Attach John Goodman’s name to anything, and it’ll instantly be made 50-100% better because of it — under-cooked meals, the flu, anything — but movies and TV are obviously where he thrives. Most known for his work on Roseanne, The Conners, The Big Lebowski and other comedic projects, Goodman is no stranger to playing serious for dramas and thrillers, but it’s not often he aligns himself with the horror genre. So blessed be this exception to the norm.

The Emmy-winning thesp has signed on for a role in the offbeat creature feature Skeletons, which was already high on my list of upcoming horror movies, as it’s the latest directorial effort from JT Moller, whose 2024 sophomore effort Strange Darling was a low-budget, high-octane thriller that won over critics and audiences. (It’s currently streaming on Paramount+.)

Mollner also scripted 2025’s Stephen King adaptation The Long Walk, helmed by Francis Lawrence, further speaking to his horror-leaning vibes. I was admittedly less familiar with his 2016 debut Outlaws and Angels, but already feel like I’ll watch anything this guy brings to the big screen. Especially if John Goodman is front and center.

What’s more, Goodman is joining a cast of talents who are quite familiar with indie productions:

• Brie Larson
• Kyle Gallner
• Willa Fitzgerald
• Ione Skye
• Daithí Ó Haragáin

As far as what Skeletons is actually about, it's being described as a modern-day take on creature-feature horrors, centering on a young boy who gradually comes to the horrific conclusion that his loving parents have been keeping secrets about what his mother really is.

The film is based on a short story written by Phillip Fracassi, with a screenplay initially penned by Brian Duffield, who helmed the impending 2026 movie release Whalefall. (JT Mollner also took a revision pass on the script.) Sony Pictures reportedly paid upwards of $25 million to land distribution rights, with several A-tier producers such as Roy Lee and J.J. Abrams.

Speaking of, Abrams produced one of John Goodman's most noteworthy horror projects to date, 2016’s stealth sequel 10 Cloverfield Lane. For one reason or another, the actor has largely steered clear from straightforward horror movies, and opts more for multi-genre projects such as 1990's Arachnophobia, 1998's Fallen, 2011's Red State, and 2019's Captive State.

Skeletons also marks the third time Goodman and Brie Larson will share the screen in a feature. They first co-starred in Rupert Wyatt's 2014 crime thriller The Gambler, and then worked together again (and again with Wyatt) for 2017's Kong: Skull Island. Something tells me Skeletons' big reveal won't be about the kid's mom being a secret blackjack dealer or giant ape.

Skeletons is currently in production, and will hopefully be among the movies hitting theaters in 2027, but stay tuned.

During The Marvels, Brie Larson couldn’t and wouldn’t stop posting impressive workout videos. If you’re going to play one of Marvel’s most powerful heroines, you gotta bring it! However, does the MCU actress have competition with a certain Australian actress who dominated Barbenheimer in 2023? She might, because I just found out Margot Robbie won an insane plank challenge with her Barbie castmates.

Brie Larson Knows How To Crush A One-Armed Pull-Up

Brie Larson made it her mission to get into superhero shape to play Captain Marvel. From pushing a Jeep up a hill to toning her guns with massive weights, Larson hasn’t backed away from the physical demands of portraying an MCU character.

But the one workout that was a real standout during her training was crushing a one-armed pull-up like a champ and then doing a little happy dance after. The Room actress was able to pull off that maneuver in a way that can make anyone envious of that skill. For The Marvels, Larson made a comeback with those one-armed pull-ups like time never passed. Seeing the Oscar winner’s rigorous workout dedication clearly shows her superhero strength lies outside of the big screen, too.

However, do you know who else has superhero strength? Barbie.

Barbie's Margot Robbie Won An Insane Plank Challenge

During the filming of Barbie (which is available to stream with an HBO Max subscription), there’s no denying how tight-knit the cast was with one another. Whether they got together for a “sexy Barbie sleepover” party or reunited for the film’s screenplay book release, the Barbieland residents were inseparable. And this included at the gym.

However, Grazia Magazine reported that Margot Robbie’s personal trainer for the movie, David Higgins, had the cast and crew get together for a little plank challenge. Lo and behold, the film’s lead ended up being the winner out of the cast!

Based on PopBase’s image (via X), we see the actress flip two birds and stick her tongue to the camera, standing by the whiteboard displaying her plank challenge win. You’ve gotta admit that in that photo, it looks like Robbie is channeling her Harley Quinn character right there.

Higgins came first, of course, with a time of 5 minutes and 32 seconds. However, Robbie came in an impressive second with a time of 4 minutes and 10 seconds.

I can’t even do a single push-up, yet the Wuthering Heights actress can stay in position on the floor for 4 minutes. That’s the female empowerment that Barbie lives on. And Brie Larson, watch out!

Brie Larson may have impressed fans with her pull-up skills, but Margot Robbie slays us all with her insane plank challenge win. Now, I want to see the two stars go head-to-head in a workout challenge that’ll really push their unstoppable force skills.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is known for constantly bringing new content to fans, both in theaters and streaming with a Disney+ subscription. Arguably the most highly anticipated upcoming Marvel movie is Avengers: Doomsday, which will be the franchise's next big crossover event. And after Brie Larson was asked if she'll be appearing, a scooper made a bold claim about Captain Marvel.

What we know about Avengers: Doomsday has been limited, with plenty of fans filling in the blanks with theories and rumors. Brie Larson was noticeably missing from the Doomsday cast announcement, but there are plenty of folks hoping Captain Marvel still appears. Let's break down the latest from the Oscar-winning actress, as well as a rumor that's been making the rounds online.

What Brie Larson Said About Doomsday

After Avengers: Doomsday's cast was announced, Kevin Feige confirmed more actors would be part of the next Avengers movie. This was proven when the Captain America Doomsday teaser featured Chris Evans' Steve Rogers. In an interview with ET at the premiere of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, Brie Larson was asked where Carol Danvers is during the Russo Brothers' forthcoming blockbuster. She responded quickly with:

Clearly Larson knows that Marvel's security is tight, because she didn't hesitate before giving this answer. It still remains to be seen if Captain Marvel ends up appearing in Doomsday, but the Room star wasn't about to answer one way or another. And shortly after this clip went viral, a new rumor started online about how Carol Danvers may or may not appear in the crossover event this December.

The New Rumor About Captain Marvel

Despite The Marvels bombing at the box office, fans assume that Larson's hero will be around for the forthcoming battle against Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom. After all, she's one of the strongest characters in the entire MCU. Shortly after Lason's comments circulated online scooper Daniel Richtman took to Twitter with the following claim:

Every Marvel movie has reshoots, which can either change the final product slightly or in a major way. Rumors claim that Doomsday's reshoots are simply about refining the crossovers and character interactions, so adding Captain Marvel would be a very different story. If these big changes are being made, it sounds like the reshoots will be significant like Captain America: Brave New World. We'll just have to see if this latest rumor ends up being legit or not.

All will be revealed when Avengers: Doomsday hits theaters on December 18th as part of the 2026 movie release list. Hopefully a full trailer is coming soon, which might offer more clues about what The Russo Brothers have up their sleeves for the blockbuster.

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie hits theaters this week, and while a lot of fans are certainly excited for the new animated movie, it’s difficult to believe that anybody is quite as excited as Brie Larson. The Captain Marvel star voices the character of Rosalina in the new film, and her love of all things Nintendo and Mario runs deep, so deep that she’s apparently ended relationships over the franchise.

Brie Larson has already shown us just how big a fan she is of Mario, how excited she was to be cast as Rosalina in the new film. She secretly recorded herself revealing the casting outside of Epic Universe’s Super Mario World months before she was allowed to say anything. We know her love for Mario and Nintendo is genuine. However, in a recent post on Instagram, she revealed that as a teen, when she had to choose between a boyfriend and SuperMario Galaxy, she picked the game.

I’m not going to lie, I have some serious questions about this. I don’t doubt the story, I’m just going to require a lot more details. Just how seriously was Brie Larson taking Super Mario Galaxy? Don’t get me wrong, getting 100% completion on a game like that takes some serious dedication, but just how into it was she? I've loved some video games in my life, but they've never ended relationships, even if they took up a lot of free time.

I’m going to guess there was more going on in this relationship than just issues over a Mario game. This wasn’t the only thing that broke them up, right? And what is a guy doing complaining about how seriously a girl plays a video game? This one statement opens the door to so many questions. Though honestly, if he was that worried about a video game, he probably wasn't a long-term prospect anyway.

What is clear is that voicing Rosalina is literally a dream come true for Brie Larson. It’s unlikely it even was a dream back then. The only Super Mario Bros. movie at that point had been the live-action flop, and there was no reason to believe we’d ever see the characters in a movie again, much less with a sequel that would bring elements of Super Mario Galaxy into the mix.

And Rosalina isn't all we're getting. After a lot of rumors its been confirmed that Nintendo's StarFox will also be part of the movie, and the voice of Fox McCloud, Glen Powell, seems just as excited for his appearance as Brie Larson has been.

Of course, the previous Super Mario Bros. Movie from Illumination was one of the highest-grossing animated films ever made, and there’s every reason to believe this sequel will do as well. The Super Mario Galaxy movie will officially hit theaters on April 1st.

When any of the cast of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie shares the tiniest of teasers, longtime Nintendo fans immediately zoom in. Case in point, Brie Larson just shared another look at Princess Rosalina, the character she voices in the 2026 movie schedule entry. What seems to have franchise devotees psyched this time around is one very specific detail that only the most astute fans would likely notice.

Larson recently dropped an Instagram tease tied to the upcoming video game adaptation, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, and while Rosalina herself looks stunning, in all her celestial glory, eagle-eyed followers quickly zeroed in on the background, which gives us our first clear glimpse of Rosalina’s Observatory, her iconic home from the game. See for yourself in the image below:

Now, I fully understand why people are excited to see Rosalina animated on the big screen. She’s one of the most beloved characters introduced in the Wii era of the Super Mario game franchise. But the inclusion of the Observatory is a deep cut I fully respect.

Anyone who played Super Mario Galaxy likely already knows the Observatory wasn’t just set dressing but the emotional hub of the game. But, for folks who aren’t familiar, Rosalina’s Observatory, officially known as the Comet Observatory, is essentially her cosmic home base in Super Mario Galaxy.

Floating in outer space, the aforementioned location serves as the game’s central hub, where Mario travels between different galaxies. It’s a glowing space station powered by stars, inhabited by the adorable Lumas and ruled by Rosalina herself. Beyond being a launch point for adventures, it’s also deeply tied to her emotional backstory, complete with a storybook narrative and one of the franchise’s most beloved musical themes. In short, it’s not just a pretty background — it’s the heart of her character.

So, yes, I know a ton of folks are still raving about the big Yoshi reveal following the recent trailer. And who can blame them? I love Yoshi as much as the next person. However, the reveal of the Observatory signals something bigger: this movie might actually lean into Rosalina’s lore instead of just using her as another princess cameo. And fans absolutely clocked it.

Fans React To Rosalina Observatory Reveal

As expected, die-hard longtime Mario gamers are having a field day with the Rosalina reveal. Here’s just a taste of what popped up under Larson’s post:

• @peachshandholder: “HER HOME AT THE BACKGROUND TOO THANK U NINTENDO 🩵🌟🩵🌟 our MOTHER IS HERE ‼️‼️”
• @esc.apethenight05: “IS THAT ROSALINA’S OBSERVATORY?”
• @mary_okart: “THE MOTHER TO THE LUMA’S AND US ALL ❤️”
• @Nintenprincess: “THE COLORS, ROSALINA IS BEAUTIFUL!!🩵✨”
• @starpowerprincess: “My space goddess is finally here 🔥🔥🔥🔥🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩”
• @evanboi1211: “BEST MARIO PRINCESS”
• @mevans_2001: “No other movie will top this one.”

That “HER HOME AT THE BACKGROUND TOO” comment says it all. The Observatory isn’t just a building. It’s proof that the folks behind the highly anticipated Super Mario Bros. The Movie follow-up know exactly what longtime players care about.

Since her inception, Rosalina has felt like one of the most emotionally layered characters in the Mario universe. There's her storybook and connection to the stars as well as the Lumas orbiting her like adopted cosmic children. If the movie preserves even a fraction of that tone, fans will surely be very happy.

Of course, we still don’t know how large her role will be in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, which hits theaters on April 1, 2026. However, if Brie Larson’s tease is anything to go by, Nintendo and Universal aren’t just skimming the surface of the games like some of the worst video game adaptations do. Instead, the studio is digging deep and giving fans what they want.

There are few careers that allow workers to have unique day to day experiences quite like acting. Let’s take Captain Marvel star Brie Larson, for instance. Since starting her acting career as a child she’s nabbed roles in popular movies like 13 Going On 30, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and Room, which won her the Best Actress Oscar, along with starring in numerous TV shows and now being confirmed as the voice for Rosalina in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. Larson has gotten to do cool things that many people dream of for her work, but is now opening up about how being on set can mean having “no agency” and what she does to combat it.

How Does Brie Larson Deal With Having ‘No Agency’ On Movie Sets?

It seems pretty clear that Brie Larson (who’s starred in many of the Marvel movies in order and who some think might be in Avengers: Doomsday) really enjoys her gig as an actor. Not only has the Fast X talent been doing it for nearly 30 years, and even has a very sweet reason for wanting to join the MCU as Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel, but she seems to always be having the most fun.

However, while speaking with the Your Mama’s Kitchen podcast recently, the 2026 movies lead revealed that one of the downsides of spending so much time on movie and TV sets is having to be told what to do all the time, and more so than someone with a more typical job. As she said:

Alright, so, many people have jobs that require them to take lunch and breaks at a certain time or at least for only specific amounts of time, but can you imagine literally being told when and where to stand and, of course, also having exactly what you say and pretty much all your physical movements “dictated” for your entire workday? It would suck!

This idea of not having “agency” when it comes to some pretty basic things about going about your daily life when being on set as an actor hadn’t even occurred to me. And, as the Close Personal Friends star (whose movie will feature Meghan Markle in a cameo role) noted, it’s such a major part of the job that the realization that you can’t really do anything when or how you want (including going to the bathroom) sort of sneaks up on you. Luckily, though, she’s found a pretty simple way to deal with the stress that comes from it. Larson said:

See? So easy. She just loads up her bento boxes and lunch box with whatever she’s in the mood for on any given day. That way, they might control when she eats, but they can’t control what she eats.

Yesterday, we were graced with the first trailer for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. While it didn’t reveal a great deal about the film, it did introduce us to a couple of new characters who will appear in the film: Bowser Jr, voiced by Benny Safdie, and Rosalina, voiced by Brie Larson.

Fans have been quite excited to see that Rosalina would debut in the film, something they’ve suspected ever since the title was revealed. However, it’s possible nobody is as excited as Brie Larson herself, who posted celebrations of the reveal all over her Instagram. This included a fantastic video she shot while visiting Super Nintendo World at Epic Universe when it opened six months ago, but couldn’t reveal until now.

It’s actually pretty hilarious to see Brie Larson at Epic Universe and realize that this was likely part of a sort of pre-PR campaign for the film. I remember thinking it was a little odd to see Larson, whose biggest franchise association previously had her visiting Disney Parks, at Universal’s newest theme park. Now it all makes sense.

Larson also made a big deal out of getting her Nintendo Switch 2 when the console was released. A video of her unlocking Rosalina in the newest version of Mario Kart is also included in the Instagram gallery above. She really has wanted to talk about this for a long time.

Even as far back as the first Super Mario Bros. Movie, when Princess Peach referred to the wider galaxy, fans suspected that any (at the time theoretical) sequel might be inspired by the two Super Mario Galaxy video games, and thus might include Rosalina. When the title of the film was revealed to be The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, those suspicions only grew.

The trailer revealed a new villain in the form of Bowser Jr., who is attempting to rescue his father, who is still a tiny version of himself when we see Jack Black’s Bowser in the trailer. Exactly how Rosalina fits into it all is unclear, but fans are clearly very excited to find out.

It’s unclear exactly how long Brie Larson has been keeping her little secret, but voice acting for animated movies usually happens quite early, so it’s probably been a while. While we don’t actually hear any of Brie Larson’s performance in the trailer outside of maybe a few grunts, that’s hardly important. We got to see Rosalina destroy a massive machine trying to attack her, without really breaking a sweat.

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie hits theaters on April 3, 2026, and we’ll certainly get at least one more big trailer between now and then. It will probably give us a bit more of Brie Larson’s Rosalina and reveal her place in the plot.

Arguably the most highly anticipated upcoming video game adaptation that doesn’t focus on street fights or possessed animatronics, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is taking everyone’s favorite Nintendo mascot into the depths of outer space for a celebration turned sour thanks to that dastardly Bowser. And now we have our first big look at the sequel that’s likely destined for a billion-dollar box office when it hits theaters in 2026.

Like a lot of Nintendo enthusiasts, the gamers here at CinemaBlend were pumped when Galaxy was confirmed as the sequel’s focus, in part due to Rosalina’s introduction, and the trailer somehow manages to deliver the same kind of space-faring whimsy that made the original game such a surprising standout for the Wii. Why can’t we have super-cool Star Festivals here on Earth?

The trailer itself is really more of an extended clip with a montage tacked onto it, but I'm not complaining, since it introduces the one, the only, ROSALINA! And not just in a quick and meaningless way, either. We get to see her showing off her powers in a big way, and she even gets to do the action trope of looking completely calm as a gigantic explosion goes off in the background.

The Nintendo Direct showcase revealed not only the trailer itself, but also revealed the newest cast members to the franchise, with an MCU vet and an award-winning director now part of the team.

• Voice of Rosalina: Brie Larson
• Voice of Bowser Jr.: Benny Safdie

Speaking of Bowser Jr., check out the evil offspring with a sweet new color scheme, which seems to be confirmation that this movie will also be bringing in elements from Super Mario Sunshine.

According to Nintendo mastermind Shigeru Miyamoto, the animation team is “weeks away" from wrapping on the finished product, so there shouldn't be any worries about the sequel getting delayed and pushed to later in the year.

What's more, fans can look forward to way more than just Rosalina and Bowser Jr. as far as new faces are concerned. It was also stated during the live broadcast that audiences can look forward to seeing “an incredible range of characters" joining the party, "many for the first time.”

Surprisingly enough, Bowser Jr. isn't just a second banana baddie, either, and it sounds like Jack Black's villain will stay minimized and locked up for the main story here, with his offspring wreaking havoc to save his pops.

