Brie Larson Says She Was Worried About Joining The MCU: “I Was Afraid Of What Would Happen To Me”

Brie Larson may have been the first female superhero to helm a Marvel movie, but that doesn’t mean she immediately jumped on the idea.

In an interview with Harper’s Bazaar, the Captain Marvel star revealed that the idea of ​​playing the superhero initially scared her because of the potential global superstar effects that could come with it.

“I was afraid of what would happen to me,” she told the publication, sharing that she feared taking on a major role in a multi-billion dollar franchise would cost her the ability to become a normal person in the world and prevent her from doing the things she likes.

Larson explained that the choice she had about whether or not to enter the Marvel Cinematic Universe felt surreal to her. “I was like ‘What kind of world is this, where are these the choices I have to make as an artist?'” she remembers thinking at the time.

In the end, the opportunity was worth the risk for her, but she said the MCU comes with a lot of expectations that she always tries to contain as best she can.

“Anytime I feel like I’m being put on too much of a pedestal, it’s my job to figure out how to remove that in myself,” said the Oscar winner.

Following her 2016 Academy Award win for Best Actress for A24’s Roompeople — including her team — expected Larson to continue her career with similar weighty roles, but instead she starred in projects like Netflix’s Unicorn Store and musically Basmati bluesbefore entering the multiverse.

“What I always come back to is that I have to live with myself in a way that no one else has to. I have to live with the choices I make, whether I regret it or not,” she said in the interview. “Artistically, I’ve always understood that. But for some reason, like me, it’s been completely different. You can follow me on set and say, ‘Wow, she really knows what she’s doing.’ And then I go home, and I’m like, ‘I don’t know what I’m doing.’ I become insecure and I think I am not enough.”