Happy Sad Confused - Brie Larson

Episode Date: November 9, 2015

The amazing and talented Brie Larson joins Josh this week to talk about the process of shooting her latest powerful drama-thriller Room, crying at the end of Chopped, and what she's learned from her experience as a child actor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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and enter the code Happy to save $3 on your new subscription today. Guys, welcome to another edition of Happy, Say I Confused. Yes, it's that time of the week again. The time when you get to hear me talk to very, hopefully much more interesting people than myself, the best and the brightest in terms of actors and filmmakers. And that certainly fits the bill for our guest this week. The amazingly talented Brie Larson, very psyched that she is on the show this week. She is starring in Room, which is in select theater. Seek It Out.

This one is a special one. And Bree, don't want to jinx it? I don't have the power to jinx it, but I'm just going to say it. She's very likely going to be in the Academy Awards conversation, and justifiably so. But before I get into more about Brie Larson, let me say hello to Joel. Hey, Joel. Hello. Joel was joining us for the entry.

You've heard him on past intros. Sadly, Sammy couldn't make it this time, nor could Michael. But Joel's going to play all three parts. That's true. This is just for the listener, this is Joel. Oh, yeah. It's good. You got it down.

So, yeah, so let's see. First context on Brie Larson. Always good to give context of these conversations. You'll hear a lot of conversation when she comes in about our surroundings, ironic for a film called Room, because I tape this in our old MTV Diggs at kind of like a barren, weird office. So a lot of humor was derived from that. That will hopefully make sense in the course of the conversation. And beyond that, I just want to say that Room, which we talk, of course, a little bit about in the conversation, is a really powerful and exceptional piece of work. It's basically, you know, I don't want to ruin too much.

The trailer kind of already gives away a bit, but it's basically about Brie's character and her son. They are being held captive in, yes, a room for several years of their lives. And developments occur, and then their lives are opened up a bit. But it really is a tremendous performance for Bree, who has kind of been, I think, on a lot of people's radar for a while, thanks to short term 12. And then, you know, things like train wreck this year. She was in 21 Jump Street. Scott Pilgrim, Scott Pilgrim, thank you, yeah, of course. But this one is really a showcase for her.

And she's off next to, she's actually, I think, by now shooting the new King Kong movie with Yes, with her Tom Hiddleston. And so this is an exciting time for her. So really thrilled that she came by. And as you'll hear in the conversation, she's, I think I said this in a previous intro with you guys. She reminded me in some ways of Shaly and Woodley. And it's no surprise that they're good friends in that they're both kind of cut from the same cloth. They're very, I don't know, they're very smart. A, they're very smart, obviously, very talented, but, you know, idiosyncratic in the best possible way.

I thought you were going to say, she reminded you of the girl that you have locked in your room. That's just not appropriate. It's not cool. I haven't seen the movie, so I'm assuming it's a lap riot. Oh, it's so funny. Stay for the blooper reel at the end. No, check out room and check out this conversation. Beyond that, we should mention, of course, always want to encourage you guys to check out our shenanigans on MTV after hours, the latest one, which we're very proud of.

of with Mr. Will Forte, comedy genius, I'm going to say. He's pretty amazing. Last Man Earth is the funniest show on TV right now. I'm obsessed with that one. Yeah, he's great in it. So check out Last Man on Earth and check out this after hours that we did with him and Allison Williams' previous. Actually, both have been guests on the podcast. So a lot of fun. They really went for it. It's a sketch, I guess, called Celebrity Uber. And you can figure out what that means, I think, from the title. And it's really funny. We're very proud of it. So check it on MTV. TV News' YouTube page and some really cool upcoming after hours. We're actually taping one right after this and a couple more next week.

So there's some really, really fun ones coming up. Can you say who? Oh, I don't want to jinx it because until it's literally like shot, you never know. At the last second someone gets sick, I get, who knows? What do you have a clue? Well, I will say they are all, pretty much all previous after hours guests. one in particular is one of the most recognizable human beings on the planet and probably I think it's been in more after hours than any other person made besides Mark Wahlberg.

Yeah, Mark might be number one. Speaking of which, we might have something cooking with Mark as well. That's something you, Joel, news to Joel, we have to talk about. Oh, okay, fair enough. Marky Mark might be back in the mix. Anyway, this is, we thought this could really juice up the intro. I've got mail on my desk. This is kind of a tradition.

This is a secret Josh Horowitz, Joel Hanock tradition. what is it Joel so Josh gets a lot of free swag in the mail promo items that makes it sound much more exciting than it is well that's what it is well that's what but they always come in different size and shape boxes and envelopes so every time I come in here there's always a pile of gifts that Josh doesn't rejects and then I gladly open well let's see around the office there are some of those things like first actually speaking of last man on earth I have it here in my hands of the last man on earth um volleyball that's right surprise well it's weird because sometimes the promo items make sense like that's a that's a prop

or like a prop that's approximated from the show but for instance you have a lot of hot sauce right from top five but that actually that is tied into the movie too doesn't it okay well the american american ultra there's just a ramen right yes they sent you a pack a ramen as a promo anyway yeah what really it's not it's less about that but and this might be the case with some of the stuff that you're about to open there's only two packages it's not very exciting but um often They're FedEx, they're overnighted, and there's a ton of material, and there's, like, nothing in the package. And it's just, this is what government waste is. This is what, this is what, this is what, this is what, this is what, this is getting too political.

This is what the president should be tackling is promotional item waste. Wow. All right, here we go. This is just a plain manila envelope just to Josh Horowitz, MTV. Okay, here we go. That's all it said. It's like, it's like Santa Claus in North Pole. Just find it open.