Returning for the sequel are Chris Pratt as Mario, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Charlie Day as Luigi, Jack Black as Bowser, Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, and Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek.

In a world full of studio leaks and insider detail drops, Nintendo and Illumination have kept a pretty firm grasp on all of this project’s details and secrets, though in the week before the trailer dropped, licensed snack packaging from Pillsbury was unveiled that gave fans a sneak peek at Yoshi’s new look, which was pretty much absent from the trailer.

The cookies also offered a pretty big hint that Bowser Jr. would be popping up alongside his dear old dad as a secondary antagonist in The Super Mario Bros. Galaxy Movie. And that ended up panning out, so I guess we should just always believe the cookies. The proof is no longer in the pudding.

The Super Mario Bros. Galaxy Movie will blast off into theaters on April 3, 2026.

The Avengers: Doomsday cast announcement from March included 26 names, plus the already-confirmed Robert Downey Jr. popping up at the end. That’s a bigger lineup of starring actors than most movies ever get, but for an upcoming Marvel movie on the scale of Doomsday, there’s been no shortage of chatter about why certain names weren’t included. Brie Larson is among them, but some Marvel fans think that Carol Danvers, a.k.a. Captain Marvel, will appear in the next Avengers movie after all, especially after seeing a recent photo of the actress posted of herself.

This photo (via MCUFilmNews) shows Larson in a voting booth having just finished her democratic duty. But as you’ll see below, she’s making sure the hood over her head is hiding the wig she’s wearing, which she specifically calls attention to in the lower righthand corner:

Now on the surface, you might not think much of this picture beyond just wondering why Brie Larson would want to hide her wig? But just look at the comments of that X post, and you’ll see a lot of people who think that this is an indication that Larson’s in the middle of additional photography for Avengers: Doomsday, and that she’s covering up how she’s donned Carol Danvers’ hairstyle again. After all, why else would she go to so much effort to hide a wig? Not wanting people to be tipped off by fake hair is something right out of Marvel Studios’ playbook.

So is it plausible that Captain Marvel will indeed appear in Avengers: Doomsday? Possibly, but I don’t think this photo is the smoking gun these fans think it is. For one thing, it’s believed that Doomsday wrapped principal photography in September. So while there will surely be more filming at some point, I doubt it would have already gotten started. Also, it was announced yesterday that Larson is starring in a comedy called Close Personal Friends, which will also include Meghan Markle in a cameo role. That movie began filming at the end of September, so wouldn’t it make more sense that she’s still working on it, and that’s why she’s wearing the wig?

Again, this isn’t to say we won’t see Captain Marvel in Avengers: Doomsday. After all, a handful of actors who weren’t part of the cast announcement have been reported to be in the movie, including Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Holland and Hayley Atwell. Our own Sarah El-Mahmoud also theorized in March that the reason Captain Marvel, among other heroes, weren’t announced is because they’ll be part of a B-team that will appear in Doomsday, but have a bigger role to play in Secret Wars.

Since Avengers: Doomsday doesn’t come out until December 18 on the 2026 movies schedule, unless Marvel Studios is gracious enough in the coming months to announce that Brie Larson will appear in it, we’ll just have to continue speculating about her involvement for the next year. Feel free to pass some of that time by streaming Carol Danvers’ previous MCU appearances with your Disney+ subscription.

While Meghan Markle certainly hasn’t been absent from the public eye for a long time, it has been close to a decade since she was getting attention for her acting. But now it looks like that performing hiatus is coming to an end after eight years, as word’s come in that Meghan, Duchess of Sussex has scored her first acting role since she made her last appearance as Rachel Zane in Suits Season 7. This time around, she’s appearing in a movie that’s going to co-star Brie Larson.

As reported by Variety, Markle is set to have a cameo role in the comedy Close Personal Friends, which Larson will star in with Lily Collins, Jack Quaid, Brie Larson and Henry Golding. The movie is currently filming in Los Angeles, and the story follows a “regular” couple that becomes friends with a celebrity couple while they’re on a trip to Santa Barbara, though this leads to lines getting crossed and things getting awkward. Melissa Villaseñor, Natasia Demetriou, Anna Konkle, Patti Harrison, Jack Shalloo and Dustin Demri-Burns will also appear in Close Personal Friends.

It’s unclear which character Brie Larson will play in this upcoming comedy, as well as exactly what this cameo for Meghan Markle will entail. If I had to guess, she’ll play a fictional version of herself who knows the celebrity couple, and some kind of hijinks will ensue. Perhaps it’ll be something like when Keanu Reeves appeared as himself in the Netflix subscription-exclusive movie Always Be My Maybe, where Markle’s personality sharply contrasts with how she is in real life.

Behind the scenes, Jason Orley is directing Close Personal Friends, and he crafted the story with Isaac Aptaker, who’s writing the screenplay. Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger are producing the comedy, and they previously worked with Orley on I Want You Back, which can be streamed with an Amazon Prime Video subscription. Close Personal Friends hails from Amazon-MGM, but it’s unclear if it will get a theatrical release or be streaming-only.

In addition to her seven-season stint on Suits, Meghan Markle’s other notable acting credits include movies like Remember Me and Horrible Bosses, and guest spots on TV shows like Fringe and Castle. Although she left acting behind upon marrying Prince Harry in 2018, Markle has continued to be active in the media since then. This ranges from the couple’s production company Archwell Productions partnering up with Netflix for various documentary series, to her narrating the 2020 Disneynature documentary film Elephant.

Stay tuned for more details on Meghan Markle’s acting return in Close Personal Friends, including when it will be released. Going back to Brie Larson, she’s most recently appeared in the Apple TV+ miniseries Lessons in Chemistry and an episode of Hulu’s The Bear, but there’s no word on if we’ll see her reprise Carol Danvers, a.k.a. Captain Marvel, in either of the next two Avengers movies.

A lot of people have a lot of questions about next year’s Avengers: Doomsday, and apparently, that includes people who are already in the MCU. While we already know who will make up the bulk of the Avengers: Doomsday cast, there are some stars whose fates are unclear, and even Brie Larson wants to know.

One name that was conspicuously absent from the Doomsday cast list was Jeremy Renner. Despite the fact that he was in London at the same time Doomsday was filming there, there has been no confirmation that he will be in the movie. In a recent interview on SiriusXM, Renner got asked a question by a previous guest, who is also an MCU star, and she tried to get him to spill the beans, asking…

The question alone is hilarious. Considering that Brie Larson is getting asked this question on a regular basis a well, and she must know that Jeremy Renner has to field it all the time, her being the one to ask the question is funny. She's basically just adding to the pile on. Of course, Renner’s response is even funnier when he asks…

To be fair, asking who’s in Avengers: Doomsday is a fair question because Marvel keeps so many secrets that often the other stars don’t know what’s happening in the film. Brie Larson may legitimately not know the answer, and so she's honestly curious. Simu Liu admitted that while he knew he would be in the film when the major casting announcement was made, every other name revealed was a surprise to him. Alan Cumming admitted that he filmed fight scenes not even knowing who he was fighting.

The fact that Jeremy Renner and Brie Larson haven’t been announced either means they’re not in the film or that we’re not to know they’re in the film. Whichever one it is, these two MCU stars are clearly having some fun with each other over the open question.

What makes the whole thing even funnier is that both Larson and Renner may know whether or not each other will be in Avengers: Doomsday. Larson might be asking a question she actually knows the answer to, whether or not either of them are in the film.

It’s possible that some members of the Avengers: Doomsday cast won’t be revealed until we sit down in theaters to watch it in about 14 months. If Jeremy Renner and Brie Larson aren’t in, that’s fine, because we can start up the entire debate again soon since Avengers: Secret Wars is likely to begin filming before too long.

Halloween is almost here, and we can bet there will be more than a few superheroes ringing doorbells and looking for candy in a couple of weeks. More than a few of those superheroes will probably look a lot like Brie Larson did in Captain Marvel, and the actress admits that’s part of the reason she made the movie in the first place.

In a recent appearance on The View, Larson was asked what it meant to her to see girls dressed up as Captain Marvel for Halloween, and she joked that the hosts were going to make her cry at the beginning of her interview. She went on to explain that it means “everything” to her to see anybody dressed up in the Captain Marvel costume, and she’s happy to see people take the opportunity to feel powerful. Larson explained…

Captain Marvel was the first female-led superhero movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It was a movie that some at Marvel didn't want to make. It was a pretty big deal when Larson was cast in the role, and the first movie went on to gross a billion dollars at the global box office, showing that Captain Marvel certainly had an impact on a lot of different people.

While the follow-up film The Marvels wasn’t nearly as successful as Captain Marvel, the movie reportedly lost Marvel Studios more than a little money. While the MCU hasn’t been putting up the same sort of box office numbers it did during the Infinity Saga, regardless of the gender of the leads, The Marvels was a low point for the franchise.

Still, merchandise is a big part of the Disney machine so you can be sure that Captain Marvel Halloween costumes were out there,m, and plenty of kids wanted to wear them.

As such, we really have no idea what the plans are for Larson in the MCU. She was asked straight out later in the interview if she would be appearing in Avengers: Doomsday, and she politely, but not unsurprisingly, refused to answer the question. Larson’s name wasn’t on the list of Avengers: Doomsday cast confirmed by Marvel, and neither were her Marvels co-stars, but there’s always a possibility they'll still appear.

If nothing else, there is the post-credits scene from The Marvels that will hopefully be dealt with at some point. We know the X-Men, who appeared in that scene, will have a part to play in Doomsday. It seems likely that Carol Danvers and her friends aren't quite done yet.

Greta Lee is known for her powerhouse emotional performances in films like Past Lives and shows like Russian Doll and The Morning Show. However, now the actress is dipping her toe into something new by starring in the blockbuster action film Tron: Ares. The movie required a lot more from her physically than she’d experienced in the past, meaning it was time to get a trainer. Now, the Emmy nominee is opening up about her crazy training ritual, working with a Marvel trainer, consulting Brie Larson and how hard work paid off big time.

In a recent interview on LIVE with Kelly and Mark, Lee chatted with the titular co-hosts about what separated her new movie from acting ventures in the past, and different skills she had to acquire, like riding a motorcycle and running for long stretches. She found starring in the highly anticipated film on the 2025 movie schedule pretty daunting, considering she had never done anything remotely similar to this, and wasn’t quite in “Tom Cruise” shape yet. She said:

After getting a trainer, however, there wasn’t much Lee couldn’t do. Disney brought out all the stops for the Tron: Ares cast, and set Lee up with the same trainer who trained a lot of the actors for the Marvel movies to get them in superhero shape. The actress chatted with Brie Larson, who notably got into incredible shape for Captain Marvel, as well, and eventually got into this kind of shape herself. She said:

Lee wears a biker suit for the majority of the film’s runtime, so despite her being in the best shape of her life, there wasn’t exactly an opportunity to show off her new physique. The hard work still paid off, as the House of Dynamite star was able to carry out some of the stunts in fight sequences and was able to run intensely for long stretches. However, Lee still wishes there was a scene in Tron: Ares where you could see her abs. She joked:

I totally get it. If I were an actress in the best shape of my life for an action film, I’d want to show off a little bit, too. All the superhero movies give their actors an opportunity to show off their shredded abs, like Chris Pratt in Guardians of the Galaxy and Henry Cavill in Man of Steel. I think Lee should’ve had her moment as well, and not just have to tell us about it. Hopefully, Tron: Ares gets a sequel, and Lee can have her flexing moment in the near future.

You can see the Golden Globe nominee in Tron: Ares, which is currently in theaters nationwide. Fans of the Tron world can also revisit its predecessors, Tron and Tron: Legacy, with a Disney+ subscription. Additionally, you can check out Greta Lee in Kathryn Bigelow’s A House of Dynamite, which will be available with a Netflix subscription on October 24.

Brie Larson has racked up her share of physically and emotionally impressive moments on screen, from her intense scenes in Room (which earned her an Oscar) to the superhero training for Captain Marvel and even the grueling rock-climbing sequences in The Glass Castle. But her latest feat? In addition to juggling a packed 2025 movie schedule, the MCU A-lister is casually balancing on top of two tin cans like it’s just another Wednesday, and doing it in a pair of blazing hot pink boots that fans of recent celebrity Barbiecore fashion trends may envy.

The Scott Pilgrim Takes Off voice actor shared the short video on Instagram. It's the kind of video you scroll past, then instantly scroll back to just to confirm you saw what you think you saw. Check it out for yourself below and be amazed:

Balancing on cans is no small feat (seriously, try it at home — carefully — and see how long you last). However, Larson’s clip isn’t just her randomly standing on cans in hot pink boots, but instead is taking part in the viral Nicki Minaj Challenge. As The New York Times reported, it's a TikTok and Instagram trend that’s racked up over 1.3 billion views under the #nickiminajchallenge hashtag. Inspired by Minaj’s pretzel-like pose from her 2013 High School music video, the challenge has evolved into a game of “how much harder can we make this?”

Celebs and creators have been upping the ante by striking the pose in heels on cooking pots, soda cans, monkey bars, you name it. Brie Larson has a very specific reason for taking part in the trend, though. As she humorously noted in her caption, she was told that it would be a great way to promote her new book.

In fact, Larson's decision to balance on two cans also seems to be a not-so-subtle plug for her upcoming cookbook, Party People, which is co-written with former Milk Bar culinary director Courtney McBroom. The book, which she’s holding in the video, is set to release on October 21 and will include 100 creative recipes and party ideas ranging from Dirty Dancing–themed birthdays to a Hot Dog Appreciation Festival. If anything, this proves Larson can bring the same energy to a kitchen as she can to a Marvel set… or a balancing stunt.

The whole video is a feat of balance, but let’s be honest, it’s Brie Larson’s hot pink, knee-high boots that deserve their own headline. They’re bold, unapologetic, and every bit as attention-grabbing as the stunt itself. Also, judging by the comments, they did their job. One fan summed it up perfectly: “Well this is the first I’m hearing of the book, so it worked and I’m sold.” Same here!

I also had no idea the Short Term 12 star had a cookbook coming this year until she posted this. So, yes, give that social media manager a raise, because this was a masterclass in turning a viral trend into a perfect promo moment.

Beyond her cookbook, Brie Larson’s keeping busy, though her 2026 movie release slate currently doesn’t list any upcoming Marvel movies, even with the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday on the horizon. Of course, it’s always possible Captain Marvel could pop up in a surprise cameo. We’ll just have to wait and see.

It’s sometimes easy to forget that just because someone is famous doesn’t mean they don’t share similar interests with the common folk. Take Brie Larson. Sure, she’s a well-known Hollywood actress from movies like Room (for which she won an Oscar), Kong: Skull Island, Captain Marvel and Fast X, but she also happens to be a passionate gamer. If you didn’t know that until now, you’ll certainly remember it after watching the sweet video of her unboxing a Nintendo Switch 2.

Larson, whose other recent onscreen credits include the Apple TV+ subscription-exclusive miniseries Lessons in Chemistry and the Netflix subscription-exclusive animated series Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, took to her X account to show off her excitement as the “ultimate Nintendo fangirl” opening a special package sent to her from the video game company. Check it out!

The Nintendo Switch 2 came out on June 5, so needless to say for the average consumer, it’s extremely difficult to purchase one right now. Brie Larson, however, was lucky enough to get be sent not only a complimentary console, but a bunch of other goodies, including the game Mario Kart World. That was more than enough to get her excited, but she got even more jazzed when she was able to easily put together her Switch 2 controllers.

Considering how much of a Nintendo fan she is, I don’t fault her whatsoever for declaring that “the best day ever.” Brie Larson was no doubt going to buy a Nintendo Switch 2 controller no matter what, but to have this arrive at her house is a most welcome surprise. The actress ends the video with “More soon,” so it sounds like we can expect another video, if not several, of her showing off that sweet new console in action, whether it’s on her social media pages or her YouTube channel.

Brie Larson’s Nintendo Switch 2 acquisition follows a few months after she concluded her time on Elektra, a stage adaptation of the Sophocles’ Electra that written by Anne Carson and directed by Daniel Fish. As of this writing, it’s unclear when we’ll see Larson back on our big and small screens. However, back in 2020, she was down for the idea that she should play Samus Aran in a Metroid movie. Considering that a live-action Legend of Zelda movie on the way, such a project doesn’t sound farfetched, and we know that Larson is enthusiastic about the source material.

We’ll continue keep you apprised on the latest with both Brie Larson’s professional life and her Nintendo-related activities. Along with the aforementioned film adaptation of The Legend of Zelda from Sony Pictures, Nintendo and Illumination also have Super Mario World set to come out on April 3, 2026.

Brie Larson is a concert girlie just like me, and whenever she goes to another big tour, I’m always excited to see her experience play out on social media. (Yes, I probably have a parasocial problem, but don’t we all?) This week, the Captain Marvel actress went to Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter tour at Los Angeles’s Sofi Stadium, and I love every one of her photos and videos recording the experience.

Brie Larson Was Living Her Best Life At Beyoncé’s Concert

Beyoncé is playing five nights at the venue, and Brie Larson caught the second evening on Thursday, May 1 after previously saying her “dreams” came true when she saw Beyoncé at the same venue for her Renaissance tour, and partying it up at Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, too. Check out what she posted to Instagram about it:

Brie Larson turned up to the Cowboy Carter show in a cute plaid matching set, a cowboy hat and a jean jacket with cow print lettering. So, she was very much on theme. It looks like she went with two close friends of hers and linked up with Renée Rapp at the show, who was also rocking a cowboy hat to the show.

Lately, Larson has been at the West End doing a show called Elektra, which has recently ended its run. We had hoped to see her name among the sprawling Avengers: Doomsday cast, but we do have another theory about how Captain Marvel might return.

But, I Especially Relate To Her Reaction To A Surprise Song Beyoncé Sang At The Show

There’s a lot happening in the photo set, but my favorite part of the whole thing was seeing Brie Larson’s reaction to seeing “If I Were A Boy” played live during the show. If you checked on the Cowboy Carter setlist from the night before, you’ll know that Beyoncé didn’t play it during her first night, so it was a big surprise to play the classic ballad from 2008.

The song came out during I Am… Sasha Fierce record roll out, when she also appeared on SNL for the hilarious “Single Ladies” sketch. “If I Were A Boy” is one of those powerful Beyoncé songs that just hit with women everywhere when it came out because it speaks to the double standards between being a man and a woman. It’s such an emotional song, and I love that someone captured Larson getting emotional over seeing the pop sensation belt it live.

