Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist - Brie Larson

Episode Date: March 10, 2019

This weekend Brie Larson arrives as “Captain Marvel,” starring in the first solo, female-led film from the storied Marvel universe. In this week’s “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist chats with the 29-year-old actress about the training and physical transformation she underwent for that role, how winning the Best Actress Oscar for “Room” catapulted her career, and what’s next on her bucket list. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey guys, Willie Geist here with another episode of the Sunday Sit Down podcast. My thanks for clicking and listening along this week. Got a good one for you. My guest, Academy Award winning actress, Bree Larson. Bree and I got together here in New York City about 48 hours before the release of Captain Marvel, where she plays Captain Marvel. It's a historic film because it's the Marvel Universe's first female-led superhero film and a big day for Bree as well. You, of course, know her from Room, the harrowing, incredible performance she gave that earned her the Oscar for Best Actress a few years ago. And this is something else entirely playing the superhero, the lead role in the superhero movie. She underwent a big physical transformation. You'll hear her talk about that.

She trained for nine months twice a day, pushing jeeps up hills, deadlifting, doing things like that, things that made me tired just hearing about them. She also had to learn to be an Air Force pilot because Captain Marvel, previous, was an Air Force pilot. So Bree went up in an F-16 on a very messy ride that she will describe in some great detail. A little weak on the stomach. Tough too when you're doing simulated dog fights and you're not quite ready for that. I'll let her tell you the story. Bree grew up in Sacramento, California. She had a sister, knew she wanted to be an actress from the time she was six years old. She told her mom, I'm supposed to be an actor. She was accepted into this conservatory in San Francisco. the youngest ever to be there, was already acting down in L.A. when she was eight and nine years old,

and ultimately her family moved to Los Angeles to chase that dream. And it's paying off. She had roles in movies like 13 going on 30, the Showtime series United States of Terra. But it was 2015 when her life kind of blew up and her career blew up. She first played Amy Schumer's sister in train wreck, which was massive at the box office. And then, as I mentioned, won the best actress Academy Award for her performance. performance in room. So we got together New York City at a bar at the W. Hotel, and I want to point out, this is, I think, is going to make you like Brie Larson even more than you already did. She came directly from lunch at Benny Hanna. Right around the corner from our interview. I have to say she walked in. She smelled like the delicious habachi grill at Benihana. So we talk about that first and

foremost. Did they have the onion volcano? Did they flip the shrimp up into the hat? The full experience she had for lunch, sat down, we start there, then we get into her career, her life, and a huge weekend with Captain Marvel for Bree Larson. I hope you enjoy our conversation right now on the Sunday Sit Down podcast. Thanks for doing this, Bree. I appreciate it. Yeah, of course. The first question, that was an important question, how was Benny Hanna? Oh, so good. Thank you for asking. Did you do the full table service? Oh, yeah, of course. Yeah. Full table. table service and I was happy they did the volcano. I got the beating heart.

Yeah. Flip the the shrimp tails into the hat, into the pocket. It's important. Yeah. It was good. Bright in my day. I had a Pena Colada. Did you really?

You know, lunch Pena Colada at Benihana. That's fantastic. I'd never tried the Pena Colada there. I love a Pena Colaada. This is going to be a great interview. Yeah. Yeah. You got a stomach cold Pena Cola and Benihana.

Yeah. It'd be great. Well, you've been, we were just talking, working on this movie for three years and thinking about it and training for it and getting ready. And now 48 hours from right now as we sit here, it will be given out to the world and people get to see it. What does that feel like right now? Feels good. I mean, it definitely feels odd.