I'm going to throw away the card as you do. Oh, this is actually really good. This is. these are screeners these are pretty good screeners this is unprecedented really nine times out of ten the stuff I get is shit

and this is we're in awards season so I sometimes get some movie screener sent me Earl me and Earl and the dying girl very good movie which is also I believe on Amazon Prime so he don't need that screener useless to me okay mistress America oh that's good too Gregorwig Lola Kirk

and far from the maddening crowd yes box search It's madding crowd. I made the same mistake. You want to add the in there, don't you? Yeah. That's really embarrassing. Let's cut that up.

That's real thanks, Fox Searchlight. That's really exciting. Those are three solid views. Oh, I was really hoping for something crappy that we can laugh about. Instead,

I feel like I'm the asshole who got really cool shit now. I know. Now it's like, oh, stop sending me free stuff. No. Oh, this one's a good one. This is a big FedEx envelope.

Okay. This is plain old manila. This costs a lot of money probably to send. What is it? You're asking to be an asshole. Really? It's a hobby. It's a Hobbit

Blu-ray This looks like a premium package shoe You just got four free movies There's also an EPK on beta tape Which that's Means nothing to anybody but us But I promise you that usually it's shit

Well that's exciting Sorry guys Don't hate me for getting Occasional decent stuff in the mail Wow That went to that happened Well, anyway, as always, hit me up on Twitter. Tell me what mail you hope I receive and what guests you want to hear on HappySag Confused.

Check out MTV After Hours on MTV News's YouTube page. And I hope you enjoy this conversation with the extremely talented. And yes, Oscar contender, Brie Larson. Enjoy me. Feel for to clap. What's all of this mean? I have no idea. So here's what you need to know.

We should close the door also. Thank you, Lindsay. This is not my office. I'm squatting here because my office is downtown. It looks like a squatter's office. Right. So don't judge me from this office because this is the sketchiest, weirdest office ever. Right.

It looks like you were very low in this company. I feel like you were judging me when you walked in. I thought I was like with the head of empty. It's not worth his clothes. Two barren hangers. And, oh, do you want to see the one mug that's here? this is what I found an hour ago when I walked in

No For the benefit of the listeners Number one sexy lady Number one If you do well on this podcast You can walk out with this spray I can't take this sexy lady's mug I don't think the sexy lady I think has vacated

This office clearly she's up Sexy lady's not here I think she's gone Do you think she's not feeling so sexy Because she's not in this office anymore This office screams sexy right It could have been It's got disinfecting wipes

It's got... What else am I saying? A case of batteries. Two pillows. 2015 calendars. This is a recent... Someone who's recently moved out of here. She was very neat when she left.

Well, sexy lady, number one. Sexy lady, this one goes out to you. We're thinking of you. This is a dedication. This is Casey Kasim. Dedicated straight to you. Thank you for coming over today. Thank you.

Am I at the right level of this microphone? I feel the need to sort of manhandle it. I want to sort of like... Do whatever you need to do. Get into it. I know your background. Microphone professional. Congratulations on the movie.

Thank you. We'll get the serious stuff out of the way. And so I can earnestly say, you killed it in this movie. It's an amazing piece of work. So is this an enjoyable time? Because you've been running ragged. I see you everywhere. You're talking to a lot of people.

It's all for a good cause. It's a great movie. It's a great performance, as you should. But what's your level of sanity right now as you sit here? Is it taking a toll? I can't tell. I've discovered. So I'd say here, here are all my levels.

Tired, but happy. Okay. Never really feeling hungry, but know that I should. So every so often I just sort of shove something in my mouth. Right. No time to think about myself whatsoever. No idea what's going on internally in my head, not really in touch with much. And so in talking with my friends who have newborns, I say that this is pretty much the same experience.

Yeah. And yet the conundrum is, as you say, you know, you're not thinking about, like, the vital things that fuel you on a day-to-day basis normally, yet you're talking endlessly and have to be effortlessly profound and interesting, which you seem to be in every interview. I'm a little intimidated by watching your conversations. I feel like your IQ far surpasses mine. I doubt it. No, we should test it at the end. How will we? You got an IQ test?

Don't we keep an IQ test? We should take some sort of quiz at the end of it. This is like, which spice girl are you? Which spice girl do you think you are? Well, it depends. I mean. Which spice girl are you feeling like today? Today I'm feeling like tired spice.

But they never, ever talked about tired spice. It was probably scary spice. Right. Because she was so tired, but they just called her scary. Because she was really just very tired. I call her tired. She'll hit you. She is so tired.

She is scary. But has this had been an enjoyable thing? I guess this is a good thing. Of course. be very proud of and you're getting insane notices as the film is. Are you finding that there's endless stuff to talk about? Are you finding that it's one of those that you can actually find new stuff to say? No, there's a lot of stuff to talk about with it because the movie is so metaphorical.

Oh my God. Is that Lady Gaga on the wall? I just got terrified by that. That seems to be some treatment of, no, I don't think it is Lady Gaga. Oh, okay. It's, I think it says Bianca Del Rio takes one. Oh, okay. I don't know who Bianca Del Rio.

Okay, well, she was right in my eyesight and suddenly she was just glaring at me. Is that number one sexy lady? Yes, that was Bianca's office. Oh, Bianca. Well, the movie is so metaphorical that there's so much stuff in it. Yeah. So, every time I talk with somebody, they feel very much like, so the movie's about this, right? Right.

And you go, yeah, for sure. And then they go on this whole tangent about it. And then I've talked about it a hundred different ways, which is good. Well, when you see, I'm curious when you see the finished product of a movie, is it always a surprise to you? Does it always feel like no matter what it felt like on set, it's got to still feel like a different thing? Yeah, totally. So what it would feel like in this case? The first time I watched it?

Yeah. My reaction's not interesting the first time I watched them. It feels like nothing. It's like you just are sort of sitting there. I have zero emotion. I'm like, oh, oh, oh, there's the back of my head. There's a front of my head. There's a side of my head.