Not only did the singer add “If I Were A Boy” to her second show on tour, she also added other big hits like “Irreplaceable,” “Single Ladies” and “Love On Top” as well in one medley. While Brie Larson has the memory of seeing Beyoncé perform these songs in front of her face, I’ll probably be settling for watching Beyoncé performances like last year’s Beyoncé Bowl with my Netflix subscription.

After there’d been crickets regarding the upcoming Marvel movies aside from the ones coming out this summer, this week, Marvel Studios announced that Avengers: Doomsday is in production with a five-hour livestream announcing the cast. Like many fans, the reveals has me getting excited about the return of heroes like Chris Hemsworth’s Thor, Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man and Tom Hiddleston’s Loki, along with the inclusion of the Thunderbolts, Fantastic Four and X-Men. But all the missing names really stuck out to me, too.

One big Avenger hero we’ve already discussed is the absence of Tom Holland, who is currently filming The Odyssey with Christopher Nolan, but now I need to talk about my thoughts about why a big chunk of other heroes are being left out of the Avengers: Doomsday cast.

I Noticed Captain Marvel, And A Bunch Of Other Key Heroes Are Not In The Avengers: Doomsday Announcement

While I can see Spider-Man being left out considering the fourth Spidey movie is coming out just a few months after Doomsday in 2026, I was really confused about Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel being left out, along with there being no Nick Fury, Rhodey, Hulk, Hawkeye, Ms. Marvel, Guardians of the Galaxy, Doctor Strange or Eternals. That’s just too many big players to leave out of an Avengers movie. Check out the roster that was announced:

But then, I quickly went back to the cast list and realized that there are already 27 names part of Doomsday, which is interestingly the same amount of main stars that were in Avengers: Infinity War. It would just be too crowded if everyone was all in the same movie at this point. Which leads me to my theory…

I Think The Answer As To Why Could Connect Directly With The Marvels End Credits Scene

I think Doomsday will start things off between multiple universes before bringing in more of the missing heroes from the original universe in the second part, Avengers: Secret Wars, which is set to hit theaters about a year after Doomsday.

Other than the logistics of having too many cast members in Doomsday (which I’ll get to a bit later), I think the inclusion of the X-Men as introduced in The Marvels is the biggest hint as to why Captain Marvel and others can and will wait. As you may recall, during the end credits of The Marvels, Monica Rambeau realizes she’s in a parallel reality when she is confronted by a variant of her dead mom, Maria Rambeau, and then she sees she’s under the care of Kelsey Grammer’s Beast.

Beast even name drops Professor X in the scene, pointing to Rambeau being in a universe where there's a fully-formed team of X-Men similar to the one we saw in the original movies. What if the X-Men are already on a mission that has to do with stopping RDJ’s Doctor Doom, and Monica is able to clue them in that there’s a whole other universe she just fell out of full of more heroes who could help, and start to bridge the gap? Maybe it takes the whole movie for her to get into contact with Captain Marvel alongside the X-Men, and making contact is how Doomsday will end in a desperate hour.

Beast has been confirmed to be in Avengers: Doomsday, along with all sorts of original X-Men, including Patrick Stewart’s Professor X, Ian McKellen’s Magneto, Alan Cumming’s Nightcrawler, Rebcca Romijn’s Mystique and James Marsden’s Cyclops. We also know that the MCU's Fantastic Four will also be from another universe, and Robert Downey Jr’s Doctor Doom has to come from another one from what we know as well. Storywise, it's just too much to juggle if all the Avengers came together in Doomsday. It will be just half the story.

Doctor Doom Must Be Targeting Multiple Worlds, And There’s More To Assemble

Since Avengers: Infinity War left fans on one of best movie cliffhangers we’ve ever seen, I feel like Marvel Studios will absolutely want to leave us hanging again with a finale that perhaps leaves half of the heroes in danger and more who have yet to be assembled needed to take down Doctor Doom. And who would be an excellent secondary leader aside from Anthony Mackie’s Captain America? Captain Marvel, of course! Oh, and I can see Doctor Strange coming into play in the second half as well as the life-saving B-team through the use of America Chavez – who has the power to jump between worlds.

Now, the question hanging over my head is how the Thunderbolts, Anthony Mackie’s Captain America and others from the original MCU world we know will become part of the A-plot in Doomsday? I have a feeling the upcoming Thunderbolts* movie might answer that question, but for the time being, we do know from the Captain America: Brave New World end credits that Cap has just been caught up on not being “the only ones”, so multiverse talk is already brewing.

Perhaps him, Danny Ramirez’s Falcon, the Thunderbolts and other heroes he can collect first (like Ant-Man, Black Panther, Shang-Chi and Loki) begin the mission on our side of the universe, and the whole team will officially come together in Secret Wars. But perhaps they are in a totally different universe than the X-Men, and it's Captain Marvel that will ultimately bring all the Avengers together.

And, Avengers: Doomsday Waiting On Key Cast Members Makes Me More Excited For The Next Two Avengers Movies

While I could 1) be absolutely wrong, and/or 2) Marvel just decided to release part of the cast to get us theorizing, the idea of more heroes being held for Avengers: Doomsday has me excited. That's because I think my number one worry about new Avengers films is having an overwhelming amount of cameos and battles without attention to forwarding each character in the MCU and making it feel like the good ol’ days of Marvel.

I like that some of the newer characters in the MCU are blended with beloved vets in the Doomsday cast (like the X-Men) along with Avengers who have experienced the prior era. However, if the script is not handled well and there’s too big of an Avengers team, I don’t think it will have the same impact on audiences. For example, I want Marvel to spend time seeing how Shang-Chi becomes an Avenger and works within a team, and for the return of the X-Men to be impactful. I think that’d be less likely to happen if they shoe-in every Avenger from the beginning.

Now, Robert Downey Jr. did just tease something that has us very confused about what Marvel Studios has up their sleeves next. But for the time being, knowing the cast, rather than being completely in the dark, has me more interested in Avengers: Doomsday. I know that heroes like Captain Marvel are going to have to appear at some point, but the curiosity about how all these heroes will come together has my attention.

Like millions of people around the world, I spent five hours watching Marvel slowly roll out all those Avengers: Doomsday names in March 2025, and like a lot of people, I was bummed a few of the biggest MCU stars, including Ryan Reynolds, didn’t have a chair. While it may be true that we will see more additions as we work toward the release of the upcoming Marvel movie, I was shocked by some of the names left out of the excruciatingly long cast announcement.

That said, here’s a list of some of those beloved MCU actors I really hope we see when the Russo Brothers’ Avengers: Doomsday opens on the big screen in May 2026. It’s a long list (no, not as long as that video), so let’s get started…

Ryan Reynolds

Ryan Reynolds, who has played Deadpool since the Fox days, has made a habit of teasing his return to the MCU ever since the release of Deadpool & Wolverine in 2024. I totally thought we’d see his name on one of those chairs in that seemingly endless lineup, which is why I’m so bummed the wise-cracking, R-rated, and lethal hero wasn’t included.

In an ideal world, Reynolds’ return would also include the likes of Dafne Keen, Wesley Snipes, Jennifer Garner, and Leslie Uggams (you can’t have Deadpool without Blind Al).

Tom Holland

With the Spider-Man 4 release date so close to the Avengers: Doomsday rollout, it would be shocking if Tom Holland doesn’t show up in the massive crossover film a few months before his new Web-Slinger adventure. The highly in-demand actor seemed like a shoo-in to be included in the gargantuan list filled with all his MCU buddies. There are rumors that Holland won’t be in the next Avengers film, but I’m not totally convinced at this point.

Samuel L. Jackson

Samuel L. Jackson has been a part of the MCU since he showed up in Tony Stark’s house and revealed himself as Nick Fury way back in Iron Man. Since then, he’s popped up in all of the Avengers movies, so I was a little saddened and surprised by his omission from the absurdly long cast list for Doomsday. I mean, Fury is still alive on the Marvel Cinematic timeline after the events of The Marvels.

Chris Evans

Even though his version of Captain America retired during the Avengers: Endgame ending, Chris Evans has reappeared in the MCU (Johnny Flame in Deadpool & Wolverine), so I wouldn’t be shocked if some character played by the franchise mainstay shows up by the time it’s all said and done. Evans has been cagey about a possible return in the past, but not seeing his name on the back of a chair is a little disheartening, if I’m being honest.

Mark Ruffalo

Mark Ruffalo has been one of my favorite MCU actors ever since he took on the role of Bruce Banner/The Hulk in 2012’s The Avengers. He’s been there for all the major moments in the franchise since then, but now I’m starting to think his iconic character won’t be saving the planet, galaxy, universe, or multiverse with his old buddies next summer. This can’t happen. I mean, who’s going to give Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man an extra taco?

Benedict Cumberbatch

Is Benedict Cumberbatch bringing back Doctor Strange (third eye and all) for Avengers: Doomsday? I don’t know because the longtime Marvel staple wasn’t included in the longest line of chairs I’ve ever seen. The actor’s comments about his return to the MCU have been all over the place, with his most recent comments to Business Insider in January 2025 making it sound like he could possibly return.

Don Cheadle

Though the Armor Wars project seems to be up in the air, I thought Don Cheadle would for sure be a part of the upcoming Avengers movie. James Rhodes has been a part of the franchise since the very beginning, and Cheadle’s version of the character has had a part in three of the four crossover films to date.

Brie Larson

Another big name missing from the “Infinity Scroll of Chairs” was Brie Larson, whose Captain Marvel has long been one of the strongest heroes in the entire MCU. We last saw her in The Marvels back in 2023, so she’s due for a return at this point. The same can be said about co-stars Teyonah Parris and Iman Vellani, who play Monica Rambeau and Kamala Khan, respectively. I’d be shocked if they didn’t appear.

Jeremy Renner

Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye has had one of the craziest journeys in the MCU over the years. The underrated Avenger has been through it all, and I’ll be bummed if he’s not part of Doomsday next year. He famously wasn’t part of the Avengers: Infinity War cast, so maybe, just maybe, we’ll see him in Avengers: Secret Wars in a few years.

Charlie Cox

With Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdoch very much a part of the MCU again with the recent arrival of Daredevil: Born Again, I will be shocked if the actor doesn’t appear in Avengers: Doomsday. His name is on the rise (both the actor and character), so his absence could be felt a great deal.

Also, I would love to see Cox’s Defenders co-stars like Mike Colter, Finn Jones, and Krysten Ritter have some kind of role in what appears to be the biggest Marvel movie in years.

Halle Berry

Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, and several other major players from the original X-Men movies were all announced for Avengers: Doomsday, but there was one actress whose absence really bummed me out: Halle Berry. Whenever the music would change and the camera would pan to the right, I kept hoping to see the Storm actress listed on a chair, but it never came.

The same can be said about Famke Janssen, Anna Paquin, and Hugh Jackman, three other major names from the franchise who are oddly missing from the cast list.

The Guardians Of The Galaxy

Though Dave Bautista and Pom Klementieff seem to be finished with the MCU after the events of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, the rest of the actors should still be in play moving forward. With Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, Karen Gillan, and Vin Diesel being major parts of the last two Avengers movies, it will be odd not to see them in the upcoming Doomsday. I really hope that changes, as I’d love to see that ragtag group of space scoundrels save the day again.

The Eternals

After Captain America: Brave New World referenced Eternals earlier in the year, it felt like maybe this oft-forgotten MCU movie would be getting some attention again. However, none of the actors from the 2021 epic were included in the Avengers: Doomsday rollout. I guess we’ll have to wait longer to figure out what’s going on with the group played by Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, Gemma Chan, and Barry Keoghan.

Other Marvel Stars I Want To See In Avengers: Doomsday

On top of all these names and various groups, I would love to see even more actors from the Marvel Cinematic Universe show up in Avengers: Doomsday. From longtime staples like Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Hayley Atwell, and Scarlett Johansson (nobody stays dead forever, right?) to other fan favorites played by the likes of Benedict Wong, Dafne Keen, Lupita Nyong’o, Awkwafina, and Danai Guirara to actors introduced in post-credit scenes like Brett Goldstein and Charlize Theron, there are just so many familiar faces that could show up.

Will any or all of these actors show up in Avengers: Doomsday or its sequel? I really hope so.

Brie Larson's list of best movies is impressive and diverse. From 21 Jump Street to the MCU to her Academy Award-winning Room, she's proven her status as one of Hollywood's finest. Now, she's opening up about the lessons she's learned during her career and what she did after she won her Oscar in 2016.

The Lessons in Chemistry actress has been known to sweetly help her co-stars as they navigate the superhero world. However, outside of imparting super advice, Brie Larson also shared her life's wisdom in her interview with BRIT+CO, recalling some impactful guidance she received:

It’s true that when you get in a heated discussion with someone, it’s easy to just see things from your point of view and be closed off to other opinions. However, it’s very spot-on when people say that things look better in the morning. That way, you take time to breathe and reflect on where the other person is coming from to avoid being stuck in your way. Brie Larson is right in how important it is to have an “openness” to every situation. Not everything is always the way it seems, so it's important to examine it from all angles.

That kind of level-headed thinking makes Larson quite the role model, and it is just another reason why she deserves to be as successful and acclaimed as she is. She's worked hard for her success (as we'll discuss next), and she seems to be quite grounded overall.

When you think about all of the under-the-radar movies Brie Larson has been in throughout her career, it’s amazing that it all led to her being among the 2016 Oscar winners for her role in Room. After deservedly winning Best Actress, the Trainwreck star talked about what she did right after being awarded her golden statuette:

That sounds like a simple, relaxing way to end the night.

But, of course, we all know what else this actress did immediately after becoming an Oscar winner. She starred in a ton of massive action movies like Free Fire and Kong: Skull Island, and she got cast as the lead in Marvel’s first female-led film, Captain Marvel. Larson even showed off her directing chops in the Netflix movie Unicorn Store, which co-starred her MCU colleague, Samuel L. Jackson.

Now, even though the Golden Globe winner has been out of the film loop since The Marvels, I have no doubt she’ll return with another memorable role that’ll speak to audiences.

Overall, Brie Larson's advice and celebration story show how down to Earth she seemingly is, and it reaffirms her as a role model. So, as we wait to see if she has any projects on the 2025 movie schedule, let's pop some champagne for her and celebrate her career and great advice.

Plenty of celebrities opt to go by stage names in Hollywood. From Natalie Hershlag (Portman) to Olivia Cockburn (Wilde) there are plenty of stars who have reinvented themselves for the big screen, Brie Larson included. Only I just found out that in Captain Marvel’s case, the actress actually named herself after an American Girl doll. The millennial in me is absolutely tinkled pink right now.

Those of you who are of the appropriate age probably remember the OG set of American Girl dolls, which were at the time:

1. Very pricey and absolutely a status symbol. (OK not Millennium Falcon Lego expensive but still.)
2. Had awesome accessories.
3. Were all -- at the time -- historical American characters.
4. Had a whole compendium of books to match.

Of all toys millennial youngsters had growing up, having an American Girl doll was like hitting the jackpot, and they grew in diversity, time periods, and stories over time so more girls with different backgrounds could own dolls they identified with. They were wildly popular. Stores even cropped up in major metropolitan areas so you could have teatime with your dolls!

They were an integral part of the ‘90s growing up experience and given all the nostalgia for '90s movies and culture I can see how this would be a thing. Brie Larson, whose real name is Brianne Sidonie Desaulniers, so identified with Kirsten Larson that when she came to Hollywood she changed her name as a nod to the American Girl doll. (Though the less fun story is it’s also a name tied to her grandmother.)

She’s spoken about this prior, but I only found out thanks to a sweet interview with Brit.co in which she admitted she’s recently seen American Girl doll Halloween costumes making a comeback:

Honestly, the whole thing makes sense in context. Larson started out as a child actor in the nineties, precisely when she probably would have been obsessed with Kirsten Larson. She previously opened up on The Tonight Show about her French last name (Desaulniers), and said it was easy to mispronounce, so she wanted something that could roll off the tongue easily. Larson fit the bill, as she told Glamour.

This hits me not just on a millennial level but on a personal level because the Swedish immigrant doll who lived in Minnesota in the 1850s was the one I owned. (I was more of a Samantha, honestly, but you get what you get and you don’t get upset.) Kirsten was cool, though. Her hair was braided in two loops tied with ribbons on her head. She had a St Lucia outfit with an ivy crown on her head. Maybe her fits weren’t as cool as, say, Felicity, but she had chutzpah in spades.

So, I guess what I’m saying is I get why someone who started out their Hollywood career in some fake commercials for Roadkill Easy Bake Oven on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno would identify with the doll when they were picking out a stage name. I’d honestly be interested in knowing exactly when Brie Larson became Brie Larson, but I’m guessing it was quite a while ago, as it’s been her name as long as I’ve been familiar with the actress. (Which is around the time she joined the Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World cast.)

It honestly works so well, and I would never have guessed the origin story if I hadn’t seen the actress speaking about it in her own words. But if you see her credited in any upcoming Marvel movies, now you know, too.

Brie Larson has the most significant female role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She was the first actress to lead an MCU movie in Captain Marvel, one of several Marvel movies that made $1 billion at the global box office. However, that place of prominence has also made her a target. While Larson has been outspoken in the past regarding her conflict with a certain subset of the male audience it seems Larson is now done talking about it.

Larson recently sat down with The Telegraph ahead of her debut on London’s West End in Elecktra but the conversation also got around to her pivotal Marvel role. The actress calls the role “life-changing” and is clearly very proud of the character and the way Carol Danvers has influenced and supported others. But when asked why some men were threatened by her casting, Larson responded…

It seems quite clear that Brie Larson is ready to move on from this conversation. She understands that whatever response she might give to a question like that is likely to generate a lot of response from the very people she’d be discussing. It’s been long enough that Brie Larson’s feelings on Captain Marvel are not a major topic of internet conversation, but if she makes a new comment, they could be again.

Larson may not pay attention to that conversation, but that doesn’t mean she’s looking to start it up again. When pressed on the topic, and if female superheroes get “pigeonholed” she reiterates that there’s no right way to answer the question, saying…

While Captain Marvel was a massive box office hit, the follow-up film, The Marvels was not. The Marvels lost money for Marvel studios, which is not something we’re used to seeing. The question of why that happened, and whether the backlash from the fans had something to do with the movie's lack of success has been an ongoing question.