I don't know where the three years went, especially because really my reservation and the reason why I almost didn't do the movie was because of like this moment right now of doing the press tour and the public nature of it of like driving here and like my face is in Times Square. for an introverted person that's like too much. And so I had to think like, okay, three years from now, who will I be? And can I handle that? Can I be ready for it? And I feel like I am, or as ready as you can be for something that's like totally surreal and unknown. Yeah, I mean, you three years ago had to decide do I want to step off that ledge and make the leap into this world because it will elevate you and put you into a different stratosphere. What were your considerations as you thought about sort of the pros and the cons, of taking on this role of Captain Marvel? Well, the pros, I don't think about, like, outcomes. I can only think about process, and the making of something is the only thing that I get, really. Because once it's out in the world, I don't really have a say in how it's digested

or how it's talked about or where it goes, really. But the process of making it, that's the only thing that I have, and that's my favorite part. So the character, the character, the film, what Marvel wanted to do with it and the story that they wanted to tell were all major pros, and they're the reason for doing it. But my job is really weird in that the more movies I make, the less of a life potentially I have. And I need a life in order to play the characters. And so the idea of that sort of trade-off, it's a very unique one. I don't think there's many jobs that are like that.

And so it was one that was really worth taking a pause over to go, is this going to benefit work or is this going to hurt the work? And, like, is it going to hurt my heart in the end? Because my favorite thing in the world is just walking around by myself. And the idea that that might not be the case seems weird. I mean, it's still hard for me to see anything being different because right now everything's very, very normal for me. Like, I still don't have people recognizing me at all. Really? Yeah.

No, I have no reason to lie about that. I know. I'm just surprised by it, though. Yeah. No, I don't know. I think maybe because I'm introverted, like, I'm good at blending in. And so I don't really have an issue. I told you I have an 11-year-old daughter and a 9-year-old son, both of whom were very excited to see the movie on Friday.

How much did you think about that and the historic nature of this role as you took it? No, I didn't think about it. I don't feel like it's helpful to think about, puts an unnecessary sort of pressure or filter on something that isn't really mine to decide. I never feel like my work is mine. I don't have any ownership over it. It's up to everybody else to kind of decide what it means to them or in which way it's going to mean to them. The cool thing about movies is, you know, as long as our technology is all, like, safe and well in the cloud, like, it exists forever. So you can find it whenever you want or rewatch it whenever you want.

So, you know, I don't know. And I still don't know. I've had a lot of people ask me things like that. And it's like, I'm not trying to be anybody's role model. If I'm trying to do that, then I shouldn't be a role model. That just doesn't make any sense to me. Was that part of the appeal, though, at least, that this would be the first solo female-led superhero movie for Marvel? That part doesn't matter because really it's about the character.

For me, the thing that drew me towards it was that she's flawed. And the idea of playing a superhero that's learning from mistakes, whereas I feel like I've lived my life making so many mistakes constantly every day, including today. And the thing that keeps me going is that I get back up and I try again, and I feel like I'm a better person, for the mistakes that I've made rather than playing some sort of idealized version of perfection. You know, that's not really a hero to me. You mentioned having some concerns about your private life changing, not being able to walk around. Do you feel like this weekend you're sort of stepping through some curtain into a different phase of your life? I haven't felt anything different yet.

I feel like maybe once the movie's out, that's at least my Sam keeps saying to me because I keep being like, I think I'm going to be okay. Like I'm still walking around. No one cares. people cut in front of me at line. I'm so grateful. And he was like, Bray, we've got to talk once the movie comes out. Well, that's what I mean. Do you think about what Monday needs?

No, I don't. I'll still just keep doing the same thing that I was doing before. And then, you know, I'll pivot and change if I have to. But I feel like I've been pretty open in the press, too, about the things that matter to me. And having, like, a life really matters to me. And I don't think I can really do my job. So to me, it's like, in my conversation with the general

public. It's like if you enjoy the work that I do, then you kind of have to allow me to have some leeway and space in the public world. Part of your preparation over these three years has been physical. Those nine months of training and now the stuff of legend, pushing jeeps up the hill and doing your dead lifts and all that. Why was it so important to you to get into that kind of shape for this character? Because, first of all, just because I didn't know how to carry myself in a way that looked strong to begin with. To be able to be on a poster where you're kind of like in a stance and things.