Oh, that's what my nose looks like. Okay. well oh the movie's over and you have zero emotion about it and so it was very surprising luckily I was there with like there was like five other people who watched it with me for the first time and they were all crying and so I was able to go are they crying because it's bad my career's over or are they crying because it really moved them because I really just had zero emotional connection to it because it's still just like a series of images in front of me that don't make sense because I know so much of the process. But after watching it maybe like four

times then I cried when I watched it. Suddenly it sort of, I could see it outside of, I realized that it takes a long time to not watch it through Ma's eyes for me. Sure. It takes a while before you can actually watch it and I can have my own like Brie can have a relationship to the characters and to the movie. Is a, are you a crier generally in film? Yeah. Yeah. I enjoy a good Cry. Do you? It's a cathartic thing. You like,

you seek it out. Because my wife is the same way. I feel like she watches a lot. I don't seek it out. Yeah. But it does happen. Like, Rickett Ralph cried. Inside out,

cried. So animation. My dog skip. Cried. Okay. Animals and animation. These are your go-to. Those are major tear.

And if there's an animated. I've cried at the end of Chopped. It's a cooking competition show? Oh, you just made such a confused face that I was like, you must not know what chopped is by that face. But the face was really. Really, you cried at the end of Chaps?

Well, I think, to be fair, I think others might share my reaction. I've never watched an episode of Chopped. I'm familiar with what it is. Some of them, they are very underdog stories. Okay. And then there was this whole competition they did with kids, and it really tore me up. Because the kids would cry when they would get cut, and it just, they were so sweet. They're like nine years old.

And I just, it made me cry. I cried every time one of those kids got chopped. Is there, what I've heard you talk about? you know, this film, and I feel like a lot of people assume that the answer to a question like, oh, it must have been brutal every day and making it, I'm the subject matter, so, is so wady, like, it's, yeah, it was a dark and twisty world that we were living in. Do we want to embrace that? Just go down that, that why? Let me, let me take, can you add, do you add, like, like rain? Yeah, it's raining. Oh, my God, do you hear that rain,

and there's lightning crackles? And then you're, whoa! And that's what it was like to film room. Actually, no, it wasn't. It actually wasn't at all. No, no. It was actually a lot of jokes. Lenny, our director, is very good at impressions. And sometimes on especially difficult days, he would just come to work as a completely different person. So he would just show up, my favorite character was he would show up as sort of the mayor of this small town in Ireland, who was very interested in just getting photos for the local newspaper. And so he would just act. It's a very specific backstory. It's amazing. It's amazing. And so his entire, the whole day, he would just act like, who cared about? making the movie he just was trying to find people to take photos with him for the local paper that's the seems like i admittedly i've not i've been on a few film sets but this doesn't see my typical behavior for a director no and he's very sane i should say i didn't say i haven't said any of the wonderful intelligent things about him so anybody who's out there listening one this

sounds like you were working with a crazy person but it was very funny because it's the only way to really break it up like humor became such a necessary form of communication or in the making of this movie because otherwise it's just fall down a sad sad hole it just yeah it just gets sad and we're also shooting the dead of winter in toronto which is automatically a sad blizzards sad blizzards don't equal big time fun and i was on like a diet so i was really having protein shakes like protein shakes in a blizzard that's depressing right were you constantly thinking about the food that you were depriving yourself i would have been just thinking about the cheeseburger

yeah the cheeseburger in paradise yeah that you couldn't have I went through phases where I did and I didn't I mean there was something to the monotony of it that I sort of liked and then I would feel angered and trapped by oh I'm just like in room

I feel trapped by my food options right and you also came away with this it seems with a bestie for life and in sweet Jacob who's the best right he's the absolute best what would have happened if you showed up on set and it was a demon child. I don't even wanna talk about that. That's like, if multiverse theory exists,

I don't wanna live in whatever, I don't wanna live in that alternate reality at all. That could have been horrible. Or what about a kid who like doesn't really wanna be an actor? And it's just like, no, I don't want to. You can see that being something where the parents like, no, no, really, no, he really does like it. He just, you know, he just.

He just, he loves to act. He loves to act. He does all those scenes when he's at home. It's just he gets nervous on set. No, he lucked out that we found this kid who, like, really takes the craft seriously and really wants to do well and really enjoys it. It has fun doing it and thinks that every aspect of it is really fun and exciting and would make people clap after the end of good takes and was just brought this incredible energy to it.

I feel you should start to apply that to your future work and ask the crew to clap for you after he's sake. It's just not the same for an adult. Can you imagine? I do if I like let's pick out oh that's his thing that's his thing he does his big like imagine like the end of like the shot the famous shashank redemption scene right and afterwards it was like all right come on hello that was pretty good it looks totally different for an adult than when an adorable eight year old does it you're like yay so does that does that reinspire you do you need reinspiring like are you can you get a little jaded as an actor on set having done it for a while or does it I still think it's really fun, but it's easy to take it very seriously. But you have to. I mean, there has to be a certain level of tension around what it is that you're doing, because I think that works for it.

You want that little bit of like, is this going to work? I don't know. Let's like keep trying to find it. If you feel like, oh, I'm great. And this movie's great. I can just sort of like go lays down the river. Then it's not really going to work. You kind of need that friction.

Right. But you can also become completely consumed in these mundane daily tasks of being an adult where we really get so focused on something feeling like it's the end of the world. And Jacob is there going like, no, it's not. So if you're living and breathing this for a while, which I know the prep period was a long time and for the shoot, which I assume wasn't that long a shoot or was. 49 days is a long time. Yeah, that is.

Okay. So what are you doing in between shots when you're going through your train? Are you, like, decompressing and doing something totally different? Are you able to? Are you... Well, part of my exploration and my agreement in doing this movie was that I wasn't going to go back to my trailer in between takes and that I was going to hang out with Jacob all the time so that we were always in the zone.

