Brie Larson

Marvel’s newest lead, Brie Larson of ‘Captain Marvel’ had had a steady acting career before she suddenly burst into the big leagues, after winning the Oscar, Golden Globe, and BAFTA Awards for her star-making turn in ‘Room’.  This led to her quickly signing on to headline Marvel’s first female-fronted action movie.

This follows Marvel’s pattern of hiring up-and-comers who are just gaining mainstream notice, like Terrence Howard and Jeremy Renner, who were signed after their Academy Award nominations for ‘Hustle & Flow’ and ‘The Hurt Locker’ respectively.

She’d done extensive acting before, including costarring on the Bob Sagat sitcom ‘Raising Dad’ (with Kat Dennings, Darcy in the ‘Thor’ movies) and Showtime’s award-winning ‘United States of Tara’ starring Toni Collette.  She even lent her voice to the parody ‘Farce of the Penguins’, along with her ‘Captain Marvel’ costar Samuel L. Jackson.

But dive back and there is a hidden footnote in her career– that time she was a pop star.

You may recall her singing in ‘Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World’ as indie rocker Envy Adams.  But before that, she was channeling her inner Hilary Duff in a pair of strummy mid-’00s pop videos.  ‘She Said’ and ‘Hope Has Wings’ (god, that title!) sound just like every song on Radio Disney circa 2005, complete with optimistic, empowering lyrics, with just a slight Avril Lavigne sneer.  Larson’s hair looks greasy on purpose, you guys!, and she wears too much mascara and too many bracelets.  But hey, she plays her own guitar!

Check out the most powerful Marvel Superhero before she was famous, back when she bore more than a passing resemblance to Ashley Tisdale:

Larson supplied the optimistic anthem ‘Hope Has Wings’ for the direct-to-video flick ‘Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus’.  This low-budget clip uses the popular money-saving concept of the artist supposedly recording the song, so no sets, no costume changes, etc.  Footage of Larson is intercut with clips from the horribly CGI-rendered movie.

 

Who knew that this extra from a ProActive commercial would grow up to punch old ladies on commuter trains?

Larson’s career has certainly come a long way!

Directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, ‘Captain Marvel’ stars Brie Larson, Annette Bening, Gemma Chan, Clark Gregg, Djimon Hounsou, Samuel L. Jackson, Jude Law, Lashana Lynch, Ben Mendelsohn, and Lee Pace, and swoops into theaters March 8, 2019.