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Brie Larson Shares One Of Her Biggest Struggles With Captain Marvel Role

Larson talked about how she eventually overcame this struggle too.

Brie Larson as Captain Marvel
Photo via Marvel Studios

We’re getting more information about how Captain Marvel herself, Brie Larson struggled with learning martial arts for the aforementioned role.

In a podcast the actor shares with Jessie Ennis, called Learning Lots, the pair discuss “flow states” or the mental state in which a person performing some activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, also known as “being in the zone.”

At one point in the discussion, Larson talked about martial arts being something with which she had a little bit of a learning curve.

“I had to learn all of that with Captain Marvel and I was very uncoordinated with my body,” Larson said. “It was the that I was most worried about, was the physical stuff.”

Larson went on to say that she felt she had a handle on the “head stuff,” but that she “didn’t have it connected to my body” and felt “very uncomfortable.”

“I had like this theory that having a body was drag,” Larson said. “I remember asking Jessie once, I was like, what if I was just consciousness in a jar, would you still be my friend?”

Larson eventually got the hang of it, evidently, since she kicks butt in the movie!

“Once I started learning how to move in it, and I got stronger, I started reaching flow state at work. And now, I like doing the fight sequences more than the action bits.”

The podcast also featured two-time Olympic medalist Laurie Hernandez, and no doubt lively discussion about athleticism and flow states.

We’ll have to see how much Captain Marvel‘s physical prowess has progressed when Larson’s next Marvel solo outing comes out a year from now, 2022’s The Marvels.

Danny Peterson
About the author

Danny Peterson

Danny Peterson covers entertainment news for WGTC and has previously enjoyed writing about housing, homelessness, the coronavirus pandemic, historic 2020 Oregon wildfires, and racial justice protests. Originally from Juneau, Alaska, Danny received his Bachelor's degree in English Literature from the University of Alaska Southeast and a Master's in Multimedia Journalism from the University of Oregon. He has written for The Portland Observer, worked as a digital enterprise reporter at KOIN 6 News, and is the co-producer of the award-winning documentary 'Escape from Eagle Creek.'