Brie Larson covers the latest issue of Harper’s Bazaar. She’s an Oscar winner, she’s booked and busy, and she’s also just a normal woman. A huge part of this cover story is devoted to just that – Brie blends in with a crowd, she’s rarely recognized by fans or paparazzi and that’s just the way she likes it. She doesn’t want to be famous, she doesn’t want to be a movie star, she wants to be able to live her artist’s life and not be bothered. At various points in this piece, it feels like she has a small, delicate chip on her shoulder about it too, like “how dare you expect me to act like a celebrity?” Which is in itself a sort of celebrity privilege, even though I get her larger point. Like, I think Brie is talented and weird (in a nice way) – I also wish she would just understand that she doesn’t have to prove anything to anyone? People aren’t really checking on her either way – she’s free to do whatever she wants and God bless. Some highlights from Bazaar:
She needs anonymity to feed her soul. “I want to be in reality. I love reality. It’s all I want. My biggest fear is to not be in reality. It matters so much to me. I don’t wear super-flashy clothes when I’m out in the world because I want to stay in reality. I’m very good at confrontation in my relationships because I want to be in reality. I want to be in what’s as close to what’s true as possible.”
Her confusing CV: “I’m like, Well, if I said, ‘What would you like for breakfast a year from now?’ you would be like, I don’t know. I just don’t know.” She understands why people like consistency. “It makes them feel like everything is going to be okay.”
Her “boring” YouTube channel: “I wanted to prove that I could put stuff out and it wasn’t going to be like, ‘Oh, my God, I can’t believe she said that’ or ‘I can’t believe she did that.’ ” The past three years have given her perspective. She was grappling with big questions rooted in deep feelings, like “Am I allowed to exist? Am I allowed to just be lovable as I am? Am I worthy of just being here?”
She spent months preparing for ‘Room’ & it took her months to shake it: “You rewire your brain to think a certain way, and then you have to get an exit strategy. I didn’t have one. And it made me feel stupid, because I’m like, ‘This is not my life, but I feel it is. In my head.’ ”
She did ‘Captain Marvel’ even though it scared her: “I was scared of what would happen to me…I was like, ‘What world is this, where these are the choices I have to make as an artist?’” Ultimately, the opportunity warranted the risk, but a billion-dollar franchise generates expectations. Larson is diligent about containing them. “Anytime I feel like I’m being put too much on a pedestal, it’s my job to figure out how to remove that within myself.”
She is incapable of simply watching documentaries as research: “It’s like you’re just being a copy of a copy of a copy. You can’t play a character that’s based off of—I don’t know—watching documentaries and secondhand information.”
Her nerves around turning 30: “I had all the same normal fears as everybody else about being single and being 30…What do I want? How does a family and a future fit in with my weird life?” In October, she turned 33. “That’s such a big place to be in. Certain existential questions come up.”
She owns her choices: “What I always come back to is, I have to live with myself in a way that nobody else has to. The choices I make, I have to live with, whether I regret them or not. Artistically, I always understood that. But for some reason, as me, it’s been totally different. You can follow me around on set and be like, ‘Wow, she really knows what she’s doing.’ And then I go home and I’m like, ‘I don’t know what I’m doing.’ I get insecure, and I think I’m not enough, or I have a hard time asking for help or speaking up for myself in relationships.”
She’s open to whatever. “I don’t have a next job. I don’t have a home. I don’t have a partner. I don’t have a plan. I’m just completely open,” she says. She’d like to have kids, though “how that happens, when that happens, in what capacity—I don’t know,” she says. She’s enjoying losing track of time (“I start to get back into What do I like to eat? What time do I wake up? What time do I go to sleep?”), exploring the world, going to art museums, and replenishing her creativity. Without this, she couldn’t take another job. “I have nothing left to give unless I go through this period of adventure.”
There’s a lot of talk about her YouTube channel, where she just hangs out and does crafts and talks about video games or whatever. She’s not doing that to be an influencer or to tell “her side” of fame or anything like that. She seems to just use her channel as another creative outlet to be off-beat and do crafts. For an actress, it honestly doesn’t feel performative? Like, I genuinely think she does all this off-beat stuff because she enjoys it, not because she’s trying to “change her image” or “make money.”
Cover & IG courtesy of Harper’s Bazaar.
For some reason I thought she was married?? I used to absolutely ship her and fell off of her a bit when she started putting out recipes for like “diet” cookies on her channel (triggering for me), but I still really appreciate her vibe
I thought also she was with someone, engaged or something but maybe it’s over
She was with a musician when she was going through her Oscar season and I thought they got engaged shortly afterwards. Guess that’s over?
it’s nice to see she’s not conforming to the big movie PR expectations
I was going to say something similar.
I may catch flack for this but if she craves anonymity, isn’t creating a YouTube channel and doing high-profile interviews when you don’t have any projects to promote counterintuitive of that?
Other well-known celebrities achieve anonymity by doing their job and pr when they have to then disappearing until their next project. Shrug.
I,100%, agree with you and I like Brie… I don’t understand her approach and she isn’t the only one: Alicia Vikander and Ana de Armas also complained about celebrity and what it entails.. they are given big contracts with LV and others,Oscar nominations and Oscars,still promoting themselves with magazines covers and social media but don’t want it? Why are they doing all of this if they are rejecting it?I don’t understand what they are trying to say,it’s too conflicting to me or I am too simpleminded… I prefer ppl who assume it’s part of the job and don’t complain about it like Jlo.