Like I didn't have that in me before and so I had to work really hard to find that and get that. And also because to me, what she represents is empowerment and strength. She represents a lot of other things too. Flaw, vulnerability, all that. But she really has a lot of strength in her. And it wasn't good enough in this conversation

of like this representation of female strengths to just say like, I put on a costume and I let the visual effects tell the story. I want to help tell that story. And for me, it's saying I went from not being athletic at all to, after nine months of serious training, being able to deadlift 225 pounds and hip thrust 400 pounds and push my trainer's Jeep of a hill. Like, that's real tangible stuff. And that was like hard work and a lot of dedication. And I was able to push myself further than I thought my body was capable of doing. And so maybe there's other people out there that feel like, you know, maybe they can

let go of certain limitations that they had put on themselves before. What was the craziest thing you did physically that you never imagined nine months before that you'd be able to do? You mean for training? Yeah, for physical training, yeah. I mean, pushing the Jeep was pretty surreal. I just didn't think that I would ever actually be able to do it or last 60 seconds because that was the goal.

And it was slightly uphill, too. It was a 5,000-pound Jeep. So that was pretty insane. But they were even breaking 200 of deadlifting. Yeah. It took me like a month to be able to do that. And it was all mental. That was the interesting thing, too, that I learned through all of this is, like, being able

to lift, a lot of it has to do with your mental state and the belief that you can do it. If you get tripped up over the fact that there's the number 200, you won't do it. And so they actually had to trick me into breaking it and told me that it was lesser weight than it actually was. And that was the way that I was able to break 200. Are you going to keep this up if we go to your neighborhood? You can be pushing jeeps up hills? Yeah, I've kept it up.

I haven't trained as hard in particular on the press tour, but just, Judo in particular was something I learned in the stunt gym, and I'm obsessed with it. I will keep that up forever. And then there's the Air Force training. You were talking to Jimmy Kimmel the other night about being up there, and the Air Force, the pilots who took you up said, you should be okay. Like, you got a 50-50 shot of being okay. How did that go?

Puked the whole time, the entire time. It was great, though. I got a call sign Sparrow, and each letter stand. for a different thing, but part of it is about the fact that I puked for the whole hour flight, but didn't ask to go back down on the ground. I wanted to keep flying. No, I don't want to get too graphic with it, but this is in the cockpit with the pilot in front of you? Mm-hmm. Okay.

And you have, like, you know, the comms on, and she politely was like, you know, if you don't want me to hear you puking, you've got to turn the comms off. And I was like, oh, totally. And then you forget every time. So she was, like, simulating a dog fight, doing incredible maneuvers while listening to me, like. fully puke in the back. And you don't want to be the actor who's like, take it down. You wanted to ride

through the whole thing. I just felt like I'm puking. It's already happened. Like, we might as well keep going and finish it. Like, I'm pretty resilient and tough in that way. It's like, I understand what this experience is. And like, who knows if I'll ever get to go back up on a plane again. So I want to finish it. And I want to

finish strong. And like, nothing is going to stop me from finishing what I start. And then what did they say to you when you got back on the ground? They said, well, said it'd be 50-50. They were like, no, there was a hundred percent chance you were going to do it. They just didn't want me to chicken out. What does it mean to you to have some of those women who you flew with sort of around and with you on the press tour so that you can celebrate them when you're at a premiere or when you're on a talk show like that? Seeing that Mike Kimmel made me really emotional.

I was really emotional that whole day because it just felt like every stop of the way there was like someone from the past. Even there was a band L7. They performed and I listened to L7 all through the making of the movie. It was a huge backbone of like their music was what I would listen to before I did fight sequences. So to get to meet them and to have them perform like a private event for Captain Marvel, I just like couldn't stop crying. And then once again, seeing these pilots, including Kauzy, who's the one that actually took me up in the F-16, it just was moving to me because, you know, these movies take so many people.

It take thousands and thousands of people. And I wish that we had more time to talk about and celebrate all of those people because it gets very self-centered on press stores. I mean, maybe it's just me because I'm with myself all day, but I feel like I end up having to talk about myself on the work that I did, and I don't mean to, like, belittle the work that I put in it. But I would be nothing without all of the people that taught me, including them. And they are doing incredible things for our country.

And to have that sort of intimate time with them, for them to let me into their world is one of the great pleasures of my job. Like to have that type of privilege to get access to situations like that is like, they're pinch me moments. You've done a good job acknowledging them. Every where I've seen you, you sort of tipped your cap to them. It's been nice. They're the best. They're the best.