Larson has continued to stand behind the film, but it’s unclear what the future holds for Captain Marvel or her fellow heroes. While it seems likely they will appear in upcoming Marvel movies, specifically one or both of the two Avengers films, we certainly don’t know that for sure.

If Brie Larson does appear as Captain Marvel again, it will generate plenty of conversation, positive and negative, there likely isn’t much value in starting that conversation right now.

The Academy Award for Best Actress has been handed out every year since 1929 — it was initially awarded to star Janet Gaynor for her roles in 7th Heaven, Street Angel, and Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans — and in the near-century since, it's been presented 97 times to 79 actresses. Winning that coveted statuette is unsurprisingly a dream come true for many a big-screen performer, but the award does come with added attention on the actress's next projects. Will whatever they work on next be as critically acclaimed or commercially successful? Here are 32 films that Oscar-winning actresses did after taking home the Academy Award, and how they were received.

Emma Stone

The whole La La Land Oscars brouhaha at the 2018 ceremony was quite memorable, but clearly so was star Emma Stone's performance as aspiring actress Mia Dolen opposite Ryan Gosling's jazz pianist Seb Wilder. One of Stone's best movies, the role earned the star her first Best Actress win (she would strike gold yet again with her 2024 victory for Poor Things). Her next performance also stirred up awards buzz: she was nominated for a Golden Globe and a Critics Choice Award for portraying tennis legend Billie Jean King in the sports drama Battle of the Sexes.

Meryl Streep

Meryl Streep's history with the Academy Awards is long and legendary: over her decades-spanning career, she's been nominated for a record 21 Oscar nominations, winning thrice. After taking home the Supporting Actress statuette for Kramer vs. Kramer, Streep got her first big Best Actress win for one of her most iconic performances: as the titular character of the devastating 1982 drama Sophie's Choice. Her next role was just as haunting: as Karen Silkwood in the 1983 thriller Silkwood, for which she earned yet another Best Actress nod.

Michelle Yeoh

Along with kicking major butt, Michelle Yeoh made history with her starring role as Evelyn Quan Wang in the 2022 action-dramedy Everything Everywhere All at Once, for she became the first Asian performer to win the Academy Award for Best Actress. Following that notable win in 2023, the Wicked star lent her voice to the sci-fi flick Transformers: Rise of the Beasts as Airazor, a Maximal warrior who transforms into a peregrine falcon. That title earned largely mixed reviews, and it currently sports a 51% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Jessica Chastain

After losing out on the Oscar for Zero Dark Thirty, Jessica Chastain took the Best Actress trophy home for her transformative role as televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker in the 2022 bio-drama The Eyes of Tammy Faye. Her next project was far less successful with awards bodies — the action-spy thriller The 355 was both a critical and commercial bomb, reportedly losing Universal an estimated $93 million. Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph wrote: "Despite the strong cast, this is the film equivalent of a corn-syrup-based fizzy drink being passed off as chic in taller, slimmer cans."

Frances McDormand

Three-time Best Actress winner Frances McDormand took home her first Oscar in 1997 for her instantly iconic performance as Minnesota police chief Marge Gunderson in the classic Coen Brothers dark comedy Fargo. Later that year, the acclaimed performer joined a heavyweight lineup of actresses — including Glenn Close, Cate Blanchett and Jennifer Ehle — in the World War II drama Paradise Road. However, despite that acting clout, the film received mixed reviews, with its approval rating at a lowly 43% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Brie Larson

Child actor turned Marvel superhero Brie Larson took her career to a whole new level with her performance as kidnapping victim Joy "Ma" Newsome in the 2015 survival drama Room, for which she swept the subsequent awards season and took home the Best Actress Oscar. In 2016, the Lessons in Chemistry lead starred in another survival drama, this time the Ben Wheatley-directed action-comedy Free Fire. CinemaBlend's own Gregory Wakeman wrote of the film: "Free Fire has enough gun blasts and violence to entertain, but ultimately lacks the requisite surprises or savvy to be anything more than a frivolous diversion."

Olivia Colman

Olivia Colman's Best Actress win for her portrayal of Queen Anne in the black-comedy period piece The Favourite was a deserved yet delightfully shocking moment at the 2019 Oscars. Her next role was equally strange, but less acclaimed: she appeared alongside Kaitlyn Dever, Jim Gaffigan and Walton Goggins as snake-handling fundamentalists in the horror mystery Them That Follow. Though it was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, it earned mixed reviews from critics.

Cate Blanchett

One of the most versatile actors in the industry — she's played Queen Elizabeth I and Bob Dylan, for crying out loud! — eight-time Oscar nominee Cate Blanchett secured her first Best Actress win in 2014 playing a neurotic former socialite in the Woody Allen-directed dramedy Blue Jasmine. And speaking of versatility, the Aussie star followed that awards win with a voice role in the animated fantasy sequel How to Train Your Dragon 2, which got its own Oscar nod for Best Animated Feature.

Sandra Bullock

Rom-com queen Sandra Bullock received her first Best Actress nomination and win in 2010 for her portrayal of Leigh Anne Tuohy in the biographical football drama The Blind Side. Her next film credit was the Stephen Daldry-directed 2011 drama Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, which did manage to score a Best Picture nod but not without controversy. Chris Krapek of The Huffington Post called the film "not only the worst reviewed Best Picture nominee of the last 10 years, [but] easily the worst film of 2011."

Katharine Hepburn

Hollywood icon Katherine Hepburn earned four Academy Awards for Best Actress out of 12 nominations across her illustrious film career—a record for any performer. The leading lady's first Oscar win was in 1934 for the Pre-Code drama Morning Glory (the rest would come later in the star's life), which she followed up with John Cromwell's Spitfire. Some viewers found Hepburn miscast as "hillbilly" faith healer Trigger Hicks — the film has a 35% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Nicole Kidman

Nicole Kidman didn't win the Best Actress Oscar for one of her most beloved performances, as cabaret star Satine in Moulin Rouge! but she instead secured the big win only a year later for playing English writer Virginia Woolf in The Hours. The Babygirl star's first post-award project was the 2003 avant-garde thriller Dogville, written and directed by Lars von Trier. Though the film prompted quite a polarizing response from critics at the time of release, it did end up on several best-of-the-decade roundups, including The Guardian and Paste.

Jennifer Lawrence

If they didn't already love her from her work in the David O. Russell dramedy Silver Linings Playbook, the world certainly fell for Jennifer Lawrence when she charmingly tripped up the stairs to accept her Best Actress statuette in 2013. That fall, she would reprise her role as Katniss Everdeen in the second Mockingjay movie, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, which is widely considered the best installment of The Hunger Games film series (it's got a solid 90% Rotten Tomatoes rating) and earned Lawrence a Critics' Choice nod.

Helen Mirren

Dame Helen Mirren is a regal onscreen presence no matter what the role, but her performance as Queen Elizabeth II in the 2006 docudrama The Queen welcomed her among the Hollywood royalty known as Oscar winners. However, despite the film title, she didn't strike gold with her next project: the Nicolas Cage-led adventure flick National Treasure: Book of Secrets, alongside Jon Voight, Harvey Keitel, Ed Harris and Diane Kruger. Per Rotten Tomatoes, critic consensus said of the 35% "Rotten" movie: "A talented cast goes to waste in the improbable National Treasure: Book of Secrets."

Jodie Foster

One of Hollywood's most acclaimed child stars — she was only 12 years old when she starred opposite Robert De Niro in the Martin Scorsese masterpiece Taxi Driver, earning her first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress — Jodie Foster successfully segued into more adult fare with the 1988 legal drama The Accused. As an assault survivor Sarah Tobias, Foster received a Best Actress win—it wouldn't be her last, with the star winning the same award for her next film release, one of the greatest horror movies of all time, The Silence of the Lambs.

Halle Berry

Halle Berry made Oscar history when she became the first African-American woman ever to win the Academy Award for Best Actress, for her performance as a struggling widow in 2001's Monster's Ball. After becoming an Oscar winner, Berry became a Bond Girl — bikini-sporting NSA agent Jinx, to be exact — in the 2002 spy flick Die Another Day, opposite Pierce Brosnan as 007. However, the latter is widely considered to be the worst entry in James Bond's canon.

Julie Andrews

A legendary performer across both screen and stage, Julie Andrews won her Best Actress Oscar in 1964 for a truly iconic role: as the titular nanny extraordinaire in Mary Poppins. And she didn't stop there — the very next year, she would get yet another Academy Award nomination for an equally beloved character, as The Sound of Music's Maria, the sweet, singing governess to the Von Trapp family. Talk about an epic filmography!

Kathy Bates

One of the best Kathy Bates performances, as obsessive superfan Annie Wilkes in the 1990 Stephen King thriller Misery, earned the talented actress her first Academy Award nomination and win. (She would have three more Oscar nods across her decades-spanning career.) Bates' next film role was in the South African drama The Road to Mecca, based on the Athol Fugard play of the same name — the performer was praised for both her acting and her accent work.

Hilary Swank

Before there were transgender characters like Emilia Pérez (Emilia Pérez), Sin-Dee Rella (Tangerine), or Raymond Rayon (Dallas Buyers Club), there was Brandon Teena, the real-life trans man at the center of the 1999 drama Boys Don't Cry. Hilary Swank's harrowing, career-making performance as Teena earned the star her first Best Actress award, with critics like Entertainment Weekly's Owen Gleiberman calling the actress a "revelation" in the film. Reactions to her next movie, the 2000 supernatural thriller The Gift, were far more mixed. A. O. Scott of The New York Times wrote: "The picture is saved from mediocrity by [director Sam] Raimi's smooth competence, and by the unusually high quality of the acting."

Renée Zellweger

After prior Best Actress nominations for two of her best movies, Bridget Jones' Diary and Chicago — plus a Best Supporting Actress win for Cold Mountain — Renée Zellweger finally got her big Best Actress win for her portrayal of Judy Garland in Rupert Goold's Judy. After taking a multi-year break from acting, Zellweger's much-anticipated next film credit will be a return to a beloved role, in Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy.

Natalie Portman

Natalie Portman was so convincing as a troubled ballerina in the 2010 psychological thriller Black Swan that she thought the film was a docudrama while making it. So, it's no surprise, then, that her tour-de-force performance garnered the star an Academy Award for Best Actress. Ever one to keep you guessing genre-wise, Portman's next role was in the 2011 stoner fantasy-comedy Your Highness, which sadly was a box office bomb and received largely negative reviews from critics.

Cher

The "Goddess of Pop" Cher officially added the title of "Oscar winner" to her already legendary showbiz career with her 1988 Best Actress triumph for one of her best movies, the acclaimed rom-com Moonstruck. Her next movie role came two years later as Rachel Flax, the saucy single mom to young Winona Ryder and Christina Ricci in the 1990 dramedy Mermaids. The heartfelt title has been dubbed an "underappreciated 1990s coming-of-age gem" by The Guardian, which singled out Cher's performance as "nothing short of magical."

Kate Winslet

One of the greatest performers of her generation, it took Kate Winslet a whopping six Oscar nominations before she finally took home the Academy Award for Best Actress, for playing a former Nazi camp guard in 2008's The Reader. Her next onscreen role was in the 2011 black comedy Carnage, by disgraced director Roman Polanski. The film received positive reviews, with critics praising the performances of the cast, including Winslet's — she earned a Golden Globe nod for Best Actress in a Motional Picture Musical or Comedy.

Julia Roberts

After a decade that solidified her as rom-com royalty, Julia Roberts proved her dramatic bonafides by winning the Best Actress Oscar for playing the title role in the 2000 legal drama Erin Brockovich, one of her best movies. America's Sweetheart returned to her romantic comedy roots with her next film, fittingly entitled America's Sweethearts, though critics weren't too sweet on the movie. It only holds a 33% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes, with the site's consensus reading: "Despite its famous cast, the movie lacks sympathetic characters and is only funny in spurts."

Susan Sarandon

After Oscar nominations for Atlantic City, Thelma & Louise, Lorenzo's Oil and The Client, Susan Sarandon was finally named Best Actress by the Academy for playing Sister Helen Prejean in 1995's Dead Man Walking. Her next film was the decidedly lighter kids' flick James and the Giant Peach, in which Sarandon voiced the character of Miss Spider. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, with Randy Newman's score earning an Oscar nod; however, the film was a box office failure, grossing $300,000 less than its budget.

Marion Cotillard

French movie star Marion Cotillard became the first actor to win an Academy Award for a French-language performance for her transformative turn as legendary singer Édith Piaf in the 2007 music biopic La Vie en Rose. Her next film credit was another biographical drama — this time, the Michael Mann-directed gangster film Public Enemies, alongside Johnny Depp and Christian Bale. Though many critics praised the leading performances, reviews were mixed, with the title holding a 68% Rotten Tomatoes rating.

Marlee Matlin

Marlee Matlin's acting debut in 1986's Children of a Lesser God saw the actress making Oscar history not once but twice: she became the first deaf performer to ever win an Academy Award, as well as the youngest winner in the Best Actress category. The CODA star followed up that momentous victory with the 1987 Western Walker, starring Ed Harris, Richard Masur and Peter Boyle. The historical drama was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 38th Berlin International Film Festival but received very polarized reviews and was a failure at the box office.

Gwyneth Paltrow

Fun fact: Gwyneth Paltrow wasn't initially supposed to star as Viola de Lesseps in the 1998 Bard-inspired romantic comedy Shakespeare in Love — Julia Roberts was. But Gwyn is no doubt grateful the latter ultimately left the production, as the role won her a Best Actress Oscar. Her next project was equally acclaimed: 1999's Anthony Minghella-helmed thriller The Talented Mr. Ripley scored five Academy Award nominations.

Audrey Hepburn

Screen legend Audrey Hepburn won her first Oscar in 1953 for her debut starring role, as Princess Ann in the classic black-and-white comedy Roman Holiday. The British beauty would later be nominated four more times for films like her first post-award project, the 1954 Billy Wilder-directed dramedy Sabrina, as well as The Nun's Story, Breakfast at Tiffany's and Wait Until Dark.

Sally Field

The Academy likes her, they really like her — yes, Sally Field has won not one but two Best Actress statuettes, the first being for her inspiring performance in 1979's Norma Rae and the second five years later for another one of her best films, Places in the Heart. Following her first win, Field reprised her role as Carrie, or "Frog," in 1980's Smoky and the Bandit II opposite her real-life love Burt Reynolds. Though the sequel was a box office success, prompting a third film, it received almost entirely negative reviews from critics.

Charlize Theron

One of the best Charlize Theron roles was also the star's most remarkably unrecognizable: the South African-born actress earned a Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of real-life prostitute and serial killer Aileen Wuornos in the 2003 crime drama Monster. Her next big-screen performance was the 2004 war drama Head in the Clouds, which saw Theron acting opposite her then-romantic partner Stuart Townsend. The film was a critical and box office failure; in the San Francisco Chronicle, Walter Addiego wrote: "If not for the presence of Charlize Theron, it's hard to imagine this film would have attracted anywhere near the kind of attention it's gotten."

Reese Witherspoon

Reese Witherspoon proved she was more than just a musical sidekick with her Oscar-winning performance as June Carter Cash in the 2005 Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line. The Legally Blonde star was next seen in the harrowing 2007 political thriller Rendition opposite Jake Gyllenhaal, Meryl Streep and Peter Sarsgaard. However, "the impressive cast cannot rescue Rendition, which explores complex issues in woefully simplified terms," reads the critics' consensus on Rotten Tomatoes, with the film at a paltry 47% approval rating.

Elizabeth Taylor

Through much of the mid-20th century, celluloid icon Elizabeth Taylor was one of MGM's most bankable stars. In fact, her final film for the studio — 1960's Butterfield 8, playing glamorous call girl Gloria Wandrous — earned the movie star her first Academy Award for Best Actress. Her next performance was just as iconic: as the titular Egyptian queen in the 1963 historical epic Cleopatra, which received nine Oscar nominations and four wins, though, alas, none for Taylor specifically.

There’s nothing quite like a great onscreen duo. From heroes and villains to your favorite buddy cop team the big screen is full of some great team-ups. The Marvel Cinematic Universe (which is streaming with a Disney+ subscription) has no shortage of great pairings, but one of the best has to be Captain Marvel and Nick Fury. Brie Larson sent a shout out to Samuel L. Jackson on his birthday, he just turned 76, and fans are ready to see these two together again.

Larson and Jackson have been together for more than just Captain Marvel. They also appeared in Kong Skull Island together as well as The Unicorn Store. It was with a behind the scenes shot of that latter movie, with the two of them eating ice cream, that Larson used to wish her “bestie” a happy birthday on Instagram earlier this week.

These two certainly looking like they were having a wonderful time together when this picture was taken. Larson’s comments here show just how much she loves Jackson and Jackson has reciprocated the love himself, it does appear the two really enjoy working together.

Larson and Jackson were at their buddy cop best together in the original Captain Marvel, when Larson’s Carol Danvers and Jackson’s younger Nick Fury worked together to battle an alien threat. That movie went on to make a billion dollars at the global box office. I’m not saying that the fact that sequel The Marvels wasn’t as warmly received is due to the two of them having limited screen time together, but it may have been part of the reason.

A lot of other fans would seemingly like to see the two of them on screen together again, be it in an upcoming Marvel movie, or really just anything. Many fans responded to Larson’s birthday wishes with comments of their both wishing Jackson a happy birthday as well and hoping to see the pair on screen together in the future…

• Happy Birthday to Samuel L Jackson. Can't wait to see you two work together again. - jjdaborn
• The best duo!! Love Unicorn Store!! - vetmed11
• You know I was looking for this post on his birthday! - distractedbyflight
• Happy Birthday to the legend. Ngl, cinema would be complete the day that we get a Sam and Brie "Bad Boys" type buddy cop movie - sharjeelmoghal

If Samuel L. Jackson and Brie Larson really want to work together again it seems likely they will. Both are big stars who have significant control over their own careers. The only question is if it will be in the MCU or in some unrelated project. Despite the last movie’s box office disappointment, and Nick Fury’s own Secret Invasion series not being a big hit, it seems unlikely we’ve seen the last of their heroes.

Brie Larson may be known for her superhero role as Captain Marvel in MCU movies, but she’s also quite the fashionista. She already welcomed the summer season wearing the cutest sundresses and swimwear. Now that summer is over, the Oscar winner shows off her latest outfit in the form of a little black dress paired with tights that remind me that fall is here.

