50 Fun Facts About Brie Larson

What is the real name of Captain Marvel, the pilot turned superhero played by Brie Larson?

Carol Danvers is an Air Force pilot who gains cosmic powers. Larson's 2019 debut in the role was the first Marvel Studios film built around a female lead.

Which child actor played Jack, the young son of Brie Larson's captive mother, in the drama Room?

Jacob Tremblay and Larson spent time before filming doing the same everyday activities as their characters, so the bond between mother and son would feel real on screen.

In Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Brie Larson plays which rock singer, the hero's famous ex?

Envy Adams fronts the band the Clash at Demonhead, and Larson sang her big number herself. She has called the part a turning point in her career.

What is the name of the cat, secretly an alien Flerken, in Brie Larson's film Captain Marvel?

Goose is named after a Top Gun character, a nod to the hero's past as a pilot. In the comics the cat is called Chewie, after Chewbacca.

Brie Larson took her stage surname partly from a childhood doll made by which toy brand?

American Girl made Kirsten Larson, a doll she was given as a child. Her real surname was hard to pronounce, and a Swedish great-grandmother had also been a Larson.

Which language did California-born Brie Larson speak first as a child, before she learned English?

French came first because her father is Franco-Manitoban, from the French-speaking community of Manitoba. She holds dual citizenship of Canada and the United States.

Brie Larson joined which long-running action film franchise in 2023, playing an agent named Tess?

Fast & Furious welcomed her in Fast X, the tenth film in the series. She plays the daughter of the shadowy Mr. Nobody, her first major film role since 2019.

In Lessons in Chemistry, Brie Larson's fired chemist Elizabeth Zott ends up hosting what?

A cooking show called Supper at Six makes Zott a star, and she uses it to teach housewives real science. Larson was also an executive producer and spent two years on the series.

Brie Larson and which Mean Girls star were once the only artists signed to Casablanca Records?

Lindsay Lohan was her only labelmate when a teenage Larson signed with music mogul Tommy Mottola. Larson's one album followed in 2005 and sold only a few thousand copies.

Which actor joined Brie Larson in Kong: Skull Island, Captain Marvel and her own directorial debut?

Samuel L. Jackson played an Army colonel on Kong's island and a younger Fury who still has both eyes. In between, he appeared in the comedy she directed herself.

Brie Larson played student Molly, the love interest of an undercover cop, in which buddy comedy?

21 Jump Street paired her with Jonah Hill, whose loose improvising she found hard to match. It grossed over $200 million, her most widely seen film up to then.

Brie Larson played Kim, the sister of which comedian's character, in the comedy Trainwreck?

Amy Schumer wrote the film loosely around her own life, so Larson modeled the part on Schumer's real sister, who worked on the film as an associate producer.

Which actor played Brie Larson's father in two films, the police drama Rampart and The Glass Castle?

Woody Harrelson was a corrupt cop in the first and a nonconformist parent in the second. One Rampart confrontation went so well that the director reworked the script around the pair.

What is the job of Mason Weaver, Brie Larson's character in the monster film Kong: Skull Island?

Photojournalist Mason Weaver joins the expedition as an anti-war photographer. It was Larson's first big-budget release, and she regretted having so few female co-stars.

Which martial art did Brie Larson study, alongside boxing and wrestling, to play Captain Marvel?

Judo was part of nine months of training for the role. She also visited Nellis Air Force Base to meet serving personnel before playing a fighter pilot.

In the sitcom Raising Dad, which comedian played the widowed father of Brie Larson's character?

Bob Saget led the show, his first series since Full House, with Kat Dennings as Larson's older sister. It ran for a single season on The WB.

In United States of Tara, which actress played the mother of Brie Larson's sardonic teenager?

Toni Collette won an Emmy as Tara, a suburban mother with dissociative identity disorder. Larson took over as her daughter after another actress had already filmed the pilot.

Which comedy-drama, in which she also starred, was Brie Larson's first feature film as a director?

Unicorn Store premiered at the Toronto film festival in 2017 and reached Netflix two years later. Larson had auditioned for the lead in 2012 and been turned down.

Brie Larson appears as a character called the Paradigm in which hugely popular online video game?

Fortnite was one of several side projects during her break from film acting. She also reprised Captain Marvel for attractions at Disneyland Paris and aboard a Disney cruise ship.

Brie Larson, a longtime Nintendo fan, voices which character in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie?

Rosalina is the adoptive mother of the Lumas, and the film's heroes set out to rescue her. Larson had declared herself a fan of the game Super Mario Galaxy years before.

Brie Larson first filmed scenes as Captain Marvel for which movie, shot before her own solo film?

Avengers: Endgame shot her scenes first, though her solo film reached cinemas before it. The writers kept her screen time short, calling her the fresh blood among the original heroes.

In The Marvels, Brie Larson's hero keeps swapping places with Monica Rambeau and which teenager?

Kamala Khan, played by Iman Vellani, is a Jersey City teenager who idolises Captain Marvel. The three heroes trade places whenever they use their powers.

Which actor plays Yon-Rogg, the mentor who trains Brie Larson's hero in Captain Marvel?

Jude Law plays the Starforce commander who trains her to control her abilities. He is later revealed as the killer of the scientist whose death she cannot remember.

At the start of Captain Marvel, Brie Larson's amnesiac hero fights for which alien empire?

Kree forces know her as Vers, a name taken from what was left of her damaged dog tag. She serves in their war against the shape-shifting Skrulls, who turn out to be refugees.

Room, the film that won Brie Larson her Oscar, is based on a novel by which Irish-born author?

Emma Donoghue adapted her own book for the screen. She conceived the story after hearing about a five-year-old boy in the Fritzl captivity case.