How will you measure success of this movie? There's the box office thing that everybody looks at, but for you, or is that already done? Yeah, I feel like it's done. Yeah. This was like the most, like the hardest thing I'd ever done, which is like, I'll probably next time we talk, I'll say that because I'm always trying to. find the biggest challenge. But for me, it was like, I found an inner strength and I learned so much about myself and, like, that's the success to me. And I've already had one woman walk up to me and shake my hand and say, thank you for what you did. She said, you know what you did. Thank you.

And I was like, I do. Thank you. That's it. Like, I'm done. There's nothing else, you know. I feel like, like I said, these things live on forever. So there's a lot of time to have different relationships to works of art. And there's been times that, you know, even albums I buy, They make sense to me right in the moment, and I list to them forever, and then sometimes it takes me a little bit to get them. And it's just what it is. You know, getting too caught up and all of that stuff is sort of silly to me. At the end of the day, we're talking about art. We're talking about, like, I think of it more as, like, a painting hanging on a wall than I think about it as, like a giant, like box office success or flop or whatever.

I can ask you to do a thought exercise. Six-year-old you in Sacramento, who has already, I think, told her mom by then that she's supposed to be an actor. She knows what she's going to be. Yeah. What would six-year-old you think about you with a billboard and Times Square about to open the biggest movie in the country? Yeah, I don't think that she would ever expect it. I was super shy as a kid. I barely could barely talked.

So I think the idea of just like, it's a feat in itself for me. And something I love being open about because I'm sure there's at least one introvert watching right now. And I would say, you know, I get it. Like the struggle is very. very real, but once again, like, doesn't have to be a limitation. It can also be something that is, that's the part of me that is able to emote on screen, but it's also the part of me that I have to nurture intend to and I have to, like, be careful with. So that, like, six-year-old, I feel like, is always with me. That six-year-old is the one that I'm in constant conversation with

to be like, thank you. Like, thank you so much for being with me as I, like, you know, walk around all over the world talking about this movie. So how do you, I think people will hear you say that that you're an introvert, and yet you have this job where you have to at least play an extrovert or be one on screen. How do you reconcile those two things? How do you reconcile being someone who feels like she wants to be inside herself a little bit, but whose job is to go outside of herself? It's just, I mean, the simple answer is acting.

The more complicated answer is you just create kind of firm boundaries and guidelines to, like, what I need in a given moment. I think I only know myself, but I'm sure I probably need more alone time, more rest days, more sleep than maybe other people. I think that's the difference. It's like some people get a high off of social interaction whereas I get tired. So, you know, I just have to be open about that. And I am about like what I can and can't do. And I also think I'm so grateful that I found acting at a young age and that this six-year-old has been guiding me my whole life.

because I think having that time when I was younger, where I was literally given a script to be like, this is how you be a person, like this is how you make eye contact, this is how you greet people, all of those things, because those were all very difficult for me. I always felt like the world was very confusing.

And I felt like I was talking, but I wasn't. So having that sort of outline, I think, helped me a lot to go, oh, I understand. I understand. Maybe it's not the most natural to me, but I understand what I'm supposed to do. If you act like a person long enough, you eventually become one maybe.

Yeah, exactly. Which is just like, you know, playing Carol Danvers for long enough. And I sort of feel like there's pieces of her characteristics that are now part of me that I've absorbed because I want to keep them. Is it true that you used to make movies in your garage as a little girl? Yeah. And your cousins were in them and your sister was probably in them. What kind of movies are we talking about? Some of them were original stories.

One of them was like it was like a take on Chicago. You remember the musical Chicago? It was like kind of like it, but not, but then it was also a musical, so we used the soundtrack. Were you Roxy? No, I was Velma. My sister was Roxy. She landed the role, huh? Yeah, she landed the role.

But I would do it all myself. They were actually called All By Myself Films. You had a production company? I created my own production company. Yeah, I didn't know that you actually had to do like an LLC and register it. I just put it on a title card on my I movie. But yeah, the Apple computers had I-movie then. So I would film stuff in our garage over the summer with our DV camera.