We’ve seen Brie Larson rock black dresses before. She once wore the same black dress with fellow actress Alexandria Daddario that had white polka dots on it as well as a gorgeous black gown she wore while eating pizza. But this new black dress that she posed for on her Instagram is just ringing the fall vibes we could use right now:

Seeing Brie Larson sporting this little black dress with tights makes me feel like I’m looking at this generation’s Grace Kelly. With black heels to complete this classy outfit, the Room actress has on a short black dress with a deep V-neck complimented with a cute little bow in the middle. Another important aspect that impressed me with this photoshoot is the way the light reflects on the Lessons in Chemistry actress casting a deep shadow behind to accompany her. Whether she’s looking directly at the camera or away, you can tell Larson is working that fall look.

It appears that black is quite the fall color this fall season, and a lot of celebrities are fashioning it. At Paris Fashion Week, Zoë Kravitz was styling wearing a sheer little black dress. Sydney Sweeney also went full goth with her black dress at the Armani Beauty Passione Party with only florals covering her chest. And you can’t forget Reese Witherspoon’s breathtakingly stunning Audrey Hepburn-like black dress she wore at the Emmys. No matter what style or floor length, black dresses are telling the public the fall season is here.

Other than rocking little black dresses, Brie Larson has plenty to look forward to in her near future. While it appears she doesn’t have any film roles lined up just yet, she’ll be making her West End debut playing the title role in Elektra in 2025. She’ll also be bringing her director chops once again to Lady Business about a pair of female entrepreneurs who make up an imaginary male founder for their business to be taken seriously. Even though Larson has made a big name in the MCU world, it’s nice that she’s willing to branch out into other different projects to expand her talents.

You know fall is here when Brie Larson wears a beautiful little black dress that shows what a classic beauty she is. I can’t wait to see what other outfits she’ll pose in throughout fall that’ll show off her picturesque appearance. Take a look at our 2024 movie releases so you’re caught up on Larson’s upcoming film projects.

The 2010s were a transformative decade for movies as directors like Damien Chazelle, Greta Gerwig and Jordan Peele hit the mainstream, and many actors exploded into stardom or gave career-defining performances in movies like theirs. Now, it’s time to celebrate some of the best films of this decade and the performers who starred in them. 

Emma Stone – La La Land 

This ode to Old Hollywood and modern romance from Damien Chazelle is widely beloved in part because of Emma Stone's performance. If you go back to reviews for La La Land, you’ll see Stone and Ryan Gosling praised for their work as they played Mia and Sebastian, two aspiring artists who fall in love with each other. Notably, Emma Stone won her first Oscar for the film because of the wonderful performance she gave as the up-and-coming actress. 

Kristen Wiig – Bridesmaids

When it comes to Bridesmaids and all its hilarious lines and gags, we all need to say a collective thank you to Kristen Wiig. Not only did the Saturday Night Live alum lead the stellar ensemble cast of this 2011 flick, but she also wrote the movie with Annie Mumolo, and they got an Oscar nomination for it. 

Mahershala Ali – Moonlight

Moonlight, which famously won Best Picture in 2017, is a coming-of-age film that follows Chiron through three stages of his life, focusing on him exploring his sexuality and identity. In it, Mahershala Ali plays Juan, a man who has a pivotal role in Chiron’s early life. Famously, Ali won his first Oscar for his moving performance in this film. 

Daniel Kaluuya – Get Out

Get Out is considered one of the greatest horror movies of all time, and it marked the directorial debut of Jordan Peele. While this film about the deeply dark turn a trip takes after a white woman brings her Black boyfriend home to meet her family is career-defining for its director – as he’s gone on to become quite the name in the genre – it also marked a major breakout for Daniel Kaluuya who played the film’s lead, Chris. 

Amy Adams – Arrival 

Arrival is unquestionably one of Amy Adams’ best movies, and to this day, folks are still livid that she wasn’t nominated for an Oscar for it. She plays Louise, a linguist assigned to decipher and translate an alien language. However, as Arrival’s ending makes abundantly clear, there’s way more to it than that, and one of the major reasons this movie works is because of Adams’ masterful, emotional and nuanced performance. 

J.K. Simmons – Whiplash

In Whiplash, one of J.K. Simmons’ best films, he plays a brilliant and brutal jazz conductor and instructor named Terence Fletcher. During the film, Miles Teller plays a young drummer named Andrew who is determined to become great, and his intense relationship with Terence and the notion of being the best is what makes Damien Chazelle’s film magnificent. On top of its overall acclaim, Simmons also won an Oscar for his performance.

Hugh Jackman – Logan 

Logan was Hugh Jackman’s last ride as the Wolverine, and it was basically perfect. While he’s returned to the role since in Deadpool and Wolverine, Logan still serves as a wonderful conclusion to the iconic X-Man’s story. It was also a game-changing Marvel film, as it brought a level of grit and intrigue that we hadn’t really seen in a movie from this universe before. 

Ben Affleck – Argo 

Much like Good Will Hunting, Argo marked a major milestone in Ben Affleck’s career. It was one of the films that solidified him as a top-tier director, and on top of that, he also starred in the film about a CIA agent disguised as a producer who goes into Tehran on a mission to save a group of Americans. Oh, also, the film went on to win Best Picture at the Oscars too. 

Jesse Eisenberg — The Social Network

The Social Network cast is stacked, however, it wouldn’t be what it is without Jesse Eisenberg’s performance as Mark Zuckerberg at its center. His nuanced performance which is somehow both collected and chaotic compliments Aaron Sorkin’s fast-talking script perfectly, and he expertly helped build up tension in the film that director David Fincher is known for. All around, that made for a perfect, heart-pounding drama about the rise of Facebook.

Leonardo DiCaprio – The Wolf Of Wall Street  

While Leonardo DiCaprio has a long list of career-defining performances, and he and Martin Scorsese have made many great movies together, you can’t deny that his portrayal of Jordan Belfort in The Wolf of Wall Street tops that list. 

Brie Larson – Room

The film Room, which is about a mother and her son escaping captivity, is masterfully led by Brie Larson, who plays Ma. Both she and Jacob Tremblay, who played her son Jack, were praised for their performances, and in 2016, the actress won an Oscar for her work. 

Daniel Craig – Knives Out

Now, I know that Daniel Craig’s tenure as James Bond was still happening in the 2010s. However, an equally important and brilliant role he took on was as detective Benoit Blanc in Rian Johnson’s first whodunnit Knives Out. Now, after leading the cast of Knives Out, Craig has gone on to reprise his role as the Southern detective on multiple occasions, because he loves it and so do we. 

Ryan Gosling – Drive

If you look over Ryan Gosling’s best movies, on one side you’ll find his brilliant comedic films – like Barbie and The Nice Guys – and on the other side, you’ll find his stoic and dramatic performance, like the one he gives in Drive. Put simply, Drive wouldn’t work without the actor’s lead performance, because the entire film hinges on him and his abilities. 

Ryan Reynolds – Deadpool

After years of working to get it made and some well-timed leaked footage, finally, in 2016, Deadpool came out and we got to see Ryan Reynolds in his element as the Merc with a Mouth. 

Casey Affleck – Manchester By The Sea 

In a film about a man returning home to reckon with his past and grief after losing his brother, Casey Affleck gives an emotional and commanding performance. Not only did he win an Oscar for his work in this drama, but it’s also one of the big defining roles of his career. 

Chris Evans – Captain America: The Winter Soldier 

Chris Evans began and ended his tenure as Steve Rogers in the 2010s. While all his outings as the star-spangled man with a plan were excellent, nothing tops his performance as Cap in the political thriller that is the Russo brothers’ Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which is easily one of the best Marvel movies ever made. 

Ralph Fiennes – The Grand Budapest Hotel 

Under Wes Anderson’s precise direction, Ralph Fiennes occupied the pastel world of the Grand Budapest Hotel with grace and style. His fast-talking M. Gustave went on quite the adventure in this film, and he won over the hearts of audiences with his quick wit, smooth charm and impeccable work ethic. 

Natalie Portman – Black Swan 

Throwing it back to the beginning of the decade, Darren Aronofsky’s 2010 psychological thriller Black Swan showed us Natalie Portman’s talents in a new light. While she had been on the scene and in big movies for years, this film marked a major milestone in her career as her performance as a tortured ballerina got her an Academy Award. 

Matthew McConaughey – Dallas Buys Club

Obviously, for a couple of decades before this, Matthew McConaughey was known and beloved for fun movies like Dazed and Confused and How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days. However, in 2013, Dallas Buyers Club marked a notable shift in his career. Not only did he win an Oscar for this dramatic turn as a man who finds out he has AIDS, but he also went on to star in acclaimed projects like Interstellar and True Detective one year later, cementing himself as a magnificent dramatic actor with serious range. 

Jennifer Lawrence – Silver Linings Playbook

Yes, Jennifer Lawrence leading The Hunger Games cast is one of the biggest triumphs of her career. However, amid all of that, she starred in the beloved dramedy Silver Linings Playbook with Bradley Cooper, and that’s the film for which she won her Oscar. This magnificent film about two people learning to live and thrive through grief and mental illness, is a thoughtful and funny film that Lawrence steals with her amazing performance. 

Brad Pitt – Moneyball 

Moneyball is the story about the general manager of the Oakland A’s using his business savvy and what little money his team had to assemble a rag-tag team of MLB players. Brad Pitt plays said manager, Billy Beane, and I mean it when I say the movie really wouldn’t work without him. He’s at the center of it, and he carries it to victory just like his character did with the A’s.  

Chadwick Boseman – Black Panther 

We sadly lost Chadwick Boseman way too early, however, his legacy will live on forever. This is in part because of his performance as the King of Wakanda, T’Challa. Black Panther was a historic moment in modern movie history, and his incredible take on the titular hero is a big reason why. 

Margot Robbie – I, Tonya 

Before I, Tonya, Margot Robbie was beloved for her supporting and ensemble roles in films like The Wolf of Wall Street and Suicide Squad. However, one of the movies that helped solidify her as both a leading lady and super producer was I, Tonya. She played Tonya Harding and produced the film under the banner of her company LuckyChap – which went on to make films like Barbie and Promising Young Woman. 

Florence Pugh – Midsommar

Florence Pugh exploded onto the scene with the haunting Ari Aster film Midsommar. The movie is now considered one of the best horror movies of all time, and a big reason why is Pugh’s performance. 

Saoirse Ronan – Lady Bird

Talk about a dynamic duo. Greta Gerwig and Saoirse Ronan are a match made in heaven, and that was solidified into fact when the actress played the titular Lady Bird in the director’s breakout film. Not only did fans fall in love with Ronan’s performance as the defiant teenage gal, but she also received wide acclaim and an Oscar nomination for it. Plus, it was the beginning of a glorious partnership between her and Greta Gerwig as they then went on to make Little Women together. 

Timothée Chalamet – Call Me By Your Name

These days, when people think of Timothée Chalamet, they likely think of him as Paul Atreides, the leader of the Dune cast. However, before that (and in a different decade) the film that sprung him into the mainstream was Luca Guadagnino’s Call Me By Your Name. The deeply romantic and tender coming-of-age drama was led beautifully by Chalamet, and since then he’s taken on more roles that have helped cement him as one of the top-leading men of his generation. 

Anna Kendrick – Pitch Perfect

If you were a kid in 2012 (like I was), odds are you learned the “Cups” song. The movie about college acapella was a phenomenon in the early 2010s, and it served as a big breakout leading role for Anna Kendrick. Not only was she funny as Becca, but everyone also became aware that she had the singing voice of an angel.  

Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years A Slave

Lupita Nyong’o’s first feature film was 12 Years A Slave. Her performance in the movie by Steve McQueen won her an Oscar in 2012 and solidified her as a top-tier dramatic performer. Since then, she’s gone on to star in massive blockbusters like Black Panther and A Quiet Place: Day One. 

Joaquin Phoenix – Joker

There have been many amazing takes on the Joker, and Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck was a totally new one. In Joker, we see the villain’s origin story, and it’s a film that’s unlike any other DC project. The haunting performance ultimately won the actor an Oscar, and he reprised the part again in Joker: Folie à Deux.

Charlize Theron – Mad Max: Fury Road

The movie is named after Mad Max, and he’s great, don’t get me wrong, but Furiosa steals the show. Charlize Theron’s performance as the driver in Mad Max: Fury Road is fierce and jaw-dropping, and she’s one of many reasons why George Miller’s movie is considered one of the best action films. 

Michael Cera – Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

You can’t have Scott Pilgrim vs. The World without a perfect Scott Pilgrim and that’s who Michael Cera is. He perfectly played the awkward yet heroic protagonist in Edgar Wright’s beloved film, and to this day, it's considered some of his best work.

Matt Damon – The Martian

This Ridley Scott movie is literally about one man who is stuck on Mars. Yes, there are other people in the film trying to save him. However, overall, The Martian is Matt Damon’s movie. He plays the stranded astronaut and scientist, and the heart, charisma, intelligence and even humor he brings to the space drama is unforgettable. 

All around, the 2010s were full of films that are on their way to becoming all-time classics, and it’s in part thanks to the brilliant actors who starred in them. 

Just in case you needed another reminder that celebrity fashion is all over the early aughts, Brie Larson gave us a Barbiecore pink look that actually channels a much earlier movie: Legally Blonde. The actress was recently on hand for  a SAG-Aftra event in support of Lessons in Chemistry, but it was more like “Lessons in how to dress like Elle Woods. 

Rocking a pink blouse and a pink tweed skirt with cool ballet flats in a slightly darker shade, Brie Larson looked like she could bend and snap any second. The look as a whole channeled Elle Woods, though jury's out on whether it's technically closer to the peacock blue legal look she sported or her main suit in Legally Blonde: Red, White and Blonde. It sort of has it's own thing going on, but it's definitely referential too. 

Larson also took to social media to share a close up of her outfit, confirming she, too recognizes she looks like Reese Witherspoon in what may be her most iconic role. After she captioned her post, “Just a little Elle Woods cosplay for a sag-aftra q&a,” Reese Witherspoon saw it and actual responded, joking on Instagram: 

Indeed, the timing of the post is pretty impeccable. Legally Blonde's been a topic of coversation of late.

In fact, Reese Witherspoon had been working to bring back Elle Woods in a third sequel for a while, with MGM announcing the project originally back in 2020. In the spring, it was announced the studio is switching to a Prime Video TV series Elle that will be a prequel set in the character's teenaged years. Unfortunately, there hasn't been new word on Legally Blonde 3 since Reese commented on it a couple of years ago. That project would actually feature Reese Witherspoon, but at least the Amazon TV bent will be something concrete for the fans. 

This isn't the first time another celebrity has channeled Witherspoon's popular movie character. Mindy Kaling did it once for a pool party, too, hopping on a float like Elle Woods does in her Harvard Law application video. (Kaling was expected to be involved with Legally Blonde 3, to note.) Florence Pugh did it once for a Black Widow press tour. And even Reese herself has been known to channel Elle Woods on occasion. 

Brie doing it is the icing on the cake. It's honestly too bad she's in her thirties, because I kind of would be interested to see what she'd do with a young Elle. But for now, I'll take the cosplay. 

We'll keep you updated when more Elle news breaks. For now keep tabs on what is coming to streaming with an Amazon subscription. 

Rumors of the demise of the Marvel Cinematic Universe have been greatly exaggerated. The massive success of Deadpool & Wolverine at the box office has shown that audiences are still interested in the MCU. However, that success only throws into sharper perspective some of the franchise’s recent struggles, including, perhaps above all else, The Marvels.

As the last big screen release in the MCU prior to Deadpool & Wolverine, The Marvels failed to find an audience in theaters, leading to one of the lowest box office totals of an MCU movie to date. While there are any number of potential explanations for why the movie flopped, Brie Larson tells The Playlist that she still appreciates the film because she loves her co-stars and believes in what the movie was trying to say. She also teased that perhaps, despite the movie’s failure, Captain Marvel and her friends might have more to do. Larson said…

While Larson wouldn’t reveal any specifics, the fact that she knows something at least confirms that there’s something to know regarding herself and upcoming Marvel movies. If there were no plans for Captain Marvel in the MCU, she would likely have had a conversation to confirm that. If there was nothing to know, she wouldn’t know anything at all.

This is certainly good news for the fans of The Marvels out there. While we can’t overlook that the movie wasn’t the massive hit that the original Captain Marvel was, the film certainly has its fans who would love to see any or all of the film’s three leads again.

If there are plans to see Carol Danvers, Monica Rambeau or Kamala Khan again, then it would seem Marvel Studios isn't putting too much stock in the movie's lack of success. It would be easy to assume that people just don't care about those characters, and with the MCU having so many to choose from, it could easily focus elsewhere. But Bob Iger blamed a lack of "supervision" for The Marvels' bad performance, which would seem to indicate the problem wasn't the characters or the actors, just that the movie they were in wasn't right.

If nothing else, the MCU needs to resolve The Marvels post-credits scene, which left Monica Rambeau in another universe. While the MCU recently confirmed its plans to pivot away from Jonathan Majors’ Kang, replacing him with Roberty Downey Jr.’s return to the MCU as Doctor Doom, we still expect the multiverse will play a major role in the franchise at least through the two currently planned Avengers movies.

The 76th Emmy nominations came out, and they truly highlight the shows on the 2024 TV schedule that blew audiences away. If you felt psyched hearing about your favorite series and performers being nominated, you can only imagine how the incredible talent felt when they got the news. Nominees like Walton Goggins, Brie Larson, Richard Gadd, and more share their super jazzed reactions after gaining Emmy recognition.

Among Fallout’s 16 nominations, Walton Goggins' charismatic performance as The Ghoul got a nod in the category Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. With The Shield actor portraying two roles on the show as a gun-slinging bounty hunter and his pre-apocalyptic version of Cooper Howard, this Emmy nomination is well-deserved. Once nominated for the neo-Western crime drama Justified, the American actor shared in a statement via ABC News expressing how thankful he is for this honor:

Another nomination worthy of praise came from Brie Larson for her leading role in the Apple TV+ series Lessons in Chemistry. She brought author Bonnie Garmus’ Elizabeth Zott to life as a chemistry wiz who faces constant sexism in the workplace but is still true to herself. Throughout the deadpan expressions and hardened exterior, Larson was brilliant in capturing her character’s inner struggles and genuine heart for her passions.

