If it was easy to make it in Hollywood, then everyone would do it, but cracking the top end of the A-list takes hard work, dedication, determination and more often than not, a little bit of good luck. Most actors spend years auditioning unsuccessfully before they find themselves actively being offered parts, and sometimes even then they’re reluctant to accept the jobs that come their way.
Brie Larson might have been widely regarded as one of the best young actresses in the industry after a string of critically acclaimed performances culminated in her winning the Academy Award for Best Actress at the age of just 26 for her phenomenal work in Room, but before that, she’d endured a number of setbacks.
In recent months, Larson’s revealed that she auditioned for Star Wars, The Hunger Games, Terminator Genisys, Iron Man 2, Thor, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Sucker Punch, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and others to no avail, and admitted that when she was finally offered the chance to star in a big budget blockbuster and headline the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Captain Marvel, she turned the studio down three times due to her anxiety.
“I remember getting a call when I was shooting Kong: Skull Island, and I remember they called and they said, ‘Marvel is interested in you playing Captain Marvel’. And I was like, ‘Oh I can’t do that, I have too much anxiety. That’s too much for me, I don’t think I can handle that’. And I was like, ‘So tell them no’. And my team was like, ‘Okay, for sure’. I think a couple months later they were like, ‘Hey Marvel called again, are you sure?’. And I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m too much of an introvert’.”
There’s a huge difference between playing a supporting character in a studio blockbuster and being the person front-and-center in the marketing and advertising, and some people are just more comfortable without the pressure falling squarely on their shoulders. Larson ultimately relented in the end, of course, and the decision looks to be hugely justified after Captain Marvel scored over a billion dollars at the box office and established Carol Danvers as one of the MCU’s most important new faces, one that looks set to play an even bigger role in the future.