And part of that was so that Jacob didn't have to worry so much about switching on and off or feeling confused. Right. And we could also have the camera rolling maybe at times. when he didn't notice to catch certain things that maybe we couldn't catch if there's the formal sort of slate comes in, says action, and then we say cut. It's a little easier. We could sort of roll and start a little bit earlier and kind of ramp up into scenes a little bit. And so I agreed to that. And it was in a wonderful agreement because I enjoyed hanging out with him all the

time. So having acted throughout your life starting when you were pretty young, does it give you a different perspective and working with a young actor? Do you feel like you were more protective or knowing the things you liked or didn't like when you were probably treated as a kid actor? Sort of. I think the main thing that I thought about was I remembered the times that I was talked down to and I remember the times that I was respected. Even at like seven, eight years old, I really, really loved acting. I took it very seriously and I wanted people to take me seriously. I didn't want to be talked down to. I didn't want to be tricked. I wanted to be an active participant in the creative process. Right. And once I met Jacob and realized

that he's the same way that he is a real force. He's an artist. He's a new at the form. And so he's learning how to be a better artist, but he still won. So that was important to me that he always felt like he could speak up, that he had to say, that if something didn't feel right, that that was valued, and that he was just like a, we called each other coworkers. Right. And. Well, kids, I mean, yeah, kids really respond to that. If they're being treated, they get the, oh, I have a seat at the table too. I'm, I'm an adult. I get to be, act like an adult. Sure. They feel great. Yeah. But I think a lot of my, my love for him or my understanding of him if I do have any.

I mean, it feels like I do, but who knows, he would probably be like, no, you don't. Spot on Jacob impression. Yeah, pretty close. I was old, I'm oldest grandkid. I was a designated babysitter. I grew up, I mean, from my two younger cousins who, from when they were born, up until they were like 15 years old, either lived in the same house as us,

or next to us for most of, like, my whole life. So I grew up around kids and I loved it. I think they're the best. I think they're the most fun. And I have a huge imagination and I'm always coming up with some sort of crafty, crazy idea, especially when I was like younger and at summertime. I'd always be the one getting the neighborhood kids together and like building something, you know, building a whole playground out of cardboard boxes or trying to get everybody to make a movie

and forcing everybody to, like, play certain characters that I had written them. And kids are just so down to play. That's all they want to do. And there's no, they're not self-conscious. Right. There's no fear. And so you can sort of get them to play with you. And then you get the opportunity to be in this world that's so much more fun than the adult world.

I mean, seriously. Yeah, totally. So what you were, you were homeschooled, correct? For some of it. For some of it. Okay. Did that impact? So, I mean, it sounds like you were able to socialize in a relatively normal way, then, if you're the gang leader in terms of, like, motivating kids to get together and do crazy, crazy stuff.

Did it feel like, were you wanting a different experience when you were homeschooled or did it feel like, oh, yeah, this is, this is cool. I'm getting the best of all possible worlds. Well, I was, so I went to public school up until, like, junior high. So it was really, it was really just, like, half, I think it was like half of a year of junior high because I was doing a TV show and then high school, I was homeschooled. So most of my life, I was in public school. And you kind of missed the most awkward, potentially painful school years, actually. Really, my reason for doing it was just the district, the high school that was in my district. I just, I got handed a bunch of teachers that I didn't like.

And I didn't, I was different. I didn't want to wear Abercrombie and Hollister, and I would get picked on. And I tried to join, awkwardly join the cheer school. and I was really awkward and couldn't and all of the cool people got in. And even the girls that were like my neighbors that were sort of my friends when we were in elementary school, like they became cool and popular. And I had nobody. So because I felt in between and awkward and then on top of it,

my interests were unlike anybody else that I knew. And I had been acting for many years at that point. It got more difficult once you have, you know, if you have one teacher, it's very easy to communicate with them and be like, you know what, I booked this job, and I'm going to be out for a little bit. You've got whatever, seven or eight, and they're all sort of, at least at this school,

they were just like cranky. And they're like, who do you think you are? And you're doing what with your life? No. It's a tardy or it's an absent. And if you're absent three times, then you fail the class. And it's like, well, I'm either going to fail school

or I'm homeschooled. So I chose that. And it was the best decision. because I got to take subjects that I was really interested in. And I got to do it at my own pace, which at my pace was extremely fast. And I graduated in like six months. I was done by the time I was 15. So clearly homeschooling works if there's a naturally inquisitive, not so lazy person.

If you like to learn. I mean, my issue had nothing to do with learning. And I still, I love it. Like, I love taking classes. I'm fascinated by like, so in hearing you talk about, you know, feeling kind of different and not being, you know, the Abercrombie and Fitch and Hollister and that kind of person, which you clearly weren't and aren't, for kid actors, for teenage actors, like most of the material you get feels very down the middle, very kind of homogenized sitcoms, kind of, you know, banal stuff. A lot of it is. And I'm always fascinated by, like, people like you and people, some of your peers who I think you consider your friends, people like Shay, and Kristen Stewart, who I've talked to a lot over the years, who clearly kind of marched to a similar drummer of their own and yet had to kind of negotiate that period of time where probably most of the stuff you're offered is not the cool indie Todd Solan's movie, which

you know just did. It's commercials, it's sitcoms, and that kind of thing. Was that something even at a young age that you were like, you know, rebelling against? Were you not happy with the kind of stuff you were doing? Or was it kind of your mindset back then? I was completely dissatisfied with it. But the other saving grace, I guess, was although I would audition for some of these things, I'd never book them.

Like, I couldn't. I mean, one of the worst feedback I ever got in my life where, like, the cast director was just livid and was like, I will never let bring in my office again was for Twilight. Like, I couldn't, it just that type of stuff didn't compute with me. Like what happened in that room that, like, made it so awkward and horrendous? Well, there were times that, because I'm very, interested in the emotional honesty of things, which at times looks kind of ugly and at times looks scary and it's not polished. And so there are many times where I would audition for something

and I would come from, you know, for me, a very, you know, honest place. But it's completely not what they're looking for for that type of material. And then you find out later that like Vanessa Hudgens got the part and you're like, oh, that's why that they looked at me like I was a crazy person. But I was always very steadfast in what it was that I was interested in. And I felt like I'm going to tell the truth as best as I know it. And you eventually start to understand that the projects find you that meet up with that. Maybe not on your timetable or whatever. Yeah, it takes as long as it takes, right? And for me, it took like 20 years. But I'm really glad. I'm really glad that, you know, the jobs always ultimately end up going to the person who's supposed to tell that story.