The Oscar winner took to her Instagram stories to share that her nomination has made her “the happiest woman in the universe”:

Richard Gadd made his Netflix debut with a bang creating and starring in one of the legacy streaming service’s best shows Baby Reindeer. As Gadd brought to the dark-comedy series his real-life hardest moments, the Scottish entertainer knew how to make us laugh with his awkward yet relatable comedy stylings and make us cry when his character showed heartbreaking vulnerability.

With a first Emmy nomination under his belt now, Gadd took to Instagram to share his thanks to those who helped bring his show to life:

Another performer who got her first Emmy nomination for acting this year is veteran actress Jodie Foster. Her empowering decades-long career earned her two Oscars, three BAFTAs, and three Golden Globe Awards. Foster has been nominated at the Emmys as a producer and a director. However, after returning to the horror vibes in True Detective: Night Country to play Chief Liz Danvers, she now has her first Emmy nomination for acting. The Silence of the Lambs actress said in a statement to ABC News what a profound moment her nomination was for her:

Another Emmy nominee reaction came from Quinta Brunson, who’s the brains and star power of Abbott Elementary. After her comedy show’s first season picked up three wins at the 2022 Emmys, and another one at the 2023 ceremony, it’s no surprise that Season 3 would be filled with just as much success. The nominated actress/writer of Abbott Elementary -- who won the Emmy for her performance as Ms. Teagues last year -- expressed in an Instagram post how proud she was of her show’s success:

This year’s Emmy-nominated performers like Walton Goggins, Brie Larson, Richard Gadd, and more appear to be super jazzed for their accomplishments in television.

I can’t wait to see who will be the lucky winners holding that golden trophy. You can find out for yourself by catching the 76th Emmy Awards on September 15th on ABC. The show will also be available to stream in full with a Hulu subscription the next day.

Last year, Brie Larson was on her work grind, releasing The Marvels, Fast X and Lessons in Chemistry. Now, in 2024, she’s been traveling the world and stunning us all with amazing looks, making her serious vacation goals. Of course, last year, Larson proved that she was summer goals. But now, her latest tropical photo dump has added to her lexicon of summery posts, and I’m simply striving to have this much fashionable fun in the sun.

Taking to Instagram to post seven videos from her tropical trip, Brie Larson stunned in the cutest sundresses and swimwear while giving her fans a peek into what she’s been up to lately.

OK, let’s break this amazing post down. The first video features Larson taking a dip in a pool while wearing a cute red, black and white striped bikini. Video two shows her wearing an adorable denim bucket hat while looking up at all the colorful flags above her. That’s followed by a video of a resort that appears to be by the ocean, and a clip of her wearing the prettiest black flowy dress while holding an award up in the air during Filming Italy 2024 in Santa Margherita di Pula, Italy.

Along with her beachy and glamorous posts, the actress also uploaded a video of what looks like a tour of ancient ruins and a silly clip of a restaurant that features a sign that says “VIP, Very Important Pig.”

The grand finale of this post was a lovely video of her walking down the beach in a sweet tan and brown sundress.

We kind of got it all with this dump from Brie Larson, and I’m so here for it! Her vacation and recreational posts are some of my favorites, and I’m seriously just trying to have as much fun as she seems to be having.

From posting about her “self-care” in the sauna to rocking the coolest blazer and mini shorts in Venice, Larson appears to be living her best life. And she's clearly keeping that going with her latest trip.

Along with her travels, Larson has also popped up at events wearing the cutest looks. She matched with Alexandra Daddario at Filming Italy 2024. And, earlier this year, she channeled Claudia Schiffer for the SAG Awards. No matter the occasion, she’s always looking fabulous, and her latest summer post proved the point even further.

I love that we’ve been getting so much fun vacation content from Brie Larson, and it’s making me even more excited to see what she does next professionally. While she doesn’t have any projects lined up at the moment, I’m sure something will come. In the meantime, we can appreciate her summer fashion and stream her last two projects, The Marvels and Lessons in Chemistry, with a Disney+ subscription and Apple TV+ subscription, respectively.

Most actors don't just come out of the woodwork and immediately get awards attention, box office success and global stardom. Many start out taking bit parts in big movies or supporting character gigs opposite more successful performers. From Academy Award winners like Charlize Theron and Viola Davis to superhero stars like Tom Holland and Ben Affleck, here are 32 now-famous faces you might not remember popped up in famous movies before they were big. 

Matt Damon

In his movie debut, a very young Matt Damon can briefly be seen in 1988's Mystic Pizza as Steamer Windsor, the younger brother of Adam Storke's Charles, the clean-cut, country-club love interest of fun-loving pizzeria waitress Daisy (Julia Roberts). Steamer is present at an awkward dinner where Charles brings Daisy home to meet the family. 

Viola Davis

In the 1998 crime comedy Out of Sight, which is undoubtedly one of Steven Soderbergh's best movies, Viola Davis has a small role playing Moselle Miller, the wife of boxer Maurice "Snoopy" Miller (Don Cheadle). She would later go on to act alongside her Out of Sight co-star Jennifer Lopez in another crime flick, 2015's Lila & Eve.

Philip Seymour Hoffman

The 1992 Martin Brest melodrama Scent of a Woman memorably stars Al Pacino as a blind retired colonel and Chris O'Donnell as the prep-school student hired to watch over him, but it also features Philip Seymour Hoffman in one of his earliest performances as a fellow student named George Willis, Jr.

Carey Mulligan

The Bennet household is a bustling one in Joe Wright's 2005 adaptation of the Jane Austen classic Pride and Prejudice, so much so that you might have overlooked that — along with the likes of Keira Knightley, Rosamund Pike and Jena Malone — a teenaged Carey Mulligan is one of the Bennet sisters. (It's just one of many movies that prove Mulligan should be a much bigger star.) 

Elijah Wood

Long before he embarked on a quest to destroy the One Ring as Frodo in The Lord of the Rings, Elijah Wood was a successful child actor in films like The Adventures of Huck Finn, The Good Son, North and Flipper. However, before those starring roles, the pint-sized performer showed up as "Video Game Boy #2" in Back to the Future Part II.

Octavia Spencer

The 1999 Drew Barrymore comedy Never Been Kissed is jam-packed with unexpected actor appearances, from Jessica Alba to James Franco — together they play a dopey but popular high school couple — to Octavia Spencer. The latter plays a coworker of the main character Josie Geller (Barrymore) at the Chicago Sun-Times. 

Timothée Chalamet

With everything that goes on in Christopher Nolan's Interstellar — you know, that whole part about the astronauts who have to travel through a wormhole near Saturn in search of a new home for humankind — viewers may have forgotten that a fresh-faced Timothée Chalamet as Tim, the teen son of Matthew McConaughey's Cooper. 

Brie Larson

Well before she received an Oscar or donned a superhero cape, Captain Marvel star Brie Larson was a tween actress who had a main role in the short-lived WB sitcom Raising Dad. One of her first big-screen gigs, however, was as a popular Six Chick in the 2004 Jennifer Garner favorite 13 Going on 30. (Don't feel too bad, Mark Ruffalo didn't remember her either.) 

Charlize Theron

If you're a fan of The Wonders, you no doubt remember band members Guy (Tom Everett Scott), Lenny (Steve Zahn), Jimmy (Johnathon Schaech) and the bass player (Ethan Embry). However, you may not so readily remember that Charlize Theron is also in That Thing You Do!, as Guy's ex-girlfriend Tina, who leaves him for her dentist. 

Joe Manganiello 

Before making the ladies sweat in the Magic Mike franchise, Joe Manganiello was making Peter Parker sweat for an entirely different reason in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man film series, playing the high-school bully Flash Thompson. His character dated Kirsten Dunst's Mary Jane before she ended up with Spidey himself (Tobey Maguire). 

Seth Rogen

The titular teen protagonist of Donnie Darko (played by Jake Gyllenhaal) doesn't just have to deal with those disturbing visions of a rabbit-costumed man named Frank. He also has to deal with a pair of high school bullies, one of whom is played by Seth Rogen in his first ever movie appearance. 

Amy Adams

The Steven Spielberg-directed crime comedy Catch Me If You Can featured several now-well-known actresses before they were household names, including Ellen Pompeo, Elizabeth Banks and Amy Adams. The latter acted opposite Leonardo DiCaprio (played teenage con artist Frank Abagnale Jr.) as Brenda Strong, a young hospital worker who falls for Frank and his fraud. 

Keira Knightley

Given her uncanny resemblance to Natalie Portman, it's only fitting that a teenage Keira Knightley appeared as Sabé, a handmaiden and royal decoy for Portman's Padmé Amidala in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. Even Knightley herself could use a reminder about who she played in the space trilogy!

Michael Fassbender

Years before memorable film roles in Inglourious Basterds, Jane Eyre, the X-Men movies and his Oscar-nominated turn in Shame, Michael Fassbender made his film debut in the 2006 action epic 300. He played the character of Stelios, a young, spirited and highly skilled Spartan soldier fighting under Gerard Butler's King Leonidas.

Sandra Oh

"Gupta? Mhm. Mhm. Mhm. The queen is coming!" It's one of the most memorable lines uttered in The Princess Diaries and it's said by none other than a pre-Grey's Anatomy Sandra Oh. Joining Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews in the beloved cast, Oh plays the humorous vice principal at Mia Thermopolis's school. 

Margot Robbie

Before her big breakout in The Wolf of Wall Street — and even longer before she painted the world pink with the phenomenon that is Barbie — rom-com fans got their first introduction to Margot in the 2013 romantic dramedy About Time. Robbie plays Charlotte, a woman that the main character Tim Lake (Domhnall Gleeson) is crushing on before he meets his true love, Mary (played by Rachel McAdams).

Joaquin Phoenix

The 1989 Ron Howard-directed comedy Parenthood already has a stacked cast — Steve Martin, Rick Moranis, Keanu Reeves, Mary Steenburgen and Dianne Wiest, to name a few — before you even remember that one of the youngins in the movie is played by a teenage Joaquin Phoenix, then going by his birth name Leaf.

Samuel L. Jackson

It's hard to remember a time when Samuel L. Jackson wasn't a major movie star, but in the 1970s and '80s, the iconic actor was racking up bit parts in big titles, including Eddie Murphy's Coming to America. In the 1988 rom-com, Jackson plays a character known as "Hold-Up Man," an armed robber who has held up the local fast-food restaurant called McDowell's five times. 

Kristen Stewart

Though she has been acting professionally since grade school, Kristen Stewart didn't become a global star until she played moody teen Bella Swan in 2008's vampire romance Twilight. But years before that, she played a memorable part in the 2002 David Fincher thriller Panic Room, appearing opposite Jodie Foster as her character's daughter. 

Dakota Johnson

\Dakota Johnson had her big Hollywood breakthrough leading a beloved book-to-film adaptation, as Anastasia Steele in the erotic Fifty Shades film series. But she actually showed up in another huge movie five years earlier: 2010's The Social Network, as a college coed who spends the night with Sean Parker, played by Justin Timberlake. 

Gabrielle Union

Before she led the Clovers to cheer competition victory in 2000's Bring It On, Gabrielle Union was given supporting roles in '90s teen favorites like 10 Things I Hate About You and She's All That. The latter was actually her film debut, in which she appeared as popular girl Katie, a member of Zack Siler's (Freddie Prinze Jr.) friend group. 

Nicolas Cage

Technically, Nicolas Cage wasn't in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. But Nicolas Coppola was — when he made his feature film acting debut in the 1982 coming-of-age comedy, the actor was still going by his birth name. However, the Oscar-winning star would later change his name professionally to avoid nepotism allegations. (He is, of course, the nephew of director Francis Ford Coppola and actress Talia Shire, and a cousin of director Sofia Coppola and actor Jason Schwartzman.)

Johnny Depp

Johnny Depp memorably made his big-screen debut in the 1984 horror film A Nightmare on Elm Street, but movie fans might not remember that a short while later, he also appeared in Oliver Stone's war film Platoon as a young soldier fighting in the Vietnam War alongside the likes of Charlie Sheen, Willem Dafoe, Tom Berenger, Forest Whitaker and Kevin Dillon. 

Natalie Portman

Natalie Portman has had a prolific acting career ever since she was a tween, starting from when she starred as the young protégée of a hitman in the 1994 action film Léon: The Professional at only twelve years old. Though that was an instantly memorable introduction to the performer, you might have forgotten that only a year later, she worked alongside screen greats like Al Pacino and Robert De Niro in the Michael Mann-directed classic, Heat. 

Tom Holland

He's most famous for spinning webs as Spider-Man but long before that, Tom Holland was making his film debut (and making audiences weep) in the 2012 disaster drama The Impossible, as a young boy desperately trying to reunite with his family following a horrific tsunami. 

Vince Vaughn

The heartwarming 1993 sports drama Rudy — about a young man (Sean Astin) who dreams of playing football at the University of Notre Dame — features an ironic pair of film-acting debuts. It was the first movie roles of both Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn, playing teaching assistant D-Bob and tailback Jamie O'Hara, respectively. That duo would famously go on to star in the 1996 buddy comedy Swingers. 

Ryan Gosling

Another early football role for a Hollywood heavyweight, a young Ryan Gosling already had some big TV gigs under his belt (The Mickey Mouse Club, Young Hercules) before he appeared as Alan Bosley, the wiry cornerback of T. C. Williams High School's football team in Remember the Titans. And if you remember that locker-room singalong, you know the little Goose had charisma even then!

Mila Kunis

Yes, that is a mini Mila Kunis in Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves — she played a friend of Wayne Szalinski's (Rick Moranis) niece, who throws a house party once it seems like all of the grown-ups have left for the evening. (Instead, the adults have been accidentally zapped to microscopic proportions, naturally.) 

Daniel Craig

Before he was Bond, James Bond, Daniel Craig was Ballard, John Ballard, in the 1998 historical drama Elizabeth. The British actor portrayed a priest-slash-assassin who conspired with the Duke of Norfolk (Christopher Eccleston) to overthrow Queen Elizabeth I (played by Cate Blanchett) from the throne. Of course, Bond would never treat the Queen of England that way!

Jake Gyllenhaal

Given that filmmaking is a family business for Jake Gyllenhaal — he is the son of film director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner, and the younger bro of the great actress Maggie Gyllenhaal — it's not a shock that the actor started young. He made his film debut at age ten in 1991's City Slickers, playing the son of Billy Crystal's character Mitch Robbins. 

Kerry Washington

Kerry Washington is best known for playing crisis management expert Olivia Pope in the ABC drama series Scandal, but more than a decade earlier, she showed off her fix-it skills as Chenille Reynolds in Save the Last Dance, helping Julia Stiles's character Sara better integrate into their South Side high school and hip-hop culture at large. 

Ben Affleck

Like his famous best friend Matt Damon, Ben Affleck also began his acting career as a child and while eagle-eyed moviegoers no doubt remember spotting him in early-'90s films like School Ties and Dazed and Confused, they may have forgotten his uncredited early cameos, such as "Basketball Player 10" in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie. 

In the world of fashion, two people wearing the same outfit is normally frowned upon, and I’ve never really understood why. I don’t think it’s weird for folks to wear the same garments, and when two people do end up matching, it can be a super cute moment. Case and point, fashion icons Alexandra Daddario and Brie Larson wore the same black dress with white polka dots to an event, they leaned into the coincidence, and it was amazing.

Both actresses were attending a press conference for the Filming Italy 2024 in Cagliari, Italy when they were photographed in the dress. They fully leaned into their matching moment too, as they posed for a photo with John David Washington, which you can see below:

In a way, this reminds me of the time Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya wore matching jumpsuits to a Dune: Part Two event. When it comes to matching, it’s all about mentality. If you look embarrassed to be wearing the same thing, people probably won’t like it. However, if you confidently lean into it, you can make it a serious fashion moment.

Adding to this fun matching situation, Daddario and Larson also showed off their unique aesthetics through how they styled the dress. As you can see in the image above, The White Lotus star is carrying a cute tan woven purse, while The Marvels actress paired the dress with a red handbag. Other photos showed that their shoe choices differed too, as Daddario rocked white sneakers while Larson wore strappy sandals.

If anything, both these women wearing this dress proves it's a must-have item.

We’ve written countless stories about Alexandra Daddario embracing her style while staying on-trend – like the time she took on the black bikini trend while going to the gym earlier this summer. Plus, we’ve coved stories about Brie Larson rocking trendy yet unique looks (like the time she wore a cool blazer and mini shorts earlier this summer) many times. So, the fact that these two stylish gals were wearing the same dress simply means that it's a perfect piece to have this summer.

If you are looking to match with these wonderful ladies too, have no fear! Saks Fifth Avenue sells the Dôen Rosaria Polka Dot Ruched Bust Maxi Dress. While it’s not the exact Dôen garment Larson and Daddario are wearing, it’s very, very similar (and slightly cheaper).

Honestly, after seeing these two wear a dress very similar to this one, I’m tempted. It’s such a great staple summer piece, and they both looked gorgeous in it. The classic polka dot pattern is something that will never go out of style, and the flowy garment is perfect for the season.

Moving forward, if these two make comments about their matching fits, or if we get any more incredible ensembles from either of them, we’ll let you know.

In the meantime, make sure to check out both of their latest projects! Alexandra Daddario's film I Wish You All The Best premiered on the 2024 movie schedule at South by Southwest earlier this year, and her show Mayfair Witches will return next year. As for Larson, she currently doesn’t have any upcoming projects, but you can watch her most recent show, Lessons in Chemistry with an Apple TV+ subscription.

I've got to hand it to Brie Larson—she consistently delivers the best summer fashion content. Last year, we saw the Marvels star flaunting an ultra-glamorous dress at a swanky Disney hotel. Also, who could forget when she became the epitome of summer goals in a Barbiecore dress, soaking up the sun before her last superhero flick hit theaters? She's back at it this year, kicking off shorts season with some serious style. But that's not all—she rocked the coolest blazer and mini shorts while on a trip to Venice.

The Oscar-winning Room actress made a jaw-dropping appearance at Max Mara’s resort show, channeling an American twist on "La Dolce Vita" fashion. If you've been scrolling through Instagram, you've probably seen her absolutely slaying it in Italy. Larson’s outfit was a masterclass in modern chic, as she sported a strappy black pinstripe tank top paired with matching mini shorts crafted from a sleek office fabric that screamed sophistication. 

