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Brie Larson Earns Raves For ‘Room’, Reacts To ‘It’ Girl Label

By Niki Cruz
Published on: 10:11 PST, Dec 6, 2015

Brie Larson is getting rave review for her role in the film Room. Room, which is an adaptation of the critically-acclaimed book of the same title, is a story about a woman who is abducted as a teen, and lives with her 7-year-old son in a room on her abductor’s property. Given that it’s that time of season, Larson’s status in Hollywood is blowing up due to the Oscar buzz that’s following her.

This isn’t the first time Larson has been hit with Oscar buzz. A few years ago she was on the outskirts of the buzz for her film Short Term 12. This year is a whole different story, as many Oscar prognosticators have her going neck and neck with Jennifer Lawrence for the Oscar for Best Lead Actress. Couple that with campaigning, and it’s slowly giving Larson attention that she doesn’t quite “get” thus far.

Larson, unlike Lawrence, doesn’t play it up for the cameras, and doesn’t seem interested in bowing down to execs or hob knobbing with anyone in Hollywood for her next project. It’s because of this that she doesn’t like the term “It” girl, even though it’s hard to deny her of such a title these days.

Brie was on CBS Sunday Morning when the label came up.

“What is it?” asked Larson. When she was told it meant “girl of the moment,” Larson seemed unconvinced: “But what is ‘it’? There is no ‘it’! And who was ‘it’ before ‘it’? And when does ‘it’ go away? When did I get ‘it’? Who’s gonna take ‘it’?

“It’s so weird. I think it’s a really funny term. I’m just a person. I’m not anything!”

As for how she prepared for the role of a starved young woman under her captor’s thumb, Brie noted her diet.

“I went on a very small, rigid diet. Started working out with a trainer, in order to wear out my body and gain muscle. I had to stay out of the sun for, like, three months before we started shooting. And every day, I just felt like I was getting closer and closer to her.”

And as for Oscar buzz, Larson said she doesn’t let herself think about it.

“It’s just not even something that your brain can wrap itself around.”

When it comes to planning a speech, Larson’s comparison is very simple.

“Isn’t it sort of like planning your fantasy wedding, and you don’t even have a boyfriend?”

As for critics, the majority seems to be in love with Room. Larson puts everything into her performance. Variety wrote, “director Lenny Abrahamson’s inevitably telescoped but beautifully handled adaptation retains considerable emotional impact as it morphs from a taut survival thriller into a hauntingly conflicted drama of loss, mourning and gradual reawakening. With enough critical favor (especially for Brie Larson’s superb lead performance)”

Larson spoke about Abrahamson as a director to The Hollywood Reporter.

“I knew I didn’t have to worry about the movie becoming some sort of melodramatic, gratuitous piece. This was someone who wanted to show how love can thrive in dire circumstances.”

Abrahamson’s original 30-minute meeting turned into four hours when they met face to face. At the end the two discussed their childhoods, and Abrahamson walked away enamored by the “warm” Larson.

Room’s wide theatrical release hit theaters on November 25. So far, it hasn’t been a big box office hit, but that could change with all the awards buzz, once the film is pushed out to theaters again once Brie is nominated.

[Photo by A24]

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