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Now back to the show. Did you ever feel like you had to take jobs for the wrong reasons or just to kind of stay in it just to keep your name out there? Trying to think, no, because for so long, for a lot of the time I was still a kid, so I was living at home, so I had no bills to pay. and then by the time I moved I moved out I was on a TV show and then I was able to sort of like cruise on that I mean it was like three years of that show there were definite moments where I hit like my last dollar yeah I mean even during short term 12 I was like down to the limit like could not no exaggeration like we would all of us on short term 12 we would we would have our lunch and then the lunch lady would pack it all up into to-go boxes and that would be our dinner. Right. And we were living off of the chips of craft service and the whatever was extra at lunch. I mean, that's, that was a very low point.

I was e-bang stuff for Christmas presents and so that I could keep paying my rent. Like, it was, it was real. There was a lot of tears in my kitchen with my mom going, you know, I think this is it. You know, it's a very odd thing when I, you have a dream at six years old and you keep going. But as many times as you're told, no, if you have any sort of shred of intelligence or sense of reality, at some point you say to yourself, is this dream realistic? Right. Am I completely delusional? Am I wasting my life away?

Am I supposed to go back to college? Am I just ignoring the signs? Yeah. Like, exactly. At what point is it a sign or is it just, you know, that thing that's just around the corner, which is what a lot of people tell? tell you, I know it's a no today, but it's just around the corner. And you're like, well, how far away is the corner? How long are these blocks? Are you talking 10 yards? You know what I mean? It's like, oh, it feels like, it feels so painful at the time and very, very confusing because it's not

tangible. It's not like being an athlete. Like I just would have dreamed of like, oh, why wasn't I a runner? So easy. You just go, you know, I want to be the fastest runner. So I'm just going to keep running until those numbers go down and get shorter and shorter and shorter until I'm number one. Easy. Actors, there's none of that. Was there one role in particular that jumps out along the way that you felt like if you had gotten it was going to change your life? Like, you pinned all your hopes and dreams. Like, this is going to, oh, this is it. This is what's going to change my life. I mean, so many times. Most of the time, though, it never ended up being anything. But ironically, the one that was deeply, deeply painful was, you know,

United States of Terra because I tested for it and didn't get it the first time. And I fainted when I got the phone call that I didn't get it because I was so sure that that was what I was that was my, what I was supposed to do, that was my hero. And Kate Gregson was me. I was like, how is this possible? So how did it come back around? They picked up the show and then like, I don't know, whoever knows that much long, maybe six months later or something. They decided that they wanted to recast. Got it. But instead of just offering me the job, they made me re-audition all over again.

So I had to go through like five or six more auditions and then screen test again. And for those who don't know what that means, it basically means you go into like a very dramatic boardroom where 30 people are at an extremely long infinity boardroom table. And it's a con, you know, United States Terror was a comedy. And they purposely don't laugh so that you have no gauge as to what it is that's going. on and you do your material and you have to sit there with they you sign a contract so all four there's like four of us auditioning you sign your contract ahead of time so you're very feel so close to getting the job and then you have to sit there all day so you do one audition for the studio

with these four say four girls you go in you each go in nobody laughs they make you they make you wait an hour and then you have to wait to see if you get to like the next level and they usually Can I go in again and not make anybody laugh, please? So they go and call people and you're either cut or you get to go to the next one. And so then you show up with the next thing, either the next day or a couple hours later. And there's like you and one other person. And then you go through the process again. And then you can find out an hour.

You can find out in a week. You can find out in a month. It's awful. I was like sure that I was like going to develop an ulcer after these situations. I mean, it's just torture. Absolutely torture. Is there also an element that flux with your brain a little bit in that like, you're competing then with,

probably you're going up for a lot of the roles with friends of yours, against friends of yours. Sometimes, but a lot of the time it wasn't ironically. Yeah. There was, I can't recall, yeah, I can't recall many times where it was like, we're sitting next to each other. There's been times where like I've heard over the phone,

oh, it's between you and someone else like, I've many times been between me and Shay. And then that's awesome. I mean, really, we just like send each up high five emails going, great. Well, we know it's going to be good either way. So is, is Shay, for instance, someone's brain that you pick for, like, you know, you're about to embark on like a crazy, ginormous movie, the King Kong movie, right? And she obviously has had to navigate and navigated it very well in this kind of franchise versus like, and then to her credit, she,

she's always said divergent speaks to her also just as much as like the indie, Gregoraki stuff, et cetera. Do you find that that's something you're wrestling with right now and you need to kind of lean on friends that have gone through it as you're getting opportunities like? I have. Shea's a big one and actually Emma Stone. I've been talking with her recently and she's amazing.

It's really exciting to be around so many like women that are doing the same thing as me, around the same age as me and no one's catty? Right. I think it's such an interesting thing because I do think that the way that the media perceives us, especially when it's around awards and stuff, it's like, it's this versus that. Right. You know, who beat out the other person and who's going to win this and who wore it better. Right.

But the reality is we're laughing about it because none of us care. And we are super excited. Like, for instance, like Alicia Vakander, the fact that she's also in the mix. like we can't stop hugging each other going thank God we're doing this together although some people look at it and they're like well this is sort of you know isn't this a horse race

no it's a lot of time spent in fancy dresses like talking with people and what better than to have a girl that totally gets what's going on that will clink a glass of champagne with you and sit next to you at a dinner table like there's just nothing better than that

so there's actually a huge sense of community and camaraderie that goes along with it and a lot of knowing from others that have gone through it that are able to like it happened a little bit with short term 12 or a lot of people that I respected including like Tony Colette just sort of sent emails that were like how you doing that's awesome this is you know a new level of of your life like call me if you need to go to lunch it's it's a very odd experience and not and one that like very few people go through so it's tough to communicate and relate to and it feels like it feels silly to care about, to be honest. Like, it's such a wonderful thing. It's tough to actually say, you know, it's also kind of hard to.