The top featured a sweetheart neckline and subtle horizontal cut-outs. The high-waisted shorts, which could easily be mistaken for a trendy romper, hit just above the mid-thigh, showcasing some serious superhero-worthy legs, fit for any upcoming superhero movie. You can check out the fresh take on the high-waisted trend in Brie Larson's Instagram post from her trip:

The outfit's sophisticated and playful design clearly takes cues from the Italian brand’s fall 2024 collection. The genius lies in combining a strappy tank, mini shorts and a blazer crafted from a professional fabric, making the ensemble perfect for casual outings and more formal events.

Brie Larson consistently knows how to make a fashion statement. Just this past February, she captured everyone’s attention on the red carpet at the SAG Awards by channeling Claudia Schiffer’s iconic look with a stunning, ab-baring dress. Larson has a knack for rocking trendy looks, such as embracing the sheer and lace trend. Last year, she was seen in a sheer blue lace set for summer and a sheer lace mini-dress at Beyoncé’s concert. However, it was her lacy green slip dress, showcased in a recent Instagram post, that genuinely gave off femme fatale vibes.

While in Venice, the Avengers veteran attended the Max Mara resort show as a guest, along with other celebrities such as Kate Hudson, Kathy and Nicky Hilton and Yara Shahidi. The Grown-ish alum was photographed next to and wearing the same striking pair of heels as the Fast X star, only in a chocolate brown shade. The shoes were heels with a strap across the toes and midsection, a crisscross design under a buckled ankle strap. Shahidi paired the block-shaped ultra-high heel with a beige suit jacket, while Hudson chose a long black dress and sharply pointed pumps.

Clearly, all of the ladies were prepared with their best fits, though we really have to shout out Brie Larson for delivering yet another perfect fit. Here's to more incredible looks from her throughout this coming summer.

When Brie Larson isn't showcasing her unique fashion sense, she's delivering stellar performances on both the big and small screens. Recently, she attended an FYC event for her limited series Lessons in Chemistry, which is based on Bonnie Garmus' best-selling novel. The show can be streamed in its entirety with a Apple TV+ subscription. You can also catch Larson's powerful portrayal of Captain Marvel in multiple Marvel movies if you’re a Disney+ subscriber. 

Over the past couple of years, a fun lil trend we’ve seen pop up is fashion photos in or around bathtubs. One time, JLo posted a stunning selfie from the tub on her honeymoon, and last spring, Karen Gillan hopped in the bathtub ahead of the Guardians of the Galaxy premiere for a fun photoshoot in a black minidress and sparkly black boots. However, it seems like we’re moving the trend from the bathroom to the sauna if Brie Larson and Julianne Hough have anything to say about it. 

I have to say, Brie Larson always has the best summer posts. Last year, The Marvels star rocked a fancy AF dress at a fancy Disney hotel, and she also became summer goals when she wore a Barbiecore dress while soaking in the sun before her last Marvel movie came out. Now, the actress is getting some rest and relaxation in the sauna as she posted this lovely “self-care” set of images:

The three images show Larson in a sweet orange bikini as she sits inside the sauna. Her expressions show that she’s having a great time relaxing in the heat, and as the caption notes, she’s getting in some nice self-care. 

Julianne Hough was on a similar wave-length because a day after Larson’s post, the Dancing with the Stars co-host uploaded this video:

Like the Fast X actress, the dancer is wearing an Earth-toned bikini, and she was spending some good time in the sauna. Unlike Larson, Hough posted a video instead of photos, showing off her stretching routine. Considering she’s a dancer, I’m not shocked that she’s taking time to stretch and exercise in the sauna, and I bet it’s helping her start to get ready for Dancing with the Stars’ return on the 2024 TV schedule. 

Speaking of Dancing with the Stars, you’ll be able to watch it again with a Disney+ subscription or on ABC later this fall, and Hough will be back leading the show with Alfonso Ribeiro. So, I’m happy the co-host is getting some good self-care in right now, so she’ll be ready to rock when the dance competition returns!

The same can be said for Brie Larson, however, it’s in the opposite direction, because she’s recouping after a very busy 2023. While she doesn’t have anything on the 2024 movie schedule, the Oscar winner did star in the mini-series Lessons in Chemistry (which you can stream with an Apple TV+ subscription) at the end of the year, and before that, she starred in two big blockbusters – Fast X and The Marvels. So, I’d say her sauna sessions are well-deserved, and they’ll hopefully help her prepare for her next big role.

I for one think I need to take some notes from Larson and Hough and hop on this sauna trend this summer. And while I do that, we here at CinemaBlend will keep you posted on what these two ladies are up to professionally as well as any fashion and fitness developments in their personal lives. 

Ever since 2016 when it was announced that Brie Larson would be Captain Marvel, the Oscar winner joined a long line of actresses playing kick-ass superheroes. As Larson has been donning her character’s armored costume since her solo film in 2019, it’s safe to say she has playing a superhero in Marvel movies down pat. The 34-year-old actress is also kind of a hero to newcomer Marvel actors, who Larson say “always” reaches out to her once they get hired for advice. Apparently her Captain Marvel costume is involved in her sage words to them too.

As Captain Marvel hit the $1 billion mark, fans, as well as upcoming Marvel actors, recognized what a powerhouse Larson is. This is demonstrated by her saying at THR’s Drama Emmy Actress Roundtable that new actors have “always” reached out to her when hired by Marvel for advice involving their superhero suits:

Taking on the role of Carol Danvers wasn’t a decision Brie Larson made right away considering the weight a female-led superhero film would have on audiences. However, she knew if her Captain Marvel role could have meaning to young women watching, it was a film offer she couldn’t walk away from.

Training to play Captain Marvel required researching the character of the Air Force pilot through reading the Marvel comics and visiting service members to fully embody a pilot. And, of course, there was physical training, which included literally pushing a Jeep and her intense workouts of doing pull-ups while wearing chains. Aspiring superhero actors need to take notes!

How Brie Larson Has Helped Superhero Actors Before

It’s incredibly inspirational for a Marvel actress like Brie Larson to help incoming Marvel actors prepare for their new superhero roles. The Lessons in Chemistry actress is simply paying it forward after Scarlett Johansson reached out to Larson when she was cast as Carol Danvers.

As the two met while filming Avengers: Endgame, Johansson had been in the superhero game since 2010 with her Black Widow debut in Iron Man 2. As Larson said, it was fortunate for her to be welcomed to the team by Johansson and have her call her before her first day on Endgame. This act of kindness inspired the 21 Jump Street actress to do the same for her fellow Marvel actors.

Unlike her busybody Marvel superhero character, Brie Larson said she’ll always make time for any newbie Marvel actors looking for advice on playing a superhero. One actress in particular whom Larson sweetly helped was Ironheart’s Dominique Thorne, specifically with navigating going from “female human to superhuman.” Thorne may have had a strong MCU debut in Black Panther 2, but having an even larger role in the upcoming Disney+ series Ironheart means that Larson’s advice of getting into character is truly going to help her take on this upcoming project.

Brie Larson’s Experiences With Her Captain Marvel Costume

Captain Marvel’s signature costume involves an armored red-and-blue spandex suit with flexible material to make it easy enough for this superhero to kick ass. Not to mention, the sci-fi militarism look to the suit also shows that she means business.

The first time Brie Larson wore that famed costume, she got a little emotional. You can’t blame her considering she stepped into some big shoes being the first actress to play the Marvel superhero in live-action form. There’s no better way to show a role is set in stone than getting to don the superhero garbs. That said, I can also imagine how frustrating it can be to wear an outfit like that and have to go to the bathroom. Actors may play superheroes, but they’re still human beings underneath the suits who can’t ignore the call of nature.

Marvel actors know that when they need some sage advice on how to play a superhero for upcoming Marvel movies, Brie Larson is their go-to woman for training and bathroom tips. It looks like the MCU actress is a true hero on and off the screen, willing to offer a helping hand to actors taking on a superhero role like she did once upon a time.

You can see her as Carol Danvers in Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame, The Marvels and more all on your Disney+ subscription.

Some actors are best known and even defined by a single character that has captured the hearts of audiences all over the world. However, in many cases, said iconic character does not necessarily reflect the performer’s strongest performance, which they often tend to save for the role that they hope will earn them an Academy Award nomination or, at least, challenges them the most. The following is our attempt to distinguish the most iconic roles from our choices picks for the absolute best roles of some of Hollywood’s biggest stars.

Chris Evans

The role that skyrocketed Chris Evans to the A-list and the one he will always be most famous for is Steve "Captain America" Rogers from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, his talents are even better utilized in his scene-stealing performance in the Knives Out cast as the hilariously smug and conniving Ransom Drysdale.

Amy Adams

The world first fell in love with Amy Adams when she absolutely nailed the Disney Princess schtick as Giselle in 2007’s Enchanted. Yet, she is truly a captivating, commanding, and heartbreaking force to be reckoned with in Denis Villeneuve’s powerful 2016 alien invasion movie, Arrival, as linguistics expert Louise Banks — which, surprisingly, is not one of the six roles that earned her an Oscar nomination.

Kurt Russell

For many people, when they see Kurt Russell, they see the dystopian anti-hero Snake Plissken in Escape from New York from 1981 or helicopter pilot R.J. MacReady in another great John Carpenter movie, 1982’s The Thing. Yet, even the actor’s biggest fans might agree that those performances pale in comparison to his acclaimed portrayal of Wyatt Earp in the 1993 Western movie classic, Tombstone.

Margot Robbie

Margot Robbie first captivated audiences everywhere as Naomi Lapaglia in 2013’s The Wolf of Wall Street and her portrayal of Harley Quinn in the DCEU immediately became one of the Batman villain’s most essential iterations. However, the Australian actor gave, arguably, her most captivating and essential performance as infamous figure skating champion Tonya Harding in the 2017 biopic, I, Tonya, which also earned her her first Oscar nomination.

Nicolas Cage 

Nicolas Cage is at his most iconic when he is at his most unhinged and few characters define that better than Castor Troy — a ruthless terrorist who switches faces with FBI agent Sean Archer (John Travolta) in Face/Off. Of course, it is Cage's performance as severe alcoholic Ben Sanderson in Leaving Las Vegas that earned him an Oscar win.

Julia Roberts 

Having been referred to as the Queen of rom-coms, it would make sense to call Julia Roberts’ strongest contribution to the genre — Vivian Ward from 1990’s Pretty Woman — the most iconic of her career. Yet, her strongest contribution to cinema might actually be her Academy Award-winning performance in the title role of 2000’s Erin Brockovich, which is based on the true story of a legal assistant’s crusade in a California water pollution scandal. 

Tom Hanks

Our choices for both the most iconic role and the best role of Tom Hanks’ career each earned him an Academy Award. While the lovable title hero of 1994’s Forrest Gump is easily the more famous, the actor is at his most gripping and moving as gay, HIV-positive lawyer Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia from the previous year.

Ryan Gosling

Playing Noah in 2004's romantic instant classic The Notebook broke Ryan Gosling into the mainstream and playing the nameless wheelman protagonist of 2011's Drive showed his action star potential. The first time critics and audiences truly began to notice his strengths as a versatile performer, however, was when he played a teacher wrestling with his vices in 2006's Half Nelson.

Robert Downey, Jr.

There was no better choice to play Tony "Iron Man" Stark — the role that effectively resurrected Robert Downey Jr.'s career — in what would become the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Yet, has the actor truly ever been better than when he played Lewis Strauss in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer cast in 2023? Just ask the Academy.

Jennifer Lawrence

Jennifer Lawrence breathed refreshing new life into the cinematic version of YA dystopian novel hero Katniss Everdeen in the Hunger Games movies. She especially breathed refreshing life into the already beautiful story of love and self-acceptance at the center of Silver Linings Playbook with her Oscar-winning performance as the widowed Tiffany Maxwell.

Jim Carrey

The one role that best represents Jim Carrey’s one-of-a kind erratic style of physical comedy is the ceaselessly goofy title hero of 1994’s Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. There are certainly traces of that persona in unwitting TV star Truman Burbank from 1998’s The Truman Show, but the performance brought out a certain emotional depth and devastating earnestness we had not yet seen from the actor.

Scarlett Johansson

Scarlett Johansson was already a top A-lister when she was cast as Natasha “Black Widow” Romanoff for the MCU — a role that, arguably, became bigger than the actor herself. Yet, her infectious, Oscar-nominated performance in 2019’s Jojo Rabbit as Rosie — the mother of a young aspiring Nazi who is secretly hiding a young Jewish woman — is the heart and soul of Taika Waititi’s dazzling World War II-era satire.

Matt Damon

Is there anything better than watching Matt Damon kick butt in the Jason Bourne movies as the titular amnesiac spy? How about watching him pour out his heart and soul as a young and brilliant, but emotionally troubled custodian in 1997’s Good Will Hunting, which he also co-wrote the Academy Award-winning screenplay for?

Jamie Lee Curtis

Playing Laurie Strode in Halloween may have made her the ultimate horror Scream Queen and playing IRS inspector Deirdre Beaubeirdre in Everything Everywhere All at Once may have finally earned her an Oscar, but neither reflect her absolute best work in our opinion. Her Golden Globe-winning role as Helen Tasker — a woman who discovers her husband (played by Arnold Schwarzenegger) is a spy — shows the extent of her versatile range and is easily the performance from 1994’s True Lies.

Michael Keaton

When you think of Michael Keaton, the first character you picture could be Bruce Wayne from Tim Burton's live-action Batman movies or the title role of another Burton classic called Beetlejuice. Yet, the actor's defining role might really be the one that earned him his first Academy Award nomination: down-and-out actor Riggan Thomson in Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance).

Adam Driver

Typically, any Star Wars actor can call their role in the celebrated sci-fi franchise the most famous character they have ever played and Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren is certainly no exception. His performance as the Sith Lord is an essential highlight of the sequel trilogy, but his rich, emotionally devastating, and uniquely funny performance as Charlie Barber in 2019’s Marriage Story — his second Oscar-nominated role — really proved he was a force to behold.

Clint Eastwood

The Mount Rushmore of Western Movie Stars undeniably includes Clint Eastwood, whose own carving into the monument would probably be dressed like his three roles from Sergio Leone's "The Man with No Name" or "Dollars" Trilogy — made of up A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, The Bad and the Ugly. Well, forgive us, but we believe that coldblooded-killer turned mild-mannered family man William Munny from 1992’s Unforgiven — which he also directed — is his stronger and deeper contribution to the genre.

Rachel McAdams

Rachel McAdams is transcendent as the ultimate ruthless teen queen, Regina George, in the 2004 high school movie classic, Mean Girls. Yet, she is at her most grounded and most captivatingly understated in her Oscar-nominated portrayal of Boston Globe investigative journalist Sacha Pfeiffer in 2015’s Spotlight.

Tom Cruise 

Among Tom Cruise’s many iconic roles — especially Maverick in the Top Gun movies and Ethan Hunt in the Mission: Impossible movies — we are not sure that we would include Ron Kovic in that least. Yet, we do believe the actor has never been better than in his impassioned, Academy Award-nominated portrayal of the real-life Vietnam vet-turned-war-protester in Oliver Stone’s Born on the Fourth of July.

Emma Watson

Most people — especially Harry Potter fans — still see Hermione Graigner whenever they see Emma Watson. However, one role that came closest to replacing the talented wizard as the British actor’s most celebrated work is Sam Button from the tender 2012 coming-of-age drama, The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

Harrison Ford

Harrison Ford is the face of two of cinema’s most iconic action movie heroes: Indiana Jones and Han Solo from the Star Wars movies. Yet, we have seen the legend give a performance as intense, grounded, and human as Detective Captain John Book in Witness, which also earned him his sole Academy Award nomination.

Jeff Bridges

Jeff Bridges had already achieved a storied and widely acclaimed career by the time he landed his definitive role as freewheeling burnout, The Dude, in Joel and Ethan Coen’s 1998 cult favorite comedy classic, The Big Lebowski. It would take another 12 years before he gave his definitive performance as disillusioned country singer Bad Blake in Crazy Heart, which made him an Oscar winner.

Leonardo DiCaprio

Jack Dawson from James Cameron’s high-grossing Best Picture Oscar winner, 1997’s Titanic, remains the one role Leonardo DiCaprio is most often associated with despite winning his Oscar for 2015’s The Revenant. However, it is his remarkable portrayal of Howard Hughes, from his rise as an inventive aristocrat to his falls as a disturbed recluse, that earns the highest praise from us. 

Nicole Kidman

Nicole Kidman has an extraordinary collection of unique characters under her belt, but none are quite as distinct or recognizable as Satine in Baz Luhrmann’s 2001 musical smash, Moulin Rouge! Yet, the following year saw her give a transformative, Oscar-winning performance in The Hours as renowned author Virginia Woolf during a dismal time in her life.

Christian Bale

Christian Bale had audiences floored by his performance as Bruce Wayne in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy, which solidified him as one of the best Batman actors in cinematic history. However, we believe we already saw him at his best in 2000’s American Psycho, giving a brilliantly nuanced performance as a strangely compelling sociopath named Patrick Bateman.

Natalie Portman

Rewatching the Star Wars prequel trilogy is made easier for even its harshest critics by Natalie Portman’s empowering, grounding, and ultimately heartbreaking performance as Naboo’s queen-turned-senator, Padmé Amidala. Yet, we have it on good authority that even those fans of a galaxy far, far away would rather rewatch 2010’s Black Swan and experience her unsettling, bravura, Academy Award-winning turn as Nina Sayers — a ballerina driven mad by her devotion to the lead role of Swan Lake.

Daniel Radcliffe 

Daniel Radcliffe certainly made for a great “The Boy Who Lived” in the Harry Potter movies, but even some of the franchise’s biggest fans might agree that the English actor has only gotten better since exiting the Wizarding World. In fact, some might say he has gotten better as the roles got weirder, and none have been weirder than when he starred in 2022’s Weird: The Al Yankovic Story as a hilariously exaggerated version of the legendary musical parodist.

Kate Winslet

Much like Titanic made Leonardo DiCaprio a star, starring in the blockbuster historical tragedy as Rose Bukater turned Kate Winslet into one of the top actors of her time. In spite of her wonderful performance there, many would agree the role mainly paved the way for even better opportunities, such as her Oscar-winning performance in 2008’s The Reader as Hanna Schmitz.