In Room, what name do Brie Larson's character and her son use for the man holding them captive?

Old Nick abducted her seven years before the story begins. He keeps mother and son in a locked shed whose only window is a skylight.

At the 2017 Oscars, Brie Larson handed Best Actor to which winner but did not applaud him?

Casey Affleck had faced sexual harassment accusations, and Larson is an advocate for assault survivors. She hugged him but did not clap, saying later that her action spoke for itself.

In Just Mercy, Brie Larson's Eva Ansley works beside a crusading lawyer played by which actor?

Michael B. Jordan plays Bryan Stevenson, with Jamie Foxx as the death row inmate he fights to free. In the film, Ansley helps him set up the Equal Justice Initiative.

In Short Term 12, Brie Larson's first leading film role, where does her character Grace work?

A group home for troubled teenagers is where Grace works as a supervisor. Larson prepared by spending time with staff at a children's home, and the film cost under $1 million.

Which director made three films with Brie Larson: Short Term 12, The Glass Castle and Just Mercy?

Destin Daniel Cretton gave Larson her first lead. He praises her improvising, saying he never knows what will happen in a scene and often she doesn't either.

Which future Best Actor Oscar winner played new recruit Nate opposite Brie Larson in Short Term 12?

Rami Malek played the newcomer five years before Bohemian Rhapsody brought him the Oscar. LaKeith Stanfield and Kaitlyn Dever were also in the film's young cast.

Brie Larson played the title character's sister in Don Jon, written and directed by which actor?

Joseph Gordon-Levitt also played Jon himself in his first feature as a director. Larson's character, Monica, is the one who bluntly tells the family what his girlfriend really wanted.

Brie Larson played Cassidy, the ex-girlfriend of which actor's character, in The Spectacular Now?

Miles Teller plays Sutter, who writes in a college application essay that being dumped by Cassidy is the biggest hardship of his life. Shailene Woodley co-stars.

In The Glass Castle, Brie Larson plays which real-life writer, author of the memoir the film adapts?

Jeannette Walls had a nomadic, dysfunctional upbringing with her nonconformist parents. Larson worked closely with Walls and her siblings and studied their mannerisms.

Brie Larson has said that seeing Jennifer Lopez in which film made her want to become an actress?

Selena is the 1997 biopic of the Tejano singer. At six, Larson had already become the youngest student in a San Francisco theater training program.

Brie Larson's first acting job was a toy commercial parody on which host's late-night talk show?

Jay Leno's Tonight Show cast her in a spoof advert called Malibu Mudslide Barbie. Guest roles in series such as Touched by an Angel and Popular followed.

In the Disney film Right on Track, Brie Larson played a real-life champion in which motorsport?

Drag racing made champions of the sisters Erica and Courtney Enders, who doubled as stunt drivers for the actresses. Erica later became the first woman to win in the Pro Stock class.

As a teenage pop singer, Brie Larson opened for which star on his Beautiful Soul tour?

Jesse McCartney also took her on a run of shopping-mall concerts for Teen People. She performed at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York as well.

Brie Larson considered quitting acting after missing key roles in Thirteen and which 2007 indie hit?

Juno was one of two lost parts that discouraged her most. Struggling to find work, she blamed filmmakers' inability to typecast her.

Between acting jobs before her breakthrough, Brie Larson supported herself by working as what?

A club DJ was her side job in the lean years when she often considered giving up acting. She also launched an arts and literature magazine called Bunnies and Traps.

Brie Larson sang Black Sheep in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, a song by which indie rock band?

Metric inspired the film's fictional band the Clash at Demonhead. The clothes and stage style of its singer, Emily Haines, were the model for Larson's character.

Brie Larson's first short as co-director, The Arm, won a special jury prize at which US festival?

Sundance honoured the short, a story about societal expectations in the near future. Larson wrote and directed it with Jessie Ennis and Sarah Ramos.

In Community, Brie Larson guest-starred as Rachel, the love interest of which Greendale student?

Abed Nadir meets Rachel at a school dance while he is on a date with two other girls. The show later joked that her film career kept the character away.

Lessons in Chemistry, the series starring Brie Larson as Elizabeth Zott, adapts whose debut novel?

Bonnie Garmus wrote the book after an earlier novel of hers was rejected 98 times. Larson hired a producer to develop the adaptation herself.

Brie Larson won an Emmy as a producer of The Messy Truth, a series made in which format?

Virtual reality was the medium for the series, created by Van Jones. Larson produced it and appeared in an episode, and it won the Emmy for original interactive program.

Brie Larson got a buzz cut for her West End debut, playing the title role in which Greek tragedy?

Elektra, by Sophocles, ran at the Duke of York's Theatre in a translation by Anne Carson. Larson said she wanted to play to audiences who were not on their phones.

Brie Larson joined 300 Hollywood women in 2018 to launch which initiative against harassment?

Time's Up was set up to protect women from harassment and discrimination. The same year, Larson became one of the first actors to put an inclusion rider in her contracts.

Brie Larson was once engaged to Alex Greenwald, singer of which band behind The O.C. theme song?

Phantom Planet is best known for California, the track used as that theme. Larson and Greenwald began dating in 2013 and were engaged from 2016 to 2019.

During her 2020 break from film acting, Brie Larson launched her own channel on which platform?

YouTube became her outlet while she stepped back, saying the parts she was offered were all variations on her role in Room. She also co-hosted a podcast called Learning Lots.

What is Brie Larson's birth surname, which she dropped because people found it hard to pronounce?

Desaulniers comes from her father, Sylvain. Her parents were chiropractors who ran a practice together, and she was born Brianne Sidonie Desaulniers in Sacramento.