It's kind of hard not being anonymous anymore. Yeah. But that being said, what are the three things you hate the most about Jennifer Warrens? I have nothing to say. Nothing to say about that. Only love.

And I can't wait to see her. So, when was the last, talk about sort of like the lean times and the short-term 12, which was not that long, long ago, was that kind of the last time you were, like, were you even pondering, like, seriously going another route? And what was that other route going to be? Many times. There's, well, after the first time that I didn't get United States of Dera, I decided to take a break. And I started taking some college classes. I was taking photography at Cal Arts. And at a community college, I was taking like French ballet philosophy.

I took some, like, psychology classes, a couple of science classes. That was just to, like, get my brain lubricated, but really I was kind of thinking I might go into interior design. I was really interested in that, and I thought, well... That's why when you walked into this room, you... I immediately analyzed it. I'm very interested in how a physical space is a representation of mental space, hence why I must love rooms so much. I was just say. You found the perfect. Oh, yeah.

Do you have any, was that a practical, like, actual location? It wasn't like that was not a set. That was, was that a, like, what did that look like? No, it was a real set. Yeah, it was a real set. Four walls with a roof and a door that could lock, but could also unlock for purposes. This is important. Yep, because girls like me, got to go to the bathroom.

Can't be stuck in there all the time. Because the toilet didn't work, I should also say. That's the only thing that was not functioning. But everything else was real and functional in room. So when you look at, I mean, can you count, like, on one hand, like the number of experiences, like a room, like a short-term 12? Like, how many times in your career do you feel like you've had these moments where it all lines up? And is it that, is that what makes it all worth doing that, like, you know, not all of them are going to feel satisfying in every way, but you're kind of, like, chasing that high. But which do you mean, like, which part, like the, the, the process.

Oh, the validation. I'm saying not the validation. Oh, I was going to say, validation is nothing. let's set that aside because that's out of your control completely. But yeah, like the happy experience, a happy thoughtful process. Process of making the movie? Yeah. Is it usually a happy process?

I'd say for me at least a solid 90% of that time. But I'm really picky. Yeah. And that's why a lot of years it was like I was crying in the kitchen to my mom that I didn't have money to eat. Right. Because I, there was just always this thing in me that couldn't, that couldn't just do a project that I didn't believe in. Right. I would, I, my next step, if, if I needed to financially, I would have just taken a day job and continued to stick to my laurels.

Like there was no way that I was going to take an acting job that I didn't believe in. I'm also a bad actor when I don't believe in it. I think that's why like, I used to, I was like obsessed with law and order. rest for you. And I could never get on that show. Right. Because there's just like, it's so implausible that I'm not good anymore. Like, it, for me, it all comes from this place of honesty and from a place of heart and from a place of connection and really fighting and believing in these things that I'm saying. And if you don't have that, if you have no connection to it, then it's just, it's just bad. So is that explained? Because after short term 12, it wasn't like you were

suddenly cranking out film after film. No, and I don't think I ever will. Yeah. It's the beauty of being an artist is that it's a step outside of survival. Think about it with like a furniture maker and they're making a cabinet. And if what's beautiful about perhaps a very well-made cabinet or a cabinet that has like carvings on it or has stained glass doors on it or like imagine like the most intricate beautiful cabinet. Besides the fact that that sounds pretty cool and beautiful, what's amazing about it is that this is a person who's so far outside of the steps of survival that they have the time to really craft and care for this one object.

Right. Because really, who cares about the carvings on the outside? It's just to hold your dishes or your rock collection. It's not for the carvings mean nothing. But what it represents is the fact that someone is so, in such a state of freedom that they have the freedom to be able to take the time to really craft something. Yeah.

So for me and because I live frugally and I'm not really interested in going beyond my means, I'm going to be somebody that just will do, like, one project or maybe two projects, but those I will spend so many months crafting and really making it something that's rich and really well thought out. So having heard you say all that,

that makes me all the more intrigued by something like the King Kong project. Yep. So what, in a nutshell, can you say what made this? Which on the surface could be like, oh, this is a franchise, this is a money thing, whatever, which clearly there's something in here that makes this worth a significant amount of time for you.

Well, I mean, King Kong is like the myth. I mean, it's like the biggest myth that we have. And I'm a huge lover of folklore myth. And that's where a lot of like the roots of the projects that I decide to do come from these older stories. You know, Tom Hiddleston is in Kong and he also has is a big lover of myth. And so we had a great conversation about it where we both recognize that. that we were so focused on independent film

because it was an opportunity to tell these old stories. It was an opportunity that there was like real artistry that was happening in the independent film world. And then every so often one sort of catches, like short term 12 did for me where it just like catches on fire and this magical thing happens. But even when an independent film catches on fire,

it reaches a very, very small audience. It's a very inclusive club. So we both started thinking, well, heck, why can't we take the same level of intelligence and craft and bring the same level of artistry and heart to something that's bigger that's going to be seen by more people? Why does it because it's bigger have to be dumbed down? Why can't it be just as well thought out as the smaller movies that we were doing? And I will always go back to Star Wars as being the prime. example of that. I mean, that is, that movie is so deep, man. Movie is the best. And it's massive.

That's also the most massive franchise. I was like, Lord of the Ring, same thing. It's so rooted in mythology and with these things that are from our dreams and from something that's so far away that we can kind of get a glimmer of it, we can't really remember where it comes from, but we know it. So why not bring that back? Why not if you can? Yeah. Could you, could you, uh, daydream, imagine yourself in a Star Wars movie? Because just so you know, I've watched... I mean, I only daydream about being in a Star Wars movie. Have you watched the new trailer? I haven't...