@SEAN
I completely agree with you. Everytime I read interviews or things she’s said I just feel like she doesn’t really know who she is and what she wants to do in life. Like, there’s this underlying craving for attention with her, and simultaneously, she talks about how she wants anonymity. She seems genuinely confused about who she is and what she really wants.
She has The Marvels coming out soon, so that’s what she’s promoting. YouTube channels are also a lot about community, which may be difficult for her to have consistently if she’s moving around a lot. So creating a community where she gets to share interests with others doesn’t seem the same as seeking publicity.
@Lione: “She seems genuinely confused about who she is and what she really wants.”
Exactly. Sometimes, it’s better to just relax and enjoy life right where you’re at. In your early 30s, that’s still very young and at a time where you’re continuing to learn and to mature. Why not just be grateful for achieving huge success, think about giving back, and seek to experience all that you can while you have time, health, wealth, and your choice of work projects? Oh well, every personality is different in how they react to huge success.
“I don’t have a plan, I don’t have a job” – being able to say this without anxiety shows a tremendous amount of privilege.
She sounds like every other ‘too-cool’ artiste who don’t want to admit they took a Marvel job for the money. She sounds boring, frankly.
I like Brie. She’s one of the few celebrities I follow on Instagram. The ordinariness of her life amuses me. However, aside from,Marvel, she also does car commercials and was involved in that crypto currency mess. She can claim she has no future job, but the jobs she has taken have set her up for life. She may want to feel like a struggling artist, but nothing is further fro the truth.
Being an actor is a job, so it doesn’t need to be said that it’s done for money (even when the pay isn’t that much comparatively).
Plus, I’m always reminded of what Lucy Liu said about “f–k you money”, which is taking jobs that pay well so when you’re in a bad work situation, you can walk away.
Of course it’s a privileged position, in an industry where white actresses are washes up at 30.
I do not understand why they chose that photo for the cover.
Yes!! Something looks off, like they photoshopped her head onto her body or something.
Came here to say that. Awful cover I don’t want to see her boob hanging out. They did her dirty. And her instagram actually sounds like she has a paid social media person doing it – it just doesn’t sound like her authentic voice a lot of the time. So I’d that is true she must care enough about her public “image”
I’m more confused by what’s going on at the waist. If they were going to purposefully show a glimpse of her underwear, maybe they should have picked a style that didn’t look so much like an adult diaper.
It was deliberate because 1) they’re Dior briefs and 2) they’re in a second picture with her in a different outfit.
^^ Yeah, I don’t like the overdone put-on gangsta street-cred look on Brie. It just adds to the impression of her being confused about who she is in the real world. Maybe her award-winning role in “Room,” did a number on her mentally. She even makes a reference to having trouble shaking that character after filming wrapped.
I can understand that she isnt the type to plan her life far in advance and has broken up with that Elijah guy, but is the headline even true? Doesnt she have the fast franchise, avengers movies, and the upcoming Lessons in chemistry as a job? Does she not own that house? And no one plans breakfasts a year in advance?
The Fast franchise, Marvels, and Lessons all wrapped/filmed last year, so she may not have anything she’s CURRENTLY working on in 2023. Most of those actors rent their homes (or use long term AirBnB), as real estate in LA is extremely expensive.
The breakfast thing was a joke.
But her character will for sure be used in the upcoming team up Marvel movies.
Used but unlikely to be a main character. Meaning she’s part of the Avengers, under contract and will happily appear for a spot of filming and a paycheck, but not necessarily the main draw.
She’s based in LA. She owns her home. And most actors, once they get money buy a house. And buy a few more for investment. She’s got Marvel money now, she can afford 1-3mil house.
Supposedly she owns multiple homes, which makes the “I don’t have a home” comment even weirder for me. I feel like she’s trying way, way too hard. I’m surprised everyone else is receiving this interview so well.
I like Brie and I like that she is pissing off so many incels but she is also a weirdo, and this interview is bonkers
She’s only 33???? I truly don’t mean this in a critical way, but I thought she was at least 40. Or pushing 40.
I’m pushing 40 😭
^^ @Typical Virgo, young people pushing 30 tend to worry about that milestone. Then the next milestone is 40. LOL! Word to the wise: Relax and enjoy your 30s. Better yet, don’t worry about the numbers. Just be present in your life, no matter the stage and phase you are at.
Brie said about being 33: “That’s such a big place to be in. Certain existential questions come up.”
I say look forward to real reality hitting you in the face at ages 50 and 60 when life changes and you may suddenly be in the position of taking care of one or both parents, and losing loved ones. Existential questions of mortality really swarm then. Enjoy life and embrace wherever you’re at and whatever happens to you. Give praise for blessings.
Miss “got no home, no job and no money”, please, take several sits. She isn’t only boring but also full of b.s and my God she got like not 0% personality, she is at like -70%.
Yep, this profile can be seen as angsty, artsy posturing. She should just make hay while the sun shines, without feeling the need to explain or complain, eh. Just do, just be! Especially when you have the time, the resources, and few constraints.
I liked her very much as Captain Marvel, but fans really disliked her as that character (sexism, I’m totally sure). She’s a good actress.
Oh honey, you may want to be boring and normal, but if you are a Hollywood star and a Marvel character no less, you are not and never will be. That is the real reality you need to face.