Midway through their Actors on Actors chat, Brie Larson and Andrew Scott discover something they have in common: neither of them is a trained actor. Larson approaches the subject almost hesitantly, to explain why she has difficulty talking about her profession. “I didn’t go to school for this,” she said. “No! Me neither!” Scott responds. Enthusiastically, Larson says, “I knew I loved you!” Despite their self-proclaimed shortcomings when it comes to discussing acting, Larson and Scott insightfully explain how they each got their start at a young age, then delved into their current TV projects: his Netflix remake of “Ripley” and his Apple TV+ limited series “Lessons in Chemistry,” which Larson also developed as an executive producer. Both shows originate from books – Patricia Highsmith’s classic thriller and Bonnie Garmus’s 2022 bestseller, respectively – and although their characters are very different (Tom Ripley is a con man turned murderer; Elizabeth Zott is a thwarted physicist) , both stand out from society, looking from the outside.
ANDRE SCOTT: I read that you were shy when you were a child.
BRIE LARSON: No more. I’m completely fine now. I’m totally confident and cool.
SCOTT: I really identified with you when I was reading that, because that’s why I started it when I was a kid. I think there is a slight myth about actors: they are very extroverted or rather precocious. So, have you asked to start playing?
LARSON: Yeah. My parents were chiropractors and I was very shy. I wouldn’t let him go. Of course, it changed the course of my life in many ways. But at a time when I was so shy and had such a hard time expressing myself, at age 6, I was basically told, “Okay, here’s a script for how to have a conversation.” The real fiber that allows me to understand how to have pleasant conversations with people is based on weekly gaming sessions.
SCOTT: I used to go to these drama classes on a Saturday and I was completely shaking before I went in. And then you had to get up in front of your other 7 or 8 year old children and do an improvisation. , or say a poem or something. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that I think it completely changed my life, not just my career. I had a really bad lisp when I was a kid, so I had to take elocution lessons. I had to say, “He sees shells by the sea,” and I got rid of it completely.
Are you feeling shy now?
LARSON: I have had to face myself in so many different ways; This is part of what I’m currently looking for. I mean, I’m so grateful that I had so much rejection growing up. It’s wild! I had a slow progression in my career. I was getting close to things, so I knew I had something, but I wasn’t booking, or I was booking one job a year or something – just enough to give me hope. It gave me so much experience that when I got the opportunity, I was really ready to do it. I never had a moment on set where I was like, “Oh, my God. It’s bigger than I understand. It was always well paced.
SCOTT: Absolutely. I think people who are under a lot of scrutiny from a young age have a harder time experimenting a little. So it’s good that I’ve been unemployed for so long.
LARSON: Turns out I’m so happy I felt like it wasn’t working for me! Look at us now! But yeah, when I was stalking you online, I was like, “Wow, it’s the same.” »
SCOTT: Just to wrap up this whole shy thing, someone said a really great thing to me, like, “It’s okay to be shy.” Be shy. It’s a good thing you’re turning a little red.
LARSON: I blush very easily. It’s horrible.
SCOTT: So “Chemistry Lessons”.
LARSON: Let’s talk about our shows.
SCOTT: She is singular, but it is not shyness. She’s actually quite frank. It’s beautiful. And you’ve been involved since…?
LARSON: I think it took two years. Maybe longer. But I think it took about two years when we started working on it and then filmed it.
SCOTT: Are you so proud of it?
LARSON: Yeah I think so. I’m proud of what we accomplished in the time we did. I have no connection with its release into the world; I just feel like it’s not about me anymore, it’s just images and feelings. I am proud of everything we said on the show. I felt like we brought a lot to it and had a really amazing group of people working on it. And I loved playing her.
SCOTT: Did you watch the edit and all that kind of stuff?
LARSON: All the time. And non-stop.
SCOTT: Have you found that you are able to…
LARSON: … detach? You have to. I’m just like, “Of course I didn’t do everything right.”
SCOTT: I think there’s maybe a fear that people will say, “We need another close-up of Meplease.”
LARSON: I felt very determined to find out what wasn’t working. Especially with a character that I also found very different from me and how little emotion she expresses.
SCOTT: I love that.
LARSON: I struggled with this a lot and felt very lost. I’m just very used to understanding when something works – when it feels very real and I’m just inside. And I was in the same boat with her, but I felt like the part of me that wanted to cry, like, was being pushed. She always twists the knot inside and doesn’t give it to anyone.
When you play Tom Ripley, how does it feel to lie when he lies?
SCOTT: Well, I tried to make him lie as little as possible, so that he would lie to get out of a situation. And he kills to get out of a situation. He is not bloodthirsty. I mean, he could have not murdered, I suppose.
LARSON: Yeah.
SCOTT: We all make this decision.
LARSON: Yeah, no, it’s a choice you make every day.
SCOTT: I guess all this stuff about him being a liar or a sociopath I found unnecessary. The kind of stuff that Tom Ripley, I suppose, is famous for as an iconic literary character: “Is he a psychopath? or “Is he a murderer?” or whatever. But the killer parts – we shot it for almost a year, and they only took a few weeks.
LARSON: He doesn’t usually commit murder. I have a question about playing a character that has existed in many different iterations and forms. I have the impression that you have experience in this field, because you also do theater. Do you have the same approach each time, in terms of searching and watching previous versions? Or do you just block it?
SCOTT: Absolutely, I block it. Because, No. 1, I loved the movie “The Talented Mr. Ripley” – the Minghella movie with Matt Damon and Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow and all these amazing people. But luckily I hadn’t seen him in a very long time. One of the first conversations I had with Steven Zaillian, our writer-director, was “Why?” » And he had such a unique vision of it. He wanted it in a very special way. I was afraid I was too old and blah, blah, blah – I just had a very specific idea based on the movie.
I had to remember that this film was also a reiteration of something: there had already been another version with Alain Delon. There was charges different. It has therefore been reinterpreted a lot. And I think it’s very important that he says, “We want to age the characters.” » And he was talking about this very particular kind of blackish black and white vision that he had. And that made me feel very comfortable. And I always think it’s important, because it happens so much in theater – if it was a Shakespeare character, thousands of people would have played a character. I always find it really interesting. I think the answer, I guess, is to be respectful, but not too respectful. What’s the point of doing it if you want to do it the exact same way? So I didn’t look.
LARSON: What do you think of a sort of Ripley universe – in the Ripley-verse? Just all the Ripleys.
SCOTT: Like Marvel? A bit like the Fantastic Four? Is this a thing? Oh, and they all get together?
LARSON: Yeah, the Ripleys together. I’m just curious. I got a few studios interested, so I just…
SCOTT: You make? So nice of you! You make things happen. Aren’t you tired? Have you set up any projects for me? My God, you are kind.
LARSON: No, I’m also writing a role for myself.
SCOTT: You would be a good Tom Ripley!
Design and production: Keith Raywood