Interviewer: So, great film, awesome, so much fun.
Brie Larson: [chuckles] Thank you.
Interviewer: It is! It's fantastic. Tell us a little bit about your character.
Larson: Sure. I play Mason Weaver, she is a self-proclaimed anti-war photographer.
Um, and she's not afraid to do whatever it takes to get the shot.
And in this case, it means that she's willing to sneak on to this secret mission
and figure out what's going on on Skull Island.
Interviewer: Now, why do you think it is that people are constantly interested in the King Kong story,
iteration after iteration? What do you think interests them so much?
Larson: Well, I think it's because it taps into our own human nature.
We've got two sides of us. And there's one that really wants to control and dominate
and wants to be, like, the most important, and most powerful.
And then there's another part of us that knows that we need to work with compassion and kindness,
and that we don't need to use so much force, in order for us to unite.
Interviewer: And what do you think, how is this one different from previous iterations, do you think?
Larson: Well, the cool think about this movie is that it's a lot different.
I mean, first of all, Kong is, I think, five times bigger?
He's absolutely massive.
It takes place in a completely different period of time.
'70s, we've got the Vietnam War as part of the backdrop.
And a whole new set of characters, that are completely different from the other ones.
Interviewer: And talking about these characters, you've got a great ensemble cast there.
And, uh, can you talk a little bit about -- did you spend a lot of time with them?
And I know that we can also talk about the locations, too, that you shot at.
Larson: Mm-hm. Interviewer: So can you talk a little bit about that?
Larson: Yeah, we shot in Australia, Hawaii, and Vietnam,
in, like, really deep, secluded parts,
to try and get the feel of what it's like to be in land that's been untouched by man.
So because of that, like, a lot of the time, there's no cell service, there's certainly not Wi-Fi,
it was too far away to go back to your trailer between set-ups,
so we were all kind of just together, in a tent, outside in the jungle, for, I don't know, ten hours a day.
So you become very close. [Larson and Interviewer laugh]
Interviewer: There's also -- there's a scene in the film where you're seeing Kong close up for the first time.
And it --
it evokes so much emotion, like, you can really see it and feel it in your face.
Where did you draw from, in order -- because obviously, you're not seeing this --
in real life. Larson: Right. [chuckles]
Interviewer: But it was amazing to see that on screen. Did you -- how did you evoke that emotion?
Larson: Um... hm, I don't know. It's kind of magic.
Part of it came from an experience that I had in India, where I got to touch an elephant,
and I was really conflicted with the experience,
because I had never been so close to something that's so much bigger than me,
and so much stronger than me.
And so I kept kind of feeling this push and pull, where I'd get close to it, and then I'd take a step back,
and I was sort of laughing and crying, and --
for me, what was so powerful about it was that here was this creature that could very easily hurt me,
but it doesn't, because there's just this deep gentleness mixed in with all that strength.
So I imagine that that was sort of similar to what it would be like to have this face time with Kong.
Interviewer: Yeah, that was amazing.
And, what do you hope that people take away from this film?
Larson: [exhales] I don't know what I hope people take away.
I just think that the film -- it asks some really great questions of us.
What's important to us? What are we willing to risk our life for?
How do we want to handle the untouched land on our planet?
How do we want to protect the vulnerable?
And I think that this movie does it in a really fun way.
Interviewer: It does. And, of course your character is a photographer.
I noticed that there was some photography out --
Larson: Mm-hm. Interviewer: that they were showing around here.
And I'm understanding that these are photos that you actually took.
Larson: Yeah. Yeah.
Interviewer: Which was amazing. Did you just take those along the -- while you were filming?
Larson: Mm-hm, yeah.
I usually figure out some sort of hobby to do on set,
because it's really hard to read books, or,
we couldn't really go on our phones, 'cause we were in the middle of nowhere, no cell service.
So you kind of want something that allows you to stay in the same mindset as your character,
and explore it, but it's kind of meditative.
And so taking photos just seemed like a natural thing to do between takes.
Because I'm in gorgeous locations with really captivating actors with great faces, and --
with places I'd never been before. Um --
So at first, it just started off as a way for me to explore, and then I realized that I had, like...
a lot of film that I had taken, so, um, it got secretly developed, and now, here it is.
[Interviewer and Larson laugh]
Interviewer: It's really great photography. Larson: Thanks.
Interviewer: It was great. Well, great job, great film. Larson: Thank you.