Brianne Sidonie Desaulniers (born October 1, 1989), known professionally as Brie Larson, is an<!--Awards don't get listed here--> American actress, singer and filmmaker. She played supporting roles in comedies as a teenager, and has since expanded to leading roles in independent films and blockbusters. Her accolades include an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award. Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2019.
At age six, Larson was the youngest student admitted to a training program at the American Conservatory Theater, and she began her acting career in 1998 with a comedy sketch on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. She appeared as a regular in the sitcom Raising Dad (2001–2002) and experimented with a music career, releasing the album Finally Out of P.E. (2005). She subsequently had supporting roles in the comedy films Hoot (2006), Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010), and 21 Jump Street (2012), and appeared as a sardonic teenager in the television series United States of Tara (2009–2011).
Larson's breakthrough came as a social worker in the independent drama Short Term 12 (2013) along with supporting roles in the coming-of-age romance The Spectacular Now (2013) and the comedy Trainwreck (2015). She gained wider recognition for her performance as a kidnapping victim in the drama Room (2015), for which she received the Academy Award for Best Actress. She ventured into blockbusters with the monster film Kong: Skull Island (2017) and by starring as Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, beginning with Captain Marvel (2019). Larson returned to television to star in the miniseries Lessons in Chemistry (2023), for which she earned a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress.
Larson has co-written and co-directed two short films, and made her feature film directorial debut with the independent comedy-drama Unicorn Store (2017). For producing the virtual reality series The Messy Truth VR Experience (2020), she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Interactive Program. A gender equality activist and an advocate for sexual assault survivors, Larson is vocal about social and political issues.
Early life
thumb|upright=1|alt=A picture of the Geary Theatre at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco|The [[American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, where Larson was the youngest student admitted]]
Brianne Sidonie Desaulniers was born on October 1, 1989, in Sacramento, California to Heather (née Edwards) and Sylvain Desaulniers, homeopathic chiropractors who ran a practice together. They have another daughter, Milaine. Her father is Franco-Manitoban; French was Larson's first language. She holds dual citizenship of Canada and the United States. She was mostly home-schooled, which she believed allowed her to explore innovative and abstract experiences. Describing her early life, Larson has said she was "strait-laced and square", and that she shared a close bond with her mother but was shy and had social anxiety. During the summer, she wrote and directed her own home movies in which she cast her cousins, filmed in her garage. At age six, she expressed interest in becoming an actress, later remarking that the "creative arts was just something that was always in me". That same year, at age six, she auditioned for a training program at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, where she became its youngest student.
Larson's parents divorced when she was aged seven. She had a dysfunctional relationship with her father, saying: "As a kid I tried to understand him and understand the situation. But he didn't do himself any favors. I don't think he ever really wanted to be a parent."
As her last name was difficult to pronounce, she adopted the stage name Larson from her Swedish great-grandmother, as well as an American Girl doll named Kirsten Larson that she received as a child. Her first job was performing a commercial parody for Barbie, named "Malibu Mudslide Barbie", in a 1998 episode of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. She subsequently took on guest roles in several television series, including Touched by an Angel and Popular.