Okay. Because... Are you trying to deny yourself? You don't want to see too much? Or what's the philosophy? Yes. Part of it is that because I'm really excited and just talking about the trailer has made me emotional like the last two days. So I've sort of put it off because I know I'm going to sob.

Yeah, but it's like 150 seconds of joy that's waiting for you that you can watch on a loop as I know. I did watch that like that longer video or had like the behind the scenes footage. I've watched that like a hundred times and I just cry every time I watch it. I think it's good. Maybe I just want to go in sort of blind, not hype it up.

It's already, I mean it's massive. It's the most hyped up thing there is. I do think it'll live up to it. But it, I just would rather... No, I agree. It's the only movie... It's like the kid in me that just like yearns. Yeah, it's the only movie in my position where I like tend to a lot about things before I go in and see them that I'm actively denying myself.

I just want this one little Christmas present. I just want one little joy. Yeah, and then that's it. I'm surprised. That's all I need. It's coming out soon. So growing up, because I know your tastes are pretty eclectic in terms of even where you started as a kid in terms of the films that you were into.

I mean, there was Star Wars, but you early on got into foreign films and independent filmmaking. Where did that come from? Was that just trickle down from your parents or where was the... No, definitely. didn't come from my parents. My parents were always frustrated by my, by my TV choices or whatever I would hog the TV with. It would drive them crazy. This is a real reversal. This is not usually the way it plays out. Oh, man, my parents, I would drive them nuts because I love foreign film. And so we had one TV in the living room, the one DVD player. And I remember my mom snapping at me once because I was watching masculine feminine in a Godard film. She came in. And I was like trying to explain to her. the importance of this film and how incredible it was. How old were you with this time, you're saying? Like 16 or 17.

I'm explaining to her, you know, the importance of this film and how incredible it is. The Godard did this thing where, you know, he had this scene planned out. And then Bridget Bardot walks in, but he didn't tell the other actors. Then he has a camera on Bardot, but Bardot knew what was happening. But then you get to see this pure reaction of these people. And she was like, I don't care. I just worked all day. I want to watch Top Chef.

I don't want to read subtitles. I don't care about what was happening in France and the Revolution in the 60s and the blah, blah, blah, whatever else you're talking about. This is black and white. Can you be like every other kid in a Jim Carrey movie? I don't want to work for my entertainment. She actually said, I don't want to work for my entertainment.

And I was like, I remember being so hurt and so sad and I felt so different from my family. But then at the same time, it was like a great lesson that I realized that I couldn't just go around telling people what was a good movie and what they needed to watch. Like, I learned very quickly that I just liked what I liked and I didn't need to, you know, force my opinions on anybody else and, you know, just go in my room and take out my angst on my guitar

and try and tune out the sounds of Top Chef. Have your taste changed? Have they diversified? Were they... I mean, I love chopped, so I guess I love... I love cooking shows now, so that's the difference. You were right, mom. I'm very precious about what goes inside my brain.

It's very important to me, like, what is going on in there and what my reference points are and where it's sort of leading me, because in reading more about the subconscious and that it's ruling 98% of my brain and that it's doing all this stuff for me that I'm not consciously aware of, it's kind of like having this active Google search engine that's happening all the time and it's amazing how with Google that it like knows you so well that it immediately refines it going oh you know bray we know that you like this type of stuff so when you type in this word we're just going to show you these these sites that you like yeah so if your brain's doing the same thing i feel like it's really important to fill it with the right

stuff so it's looking for the right things right because there's like 20 times more stuff happening in a given moment than what my brain can perceive so i want to be going after specific specific things. So you're saying it's not a good idea that I always have my TV on like when I walk in my apartment. Well, what are you watching? Well, it's a diverse assortment of fair. Like what? I'm scared to know what you're talking about. What's a diverse affair? I mean, TV is pretty scary. You know, I've been watching this past week. I watched a little series called Happy Valley, which is a six part really intense. I think it's a BBC show, a drama, cop show. That's very intense. Okay, so you're watching some interesting stuff. But then I watch crap, too. I watch crap. That's fine.

I mean, I watched a little bit of the voice the other day while I ate some soup, you know? Thank you. Thank you for finally making me feel okay about myself. I want you to feel okay. I'm not here to say that all TV has to be work or all movies have to be work. But I do think that it's good to like. There's a little room for comfort, food. Yeah, I mean, you don't have to be someone who like, it's like exercise.

You don't have to be someone who like your whole world is like 99% turkey, ground turkey. and, like, exercising seven times a day. You could be, like, a 20-minute workouter. Right, right. Sometimes you need, like, a little cupcake. Yeah. It's your life. Before we release you back into this endless publicity tour.

From one room to another room. From one of one creepy room to another room. Is this creepier than the room and room? This is creepier. I always felt like room wasn't creepy. To me, room was, like, very comfortable. Well, it was your home in a way. It was my space, yeah, I liked it there.

Um, I've got a strange little Indiana Jones Fodora. I was wondering why there was an Indiana Jones Fodora stuffed with paper. I thought maybe that was number one sexy ladies, but, no, this is the one thing I brought with me. Okay. Um, so you can pick a few. You can answer whatever you like. They're all random. Some are stupid.

Some are semi-intelligence. They're questions. Okay. Okay. You ready? They're not fortunes. They're not fortunes, no. You make your own fortune, Brie.

My closest friend's family call me. Me, B-nut. Be-nut. It's so sweet. Be-nut. Does that go way back? Pretty far. I mean, not a, not, I, Bree-Bree was more when I was a, when I was a kid.

Right. But now I'm not even sure how it's gone on, but it's gone on to B-Nut. And does it fill you with happiness? You know there's someone that loves you that's close by if they're calling you B-Nut? Yeah, exactly. Yeah. It's a sweet thing. Not many people call me that.