Oscar Isaac

Oscar Isaac was certainly on the path to achieving A-list status before joining the cast of 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but playing the charming resistance pilot was his one-way ticket across the bridge. That same year, however, he delivered a captivatingly complex and intriguingly layered performance as tech innovator Nathan Bateman in Alex Garland’s classic A24 sci-fi drama, Ex Machina

Reese Witherspoon

As Elle Woods in 2001’s Legally Blonde, Reese Witherspoon brings warmth, humor, and authenticity to a character who could have easily been an annoying, one-note stereotype. As June Carter Cash in 2005’s Walk the Line, she absolutely steals the show from Joaquin Phoenix’s Johnny Cash with her powerful, Oscar-winning portrayal of the legendary singer.

Henry Cavill

Being, essentially, the spitting image of Clark Kent made Henry Cavill an ideal choice to play Superman in 2013’s Man of Steel, but not quite the perfect choice. The English actor’s signature charm, charisma, and sense of humor shine through much stronger as American secret agent Napoleon Solo in Guy Ritchie’s The Man from U.N.C.L.E., which we think is gleaming proof of his 007 material.

Brie Larson

You could say that Carol Danvers has become such a popular character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe because Brie Larson is the one portraying her in Captain Marvel and subsequent films. For that, we can likely thank her magnificent, heart-wrenching, Oscar-winning performance in 2015’s Room as a single mother held captive with her son.

There are the characters we cherish and the performances we adore. Both are equally important reasons for why we love our favorite actors.

Hollywood starlets like Zendaya and Brie Larson know how to blow audiences away with their performances. All eyes are also on the two when they make their red carpet appearances, and it's always so exciting when their looks are odes to the fashionistas that came before them. Now, just like when Larson gave a nod to model Claudia Schiffer during the SAG Awards, Zendaya tore a page from Cindy Crawford’s glam book for her latest Challengers dress.

For each red carpet premiere of the upcoming tennis film Challengers, Zendaya has been showing her “serves” by method dressing to her new movie’s tennis theme. For the Milan photocall of the Luca Guadagnino film, the actress wore a white vintage dress that Cindy Crawford wore donned upon a time. Take a look at the glamorous photo below:

Back in 1991, before Zendaya was even born, supermodel Cindy Crawford wore a white Ralph Lauren dress during New York Fashion Week. So, to promote her film on the 2024 movie schedule, Zendaya channeled the runaway model by wearing the same white collared halter-necked dress! The Euphoria actress accessorized the look with classic white heels and even had similar blond hues in her hair that was parted to one side. You can argue that this look also resembles the all-white ensemble many female tennis players wear. 

According to Page Six, Crawford herself loved how Zendaya looked wearing one of her memorable pieces. She took the time to post on her Instagram Stories, writing:

That’s quite a compliment, and it got me thinking again about how Brie Larson and Claudia Schiffer had a similar back-and-forth over the MCU star's dress. 

For context, at this year’s SAG Awards, Brie Larson channeled a mega-famous supermodel of her own. Sporting the same ‘90s glam power dress Claudia Schiffer wore in Vogue, The Marvels actress donned a two-piece custom Versace set showing off those strong abs of hers. It proves these ‘90s models helped blaze the trail so A-listers of today can be inspired and follow.

Along with Zendaya's look being an ode to Crawford, it's also another great example of her method dressing on this press tour. She first wore an on-theme sparkly green dress that had a shadow print of a tennis player on it for the Sydney premiere. Then, the former Disney Channel star wore a two-piece top and skirt that looked amazing on her despite a silly wardrobe malfunction. She also gave net in the best possible way sporting a white maxi dress with tennis racquets all over it for the U.K. premiere. Leave it to Zendaya to bring tennis to a red-carpet movie premiere. 

You can see her in the white dress that's giving Crawford and tennis with her Challengers cast and crew during her time in Milan below:

Both Brie Larson and Zendaya killed it on their red carpet appearances wearing style pieces inspired by ‘90s supermodels like Claudia Schiffer and Cindy Crawford. There’s nothing like giving a special nod to a fashion icon by looking fabulous in their legendary ensembles. 

To Zendaya literally serve, make sure to watch Challengers in theaters on April 26, meanwhile, we'll be sure to keep you posted on her latest fashion look.

In Brie Larson's latest projects, we've seen her playing Captain Marvel in The Avengers movies and The Marvels while wearing a spandex uniform, and she's sported some trendy 1960s looks while portraying chemist Elizabeth Zott in the Apple TV+ adaptation of Lessons in Chemistry. However, when the cameras are off, Larson gives off some major femme fatale vibes through her style, and she proved this by wearing a lacy green slip dress we can’t take our eyes off of. 

We’ve seen Brie Larson rock the lace attire before. For example, she wore a sheer blue summer-time lace set last year and a sheer lace mini-dress at Beyoncé’s concert. However, this lacy green slip dress the Oscar winner threw back to in a recent Instagram post is a whole different story. In fact, it's giving me femme fatale vibes similar to an Alfred Hitchcock or Brian De Palma movie. Using the look as an appreciation post for her glam team, Larson took to IG to show off the stunning ensemble:

Along with the femme fatale energy, looking at this stunning green dress reminds me of the “mermaid” look worn by the character Lucy in one of the best rom-coms of all time, 13 Going on 30. We can see a black lace V-neck on top and down to Brie Larson’s hips with holiday emerald green wrapped around the middle. While we’ve never seen the MCU actress play a femme fatale before, seeing her wear a dress to kill shows she’d have the knack for a character like that.

Put together by stylist Samantha McMillen, the Room actress wore this holiday dress last year to narrate the invitation-only Disneyland Candlelight Ceremony. According to DailyMail, the last Christmas season kicked off with Brie Larson telling the story of the first Christmas as a candlelight choir paraded around Main Street U.S.A. With a live orchestra, fanfare trumpeters, and handbell players, this looked like the perfect way for Disneyland residents to celebrate the holidays.

While lace is a favorite trend of Brie Larson's, she’s proven that she can rock other looks that have a repeated pattern. For example, the Unicorn Store actress and director sure doesn’t keep her abs a secret. She looked super-ripped ahead of The Marvels showing off her washboard abs while rocking a sweet top and flair jeans. Not to mention, there was also the ab-baring dress she wore at the SAG Awards that was a nod to Claudia Schiffer's ‘90s Vogue look. All Larson has to do is rock a fashion trend and all heads turn.

Seeing Brie Larson look genuinely happy wearing her lacy green slip dress shows how much we need her to play a femme fatale. She looked incredibly fierce and seductive wearing the holiday ensemble that cannot go unnoticed. 

While we don't know if she'll take on a role like that, make sure to take a look at our 2024 movie releases so you don’t miss out on Larson’s latest film projects. 

The most recent Marvel Cinematic Universe movie, The Marvels, made its debut on Disney+ earlier this month. Along with that came the newest episode of Assembled, the Disney+ documentary series that takes a look behind the scenes of the various MCU projects. Not to be outdone, Brie Larson herself shared some behind-the-scenes images from the production, which include a look at Captain Marvel flying, and a slightly modified costume for Kamala Khan.

Brie Larson posted on Instagram this week to remind any fans who missed the memo that they can now watch The Marvels on Disney+. While no viewing numbers have been released so far, it will be interesting to see how the movie does streaming, considering The Marvels did not set the box office on fire when it was released last year. Perhaps Brie Larson dropped some fun images from the set as a bit of a way to nudge viewers. Check them out. 

While the pictures of Brie Larson wearing a face shield and her Captain Marvel costume certainly bring back a certain type of memory, the second image of Iman Vellani is more interesting. It shows her on the movie’s blue screen set wearing a helmet and gloves which match her superhero costume. But we never actually see Kamala Khan wear in the movie proper. 

While the Blu-ray and Digital releases of The Marvels include some deleted scenes, none of them include Kamala Khan in this particular outfit, so it’s unclear where or when it would have come in. Ms. Marvel is wearing the costume she’s given in the middle of the movie, so this setup would have been something in the latter half of the movie that was apparently cut.

We can easily guess that this would have been a scene where Ms. Marvel was in space, but there’s no scene in the back half of the movie where she must travel in space. The finale of the movie takes place on a spaceship, with an open bay into the vastness of space, and we know The Marvels had an alternate ending, so perhaps in that other ending Ms. Marvel was fighting out in space on her own, and needed the helmet to protect herself.

Since the helmet matches the costume, it seems it was part of the new costume she got, so Ms. Marvel does have a helmet as part of that suit. Perhaps we’ll see it in an upcoming Marvel movie like the Young Avengers film teased in The Marvels' ending.

When it comes to a great red carpet moment, some of the best ones turn out to be references to looks worn in years past. This was the case for Brie Larson’s stunning ab-baring dress at this weekend’s SAG Awards as the Lessons In Chemistry actress has since revealed. Apparently, the coral pink dress was inspired by an ensemble that German model Claudia Schiffer wore in Vogue back in the ‘90s! After Larson revealed her muse, Schiffer even took notice. 

During the Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday, which is available to stream with a Netflix subscription, Brie Larson dazzled in a two-piece custom Versace set. She's since gone viral and, if you've seen the ensemble, you'd understand why. Check out the fit that allowed the Marvel star to show off her abs between her long-sleeve crop top and flowing maxi skirt: 

It was such a winner during the SAG Awards’ red carpet that one of the hosts, Tan France, who is of course a fashion veteran, named it among the top three best dressed he saw during the pre-show telecast. Following the dress going viral over the weekend, Claudia Schiffer noticed the reference and took to her Instagram to post her own '90s look from Vogue alongside Brie Larson’s. Check out Schiffer's fit for yourself down below:

As you can see above, following Claudia Schiffer’s acknowledgement, Brie Larson’s stylist, Samantha McMillen, took to her own social media account to bring attention to Claudia Schiffer’s tribute. In her caption, she simply says: “Claudia noticed. I’m gonna faint.” The incredible set that the Oscar winner's latest fashion outing was based on was from the 1994 December Issue of Vogue U.S. where photographer Arthur Elgort captured Schiffer taking in Rome. The shoot had its own reference point too: 1953’s Roman Holiday.

While Claudia Schiffer wore her shirt tied up, actress' crop top was very much designed to show off her stomach. As far as the skirt goes, between the two looks, they're pretty much identical, with some gorgeous bow details on the lower hips and the back of the skirt.  

Brie Larson was nominated on Sunday for Outstanding Performance By A Female Actor In A Television Movie Or Limited Series for her work on Lessons In Chemistry. Ali Wong ended up taking home the award for her work in Beef. 

The Room lead wasn’t the only big star to show up in pink, either. Barbie’s Margot Robbie rocked a pink and black dress on the red carpet and during the award show. While neither actress won prizes, they absolutely owned the red carpet – along with the cast of Ted Lasso’s matching tracksuits being another highlight fashion moment from the night. But who can top Melissa McCarthy, who got her forehead signed by Billie Eilish during the ceremony? If she doesn’t wash that off, the price on her head just went way up! 

All in all, such fresh fits are great to see and really light up a red carpet. But, when you have a case like Brie Larson and her ab-revealing outfit, it's particularly sweet as it pays homage to those who've come before.

Throughout this awards season, many of Hollywood’s best and brightest stars have been bringing their A-game when it comes to fashion. They’ve lit up red carpets in tremendous fashion, and that was certainly true of the actors at last night’s SAG Awards. There were some incredible looks, including Margot Robbie’s pink and black fit. Someone who really stole the show, though, was Brie Larson, who arrived at the event in a flowing dress that showed off her abs. To put it mildly, she looked absolutely stunning, though I’m more focused on the comments she shared about accommodating the outfit before the showtime.

The 34-year-old Oscar winner appeared in a little custom number that came courtesy of Versace. The peach outfit was long-sleeved and featured a knotted crop top as well. While the outfit itself is an impressive piece of work, what’s even more jaw-dropping is just how toned her abs are. I mean, it’s widely known that the actress really puts in the work when she’s at the gym, but her physique is just downright impeccable. The Fast X star shared a look at her dress in a post shared to her Instagram, and you can see a snapshot from it down below: 

As anyone who follows Brie Larson’s exploits probably knows, this is from the first time that her midsection has been a topic of discussion. Larson previously showed off her abs in a 2022 Instagram post, which also served a reminder of her love for fashion. What also comes to mind is another post, in which she showed off her bod while rocking a half sleeve of temporary tattoos. Larson looked good in both of those past instances, but her latest look for the SAG Awards is just enough to take your breath away. Take another look: 

While the dress is definitely a talking point itself, I’m a little more concerned with the wild way she had to keep the outfit fresh before the event. The Room star caught up with ET on the red carpet, where she shed light on how she maintained the dress’ integrity. Some may find it hard to believe, but she couldn’t sit down at all when she was in the car on the way to the event:

It never ceases to amaze me just how much people do for the sake of fashion. I couldn’t even fathom the idea of having to stand while riding in a car to ensure the integrity of an outfit. And she’s not the only one who’s ever had to do that. Just recently, Jenny Slate recalled a wardrobe malfunction she had at the 2023 Oscars and, when she was on her way to the show, she had to stand as well. Very few of us would probably want to be so uncomfortable, but I applaud the ladies for pushing through. 

The sight of Brie Larson’s abs now have me once again wondering when we might see her reprise her role as Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel in the Marvel Cinematic Universe again. Her latest superhero venture, The Marvels, may not have been a hit at the box office, but it received mostly positive reviews, and fans are now discovering its awesomeness on Disney+. I look forward to seeing Larson reprise her role at some point in the future and hope to see at least one more fresh red carpet look before this awards season is done.

If you’d like to see Brie Larson in her Marvel-ous element, grab a Disney+ subscription to stream The Marvels and its 2019 predecessor, Captain Marvel.

The MCU has been releasing content non-stop lately, thanks to theatrical movies and live-action shows that are available with a Disney+ subscription. Nia DaCosta's The Marvels struggled at the box office, but it's been getting more love now that it's available to stream. The Marvels' ending set up some big things for the future, but it turns out there was a wild alternate ending that saw one of the heroes perish. Namely, Captain Marvel herself.

The cast of The Marvels included a trio of heroes, as well as Zawe Ashton's villainous Dar-Benn. The movie's credits scene made headlines thanks to cameos by Kelsey Grammer and Lashana Lynch, but the The Marvels could have ended on a much darker note. Ashton spoke to ComicBook about an alternate take on the final battle that was shot but scrapped, saying:

Well, my mind is blown. Since The Marvels is a direct sequel to Captain Marvel, it definitely would have been wild if Brie Larson's Carol Danvers seemingly died during its final battle. And the fact that it was shot with she and Zawe Ashton makes it seems like we might have barely dodged a bullet. 

These comments offer a peek behind the curtain on what it's like to work on a blockbuster set within the MCU. And that includes alternate endings and other deleted scenes that could change the narrative. In the end, Carol Danvers didn't get blown up when facing off against Dar-Benn. 

While Captain Marvel was safe at the end of The Marvels, Teyonah Parris' Monica Rambeau ended up in an alternate universe with the X-Men. This, along with Kamala Khan forming the Young Avengers, could have huge implications for upcoming Marvel movies.

In her same interview, Zawe Ashton revealed that her fate as Dar-Benn was sealed from the jump. As she put it:

In the end, Dar-Benn joined the list of Marvel villains who were killed off following their first appearance in the shared universe. Although with the multiverse in play, it feels like no one is ever really gone. Just look at how many surprise cameos happened throughout What If...?'s first two seasons. 

The next MCU movie hitting theaters is Deadpool 3 on July 26th. While we wait, check the 2024 movie release dates. 

Last month during the Golden Globes the biggest story wasn’t who actually the Golden Globe winners, it was what happened outside when Brie Larson met Jennifer Lopez. It turns out Larson is a massive JLo fan, so when the two crossed paths at the awards, Larson kind of freaked out a little bit, and went viral in the process. Now the actress is speaking out about the experience, and it’s only becoming sweeter.

Larson was recently a guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live!  and the host brought up the meeting, even showing the clip of Larson’s near-panic attack when she realized JLo was going to be walking by. Larson explained, as she did to JLo at the time, that seeing Selena as a child was what inspired her to be an actor, and why she never thought this day would come. Larson said…

Jennifer Lopez talked about meeting Larson, and how special she thought the encounter was. Lopez herself understood being inspired to become an actor by watching a movie, having seen Rita Moreno herself as a child. Lopez seemed honored to have been on the other side of that relationship.

Of course, Larson, who has a history of going full fangirl, has been a big Hollywood star for years, to the point that it’s almost surprising that the two hadn’t met before the 2024 Golden Globes. But Brie Larson has a very understandable reason for why she never believed she would meet JLo. She explained…

I think any of us who have met celebrities have felt this way from time to time. We spend so much time watching them that they don’t feel like real people. It’s like they come from another reality the rest of us did not. You can watch Brie Larson’s full and totally relatable comments below. 

I think we know one person who will be sitting down to watch the upcoming Jennifer Lopez movie when the This is Me...Now release date hits in a couple of weeks. Brie Larson laughed off the idea that she and JLo should make a movie together. She clearly doesn’t think she could handle being around her idol that long, but seeing these two together is so heartwarming the rest of us may need more of it.  

There has been a lot written over the years about casting for The Big Bang Theory. We know the original roomie across the hall was replaced by Kaley Cuoco’s Penny after the pilot was made. In fact, Chuck Lorre’s called the pilot “a mess” in the past and admitted they didn’t know what they were doing, but there was one now a-lister the show definitely didn’t think would be a good fit due to her age at the time the pilot was coming together.

Who was that a-lister? Brie Larson. And she wasn't the only major name to try out for the role either.

What Brie Larson Said About Auditioning For The Big Bang Theory

In an interview about auditioning, Brie Larson once admitted she’d tried out to star in The Big Bang Theory. Unfortunately, those involved in the casting process thought she was “too young.” Given The Big Bang Theory pilot was filmed ahead of the fall TV season in 2006 and Cuoco was introduced to the cast before the show as we know it hit the TV schedule a year later in 2007, Larson would have only been 17 or 18 years old when the show was coming together. She noted on her YouTube page:

While she admitted the role wasn’t right for her, the sting of “rejection” was clearly still there, as the actress went on in the video to explain why exactly the auditioning process can be so brutal. She also shouted out people everywhere who have undergone the process. 

The Big Bang Theory isn’t the only high-profile role Brie Larson has lost during her career. She’s been open about losing major gigs in the Star Wars franchise and