larson
“My number-one website is brainpickings.org. It opens you up to different authors and gives insights into the literary world. Reading about the love letters novelist Vladimir Nabokov wrote to his wife Vera blew my mind. Fascinating.” – Brie Larson
“I don’t live in Los Angeles. I work in Los Angeles, and even that – I audition in Los Angeles; I very rarely film in Los Angeles. I don’t hang out with producers on my off-hours, so I don’t even know what that world is like.” – Brie Larson
“I look at something like ‘Short Term 12,’ and that character has a lot of pain, and I wouldn’t have known how to portray that if I hadn’t experienced pain myself.” – Brie Larson
“All of the movies that last, that you return to, the movies that struck you as a kid and continue to open up to you 1 year later and 1 year after that – those are the movies I want to make. Those things are eternal.” – Brie Larson
“Now I find seriousness to be rather ridiculous.” – Brie Larson
“We’ve all recognized the moment when the world has handed us a situation that is bigger than our youth can handle, and we have to grow up in a second. And when you do get to the other side, all it does is take us to this new level of existence that is more beautiful and more complex and, in some ways, more painful.” – Brie Larson
“I know how to have a conversation, but I’ve never done improv. I’ve never taken improv classes.” – Brie Larson
“I’m learning with the older that I get that some feelings are just universal and that I’m not the only one who hates their hair or their life at times.” – Brie Larson
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