Game on, Kong

Brie Larson elaborates on playing a wartime photographer in Kong: Skull Island
Brie Larson
Brie Larson

In Kong: Skull Island, starring an ensemble cast of Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L Jackson, John Goodman, 
and Brie Larson among others, the story of King Kong moves from the 1930s to a more modern setting. In the film, Larson plays wartime photojournalist, Mason Weaver. “To me, this story feels like an allegory for the animal nature that’s within us all,” Larson remarks, adding, “We’re so far removed now from that part of ourselves; we seem to feel the need to overcome it in so many ways. It also taps into the ways we deal with the world around us—how we treat nature, value it, and how we value other human beings as well.” 
Larson describes Mason Weaver as a ‘cool character’. “She’s a war photographer but considers herself an ‘anti-war’ photographer during the Vietnam War. That’s gotten her into trouble. I saw this role as a chance to pay respect to the women who really did do this job and are still doing it,” says Larson. Interestingly, when she was 17, she took a photography course at Cal Arts, which she says helped her get a feel of the part. 
“This was a great opportunity to get back into photography.  I took a lot of photos on set and started to really see the world through Weaver’s eyes.With any part, I do small things to get myself to see what the character sees and once you start looking at the world through a lens— and I think this is such a beautiful metaphor— you start seeing people differently because you can watch every little nuance of their expressions. One of the really fun things we did were some improvs of me trying to take pictures of our stunt doubles. You’re trying to catch the moment between the moment—not when they’re smiling, but inner moments in between.” 

Kong: Skull Island releases on March 10
 

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