And now I feel like if someone on Twitter was like, B-Nut, I'm going to be like, that's creepy. I'm just going to throw that out there now. This is not an open door saying, call me B-Nut. I'm just letting you in to a little piece of my world. Is Ms. Larson to you guys? Yes. Miss Jackson, if you're nasty.

My drink of choices. Ooh. Any kind of drink? Yeah. can go alcoholic, non-alcoholic, you want nest quick, I don't care, whatever you want. My drink of choice. I mean, I drink a lot of water, but I'm not going to, I'm not going to say that that's my drink of choice because I is so boring. I might drink of choice. I'd love to mix it up. I love a teaky beverage. A teaky beverage. You know, I like a good vacation-style

beverage. You know, like a blended margarita, like a blended pina colada, like a pineapple wedge on the side. I like an umbrella. I like a monkey that hangs off the side of it. You know what I mean? Yeah, totally. That's the way that I heal myself. You should squeeze some of those in when you go off to King Kong land. Oh, I'm going to be in the land of the teaky. Yeah, that's my dream. Okay. The most interesting person in the world is... Oof.

It's very tough for me because I've got a couple of people that I find absolutely fascinating. Who's in the top tier? Top tier would be Alan Watts. Okay. David White. Fascinated by Susan Sontag. Absolutely fascinating. that anybody who has not only read her work,

but then get into the video interviews. Right. Oof, it's great. She's very spicy. She answered every question from the Indiana Jones Vodora when she came in. You're joking. Of course I'm talking.

Because I was going to say, there's no way she was. She's someone that's like, I'm a writer. I don't talk to you. Best vacation you've ever taken. Best vacation I have ever. Ever taken.

Ever taken. We don't want second or third. You want number one? I went to India and I went to an Indian wedding. It was Manoj Manchu's wedding who was one of the biggest action stars in Hyderabad. And it was a 10-day wedding. I had to bring so much clothes. My suitcase was very heavy because you have to bring tons of jewelry.

of jewelry, lots of bracelets, lots of headpieces. And it was like non-stop. It was like exhausting. It sounds like you filmed like a Bollywood thing while you were there. Pretty much. And it was, the wedding itself was for 50,000 people. It was live on television. I was actually in the wedding party.

You can, I have footage of me on the local news channel. That's amazing. Because I was like the only white person at this wedding. And they do this amazing thing called the song Geat, which I think is one of the most brilliant things where they spent three months, friends and family of the bride and groom. They don't get to see what's going on.

But the friends and family write and choreograph a musical telling the story of the bride and groom. Amazing. Of their lives growing up, how they met. There was lasers. there was photo montages, there was stairs that were rolled out where a woman came out

with the scarf and a fan blue all over her. It was like, it was like a full... They're doing it right. It was like somewhere between like a junior high talent show and a Beyonce concert. Amazing. Which I didn't know that there was...

Oh, I like this one. I wish I could change this about my body. I wish that I could change my brain. ability to think that there is anything I need to change about my body. Very wise, very wise. Because it functions just fine. And I just got a bunch of blood work done which says that I'm in remarkable health.

So what would I need to change about that? Exactly. Fantastic. I feel like you've just earned your number one sexy lady mode then on that no deposit of affirmation. Oh, great. And there's even like one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. There's nine screws in here.

sorry for bringing you into this hellhole sexy lady what this is much creepier than room by the way i want to be very clear about this now that you've handed me a number one sexy lady mug with nine screws in it that have been used right i have a lot of questions i have no answers and i cannot wait to get out of here where security i'm 99% sure the door is unlocked but we'll find out after the podcast oh my gosh if not i'm gonna find i could jump out the window no no no No, I can. Okay, nothing's going to help us now. We'll let you out back into the wild. Thank you for coming, Bree.

Thank you. Honestly, congratulations on the movie. It's amazing. Thank you. At any point, two-time Oscar-winning actor, director, and philanthropist, Denzel Washington. If not, then what are you doing with your life? You deserve only the greatest. Which is why you should be listening to Denzel Washington is the greatest actor of all-time period.

It's the show where my good friend, W. Kamau Bell, and I discuss and review every Denzel Washington movie, deliver the latest Denzel news, and even break down the state of diversity in Hollywood. All while joined by awesome guests like Vernon Reed from Living Color, comedian Phoebe Robinson, and director Ava Dubarnet. Here's just a text. Who's the black actress in movies right now? There's a lot on TV there's tiraging in Gabrielle and Carrie, but I think there's no black woman in film.

Unless you want to play a superhero or a woman who goes, Baby, where are you going? Then there's not much left for you. Wow. Baby, where you going? Baby, I got to go. But baby, where you're going? That's the whole scene.

The play I'm writing. For more like that, tune in to the greatest podcast to ever discuss the greatest actor of all time, period. Listen to W.combele and I discuss Denzel on iTunes, Wolfpop.com, Howell, or your favorite podcast app. This has been a Wolf Pop production, executive produced by Paul Shear, Adam Sacks, Chris Bannon, and Matt Gourley. For more information and content, visit wolfpop.com. American history is full of infamous tales that continue to captivate audiences, decades or even hundreds of years after they happened.

On the infamous America podcast, you'll hear the true stories of the Salem Witch Trials and the escape attempts from Alcatraz, of bank robbers like John Dillinger and Pretty Brue. Floyd, of killers like Lizzie Borden and Charles Starkweather, of mysteries like the Black Dahlia and D.B. Cooper, and of events that inspired movies like Goodfellas, Killers of a Flower Moon, Zodiac, Eight Men Out, and many more. I'm Chris Wimmer. Join me as we crisscrossed the country from the Miami Drug Wars and Dixie Mafia in the South, to mobsters in Chicago and New York, to arsonists, kidnappers, and killers in California, to unsolved mysteries in the heartland

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