You may not know her name yet, but Brie Larson has been slowly amassing fans for years.
Teens and 20-somethings know her as Envy Adams from Scott Pilgrim, and from 21 Jump Street. Anyone over 30 remembers her as Mark Wahlberg鈥檚 college-student love interest in The Gambler. Indie film fans believe Larson should鈥檝e got an Oscar nod for 2013鈥檚 Short Term 12.
But the actress is about to become a household name thanks to her starring role in Room, based on the gripping best-seller by Emma Donoghue.
鈥淚t鈥檚 already been slowly taken away from me,鈥� Larson says via telephone, of her relative anonymity. 鈥淚t would be really hard if it happened overnight鈥� I never want to lose my ability to be out in the world.鈥�
Being out in the world is what eludes Ma, who, when we meet her, is raising her five-year-old son Jack in a 12-by-12-foot insulated backyard shed. The tale is told from the perspective of Jack (Jacob Tremblay), so it takes the viewer a while to piece together that mother and son are captives, held by a man they refer to as Old Nick.
Director Lenny Abrahamson remains faithful to Donoghue鈥檚 book by letting Jack lead the narrative. Initially all we see of Old Nick is what Jack sees: thin slices from between the slats of the wardrobe in which Ma puts him each night to sleep. Ma is sexually assaulted repeatedly; the only power she has is her refusal to let Old Nick anywhere near Jack.
But when the man (Sean Bridgers) lets slip that he has lost his job and may lose his house, Ma knows he will kill them rather than set them free. She concocts a near-impossible escape plan and tries to undo years of teaching, telling Jacob that there is a world outside Room after all. In that moment, says Larson, 鈥淢a鈥檚 sort of asleep but then she remembers her strength.鈥�
Larson refused all offers of other work and spent seven months prepping for the role. With the help of a nutritionist she put on 15 pounds of muscle in order to convey a mother in a state of perpetual readiness to protect her son. She worked with a trauma counselor 鈥� 鈥淚 was obsessed with getting it right鈥� 鈥� and made a diary for three different stages of her character鈥檚 life, to better connect with Ma. And, says Larson, 鈥淚 grew out all my armpit hair, which I鈥檓 so bummed you never see! That was hard!鈥�
Rape. Confinement. Parenting a child who鈥檚 never felt grass, while trying to keep her own sanity. Playing a character like Ma could have been still more gruelling if not for the levity on set: Abrahamson (who directed the quirky Frank, featuring Michael Fassbender wearing a papier mache head) would occasionally show up 鈥渁s a completely different person,鈥� according to Larson. 鈥淔or a full day he pretended to be the mayor of a small town in Ireland, only interested in getting pictures with the crew!鈥�
Not being sucked 鈥渋nto a very dark place鈥� also required some serious aforethought on Larson鈥檚 part. 鈥淲ith a role like this, you have to have a plan to go in and a plan to get out. I love to scuba dive and I found it to be the perfect metaphor 鈥� you can鈥檛 just strap on a tank and get into water鈥� you have to make a plan.鈥�
She stayed in contact with people from her real life 鈥� her mom, friends 鈥� and her little co-star Jacob 鈥渏ust wouldn鈥檛 put up with a bad attitude, wouldn鈥檛 put up with me crying,鈥� she laughs. 鈥淭he big scene where we鈥檙e reunited and I鈥檓 crying, they yelled 鈥榗ut鈥� and I鈥檝e got snot all over me, and he pushed off of me and said, 鈥業 don鈥檛 get it, you just saw me 10 minutes ago!鈥欌��
And she scheduled a vacation after filming wrapped. 鈥淚 got on a plane to Hawaii and ate all the carbs you could ever want.鈥�
Larson cites Diane Keaton, Anna Karina, and Gena Rowlands 鈥渋n anything that Cassavetes did鈥� as inspirations. Her mother, a frustrated dancer, supported any kind of artistic expression her daughter wanted to indulge in from dance lessons to ice skating. 鈥淢y family didn鈥檛 have very much money growing up but I had a mother with a big imagination, she was a real big dreamer,鈥� she says. Larson鈥檚 artistic tastes are a result of that encouragement. She released an album when she was 16; on a recent shoot she spent her downtime designing new typefaces; she journals every day.
And she won accolades for her first directing effort, a short film called The Arm that went to Sundance. 鈥淚鈥檒l definitely continue to direct,鈥� she says, 鈥渋t鈥檚 such a valuable part of the creative process鈥� Acting and directing is like the difference between driving a car and being a passenger.鈥�
So, being a bit of a multi-potentialite, if she could receive a steady paycheque doing anything, what would it be? 鈥淧ersonally I wish we lived in world where we didn鈥檛 have currency at all, then I wonder who we would all be, really.鈥�
Room opens in theatres Friday.