And I would, I'd write the script, edit it. I had a disco ball that I would put in front of the door of the garage. And if the light was on, it meant we were rolling. So the family wouldn't walk in because we had times that people would walk in and open the garage door and ruin it. I'd tape sheets up. It's like a professional operation. Oh, it was a whole thing. I'm still the same person.

And how old are you at this point? Oh, this went on. You're young. This was many summers, many, many summers from probably like 12 to 16, something like that. Explain so much. Yeah, I would do a premiere. I'd also do EPK. No, you did not.

I did, I did. I did EPK where I would like ask my cousins to like talk about me. I know. I know. For people watching and listening, you don't know what EPK is. It's the electronic press kit. Yeah, it's an interview. It's people know what's it.

Yeah, I would do it. How did you even know what an EPK was at that point? I don't know. I was in the industry at that time. So I don't know what I thought I was going to do with it or what you're supposed to do with an EPK. I'm still not totally sure what an EPK is used for, but I did that.

The budget was around $20. You were a savvy young filmmaker. Oh, yeah. Wow. So now I get why your mom decided when you were nine years old to move the family to L.A. Because you were a pretty determined actor.

Yeah, it was earlier. Yeah. And was that a huge decision for your mom to leave Sacramento and go to L.A.? You know, I'm sure it was, but my mom was so great with us as kids that, like, I didn't know that anything. She was always so good at being, like, easy, breezy about stuff. Like, I never felt, like, burdened. I never felt like anything was that hard.

And she always believed in me. That was the thing. And it's something that I've thought about so much on this press store and talking about this movie because, you know, there's a lot of core elements to it, but one being this, like, ownership of herself that she owns herself in this way. and the thing that she's told is a nuisance or as a problem is actually the best part of her. And I totally relate to that, you know. I've always been, like, different. My point of view is different.

And it wasn't always the thing that got me the job. It was usually a thing that meant I didn't get the job. And I would question myself constantly. And my mom always knew to, like, set me straight and to let me know that, like, to be myself and to fight for myself. hang in, be true to who you are, and it'll pay off. Yeah, I mean, I know it's like, it's such a, such a simple and cliched thing, but it really, the older I get, the more I come back to that,

of like, we have to live with ourselves for the rest of our lives. That's like our old, our first and oldest relationship, and so it's got to be, like, a strong one. Got to hold ourselves tight. For sure, for sure. So what's the first job? What's the first paying job? Is it the Tonight Show?

That was your first gig. Yeah. And what was that exactly? It was a skit. It was a commercial for a fake product called Roadkill Easy Bake Oven. Oh, no, that's not true. My first one was, that was like my second one, I think. There were multiple, yeah.

I did like two dozen, I think. First one was Malibu Mudsley Barbie. Yeah. Or we like played dolls in a... In a Mutslide. In a dollhouse and then dumped mud on it, yeah. Okay, that works. Yeah.

I didn't understand it at all. How old were you? eight? Yeah, you're a kid. So I think when people point to sort of your breakthrough, there are a few things, I guess. Like raising dad was your first major role maybe, right? Yeah. United States of Tara and then going to film Scott Pilgrim.

Was there a role along that spectrum or a different role maybe that you felt like this is my breakthrough? People know who I am and I've proven myself a little bit? Proving myself. getting over the need to prove took a while it took a while it took a while being told no many times for me to go like oh I this isn't a healthy relationship but I will say that working in United States of Tara and doing scenes with Tony Colette when I she was like the she was the thing I wanted to emulate because I was homeschooled and I was I remember doing, and I would watch movies all day doing my schoolwork.

I remember watching her in three different movies, like, in the same, like, day or two. And on three different occasions, I looked up, like, who is this actress? And it was the same person every time, and I didn't notice. And I had never been able to describe what it was that I wanted to do in film. I knew I never wanted to be myself, and I didn't want to be known for myself. But I didn't really understand what that was. I was like, oh, I want to be a character actor. I want to be like that.

So to get to work with her and to gain her approval meant the world to me. Because, you know, she had been this, like, lighthouse for me for so many years. That would be a crazy thing to have watched her and then to be acting alongside her. Not that long after. No, not that long after. So is it after that where you go, okay, I can actually do this for a living? Some people, they get to L.A. I don't know if this is going to work.

And I had a hard time getting to work again. You know, I went got. I mean, I've been broke a dozen times. It's like people think, like, when you look at it, it kind of, like, makes sense. Right. My IMDB maybe looks, like, consistent. But really, it was, like, large gaps of time of, like, three auditions a day still, you know. Even, like, before Room came out, I was stressing about money.

And that, yeah, I mean, that's not that long ago. No, it's not that long ago at all. So that's 2015, which is train wreck comes first. Mm-hmm. And then later in the fall comes room. Room? Mm-hmm. You know my life way better than me, by the way.

I know. I'm sorry. I do too much homework. It's good. I'm glad you're homework. I just mean, I don't know. I don't know what today is. I could just make it up. Yeah, it's great. What did that Academy Award mean to you in your life? To me? How did it change things for you? I don't really know. I mean, I know that I got more opportunities. I got to direct a film. And that meant a lot to me getting to do that. because it, you know, to be that kid who was making movies every summer in their garage,

so then actually, like, having, like, a budget and a team. And it felt very right. It felt really, really good. And I can't wait to do it again. But it hasn't changed, hasn't really changed much. I know that seems, like, so crazy. I don't know in which ways it changed. Because we don't know what it would have been like if I didn't win.

Like, this is just my one linear path that I've been on. But my day-to-day life was, like, totally the same, you know. I went from that. after parties to three flights to Vietnam and ended up in the middle of nowhere with no self-service and was there for another month. And, like, it was just kind of normal, you know. It was back to running from an imaginary monkey and it was all the same, you know? It's like, it doesn't...

The Academy Award winner, Bree Larson, that's forever. They can't take that away from you. That's a big deal, right? It's nice. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, Jen Lawrence put it to me the best because I called her, like, a day or two afterwards, because I was like, I feel the same.

Like, I still feel, I don't feel any different. I don't feel like there's, like, magical fairy dust or anything. And she was like, it's just like you got your PhD. Just think of it like that. Like, you can still make, your doctors still make mistakes. You can still make a mistake. It just means that, like, you got kind of, you graduated. And that felt really right to me because it feels like there's so much more for me to do.

And this idea of, like, thinking that I still have so much more work to do. and I haven't even done my best work yet. That feels good to me, and that's like a place that I want to live in. It's interesting you mentioned Jennifer Lawrence. I was reading an interview you did a couple years ago, and you talked about sometime after Room and the success of Room and all the awards you won. You felt sort of isolated and maybe even down a little bit.

What was that the result of? Was that the sort of coming off the high of room, or what were you feeling in that time that put you in that place? Um, it's just, it's like a, it's a thing of like, that award is always kind of like in the distance. And then when it's like right in your face, then you're like, oh, well, then what's next? Like, what do I do? And it took me a couple of days, but then I realized how excited I was that instead, like, I could define things for myself and make my own goals. That I was so grateful to have had this experience and had to have this thing.

And now I get to create my own definitions of success. And it doesn't have to be that. It can be that, and sometimes it is. And I still, like, I get emotional about it basically, like, once a year when the Academy Awards happen or when the couple of times I've been lucky enough to pass off that award to somebody else. I love being on the other side of it. Absolutely love it. It is, like, a true pleasure to be there and kind of be the fairy godmer over there.

Because I remember how Freddie was for me. Like, it was, it was like a big, I mean, Eddie, sorry. It was how Eddie was for me that it was like that he was there. guiding me through and to be that guide for other people is really special. So you've won the Oscar, you've proven now you can open a huge monster blockbuster big budget film. Well, we don't know. Well, it is. It's a blockbuster film.

It will be. I know. We don't know if it's open yet. Okay. Okay. Well, you can open a big budget film. I'm glad that you believe in me. So what next for you?

I mean, you've been writing and making movies since you're a little girl. You've written and directed other films, as you pointed out. What's on the horizon for you? I mean, you're still so young. You're in your 20s. You've got a lot ahead of you. What do you want to do that's out there that you haven't done? I want to climb the Teton's.

Oh. I've been boulder climbing, so I want to do that. I want to go skydiving. Okay. I've been saying for like four years that I'm going to read Finnegan's Wake, and I haven't done it, so I need to do that. You've been busy. It's fair.

I know, it's just hard to travel with. That's my excuse. But that's all I've got planned for a while. I don't know when I'll do something else again. But I, you know, I'm kind of slow moving when it comes to movies. I can't, like, do, I can do, like, one a year. But I need, like, I need lots of prep time. I need lots of alone time.

Like, my goals right now are, like, I want to cook, and I want to grow a plant from a seed, and I want to do, like, all of these just, like, maybe less interesting to other people things. Well, you've been setting mushrooms pretty. closely. I understand. How's that going? It's been good. Yeah? Yeah, but I've just missed, there's like a festival that I usually go to. It's like my favorite thing where there's, you know, in wintertime is when the foraging really happens. And I've missed it the last couple of years because I've been working. These damn movies getting away on your mushroom time. Yeah.

So that's what I mean though. It's like as time goes on, you sort of learn to like prioritize and tune out some of that stuff. And perhaps it's because I'm lucky enough to have had the, you know, normal kind of success, that then I understand what that taste and feels like, and I know that I need something else. Like, my heart needs something else, too. And what's the font thing? You're really into fonts, too? I love typography, yeah. I've always made my own fonts. There's a great program on the iPad where you can design your own. It's really easy. But, yeah, those are things that are like very soothing to me. Like, I could sit at the computer and just, like, edit fonts and do stuff like that. Like, those are the things that I do. I always have something like that. Because it's,

They're great things for on set, things that are sort of meditative. Like, I'll just, you know, practice writing one letter over and over and over again for a while. Recently, it's been needlepoint. Oh, needlepoint, too. All right, so we're going to get this movie launched and get you home to your mushrooms, your fonts, and your needlepoint. Yeah. Okay. Really sounds crazy.

That Hollywood life. Got to ask you about your co-star working again with Sam Jackson. Yes, my heart. Your heart? Yeah. What kind of guy? Is he to be around? Is he as cool as he seems from the outside? Yeah, he's the best. He's truly, truly the best.

And just so grateful for that guy. He has been there for me with every major moment of my life. Because we were filming Kong when I was going through the award season circuit for room. And then he was with me when I directed my first feature. And then now this. And he's just a real life Jedi. And I've traveled in more countries with him than any other person ever. Yeah, we put in a lot of miles together.

And he's kind of helped guide you through this process of fame and the rest of it? Well, he's like, he's kind of, I mean, he's a Jedi. That's like the only way I know how to put it. Like, it's not like he gives me advice or tells me what to do or scolds me or anything like that. He's just infectious in that he's very engaged in life. he doesn't let his fame get in the way of his fun or his good time. He owns himself. He owns his craft.

He believes in it. And so I've just learned so much from him from just being in his presence and being around him. And he's like, I don't know, he's like one of my best friends, which is like he's my safe place. So to be on this, which could be, you know, a lot or overwhelming or whatever to be doing it with him where he just, he'll say things to me. Like we were doing press in Singapore. or he like strolled up and he said, I'm going to make you smile all day. And I was like, what?

Like, what more could you possibly want out of a person or a co-star or like a partner in crime than that? I'm so happy to hear that's how he is in real life. That's what he gives off. Yeah. No, it's real. Thank you, Brie. It was a pleasure. Thanks for the time.

My thanks to Brie Larson for a great conversation, although I will say I was a little bummed. She didn't bring a little Benihanna takeout with her. Be sure to check out her new movie, Captain Marvel. It's in theaters now. My thanks as always to you for tuning in this week to the Sunday Sit Down podcast to hear more of the full-length conversations with all my guests. Be sure to click subscribe and listen for free every week. And don't forget to tune in to Sunday today every weekend on NBC.

I'm Willie Geist. We'll see you right back here next week on the Sunday Sit Down podcast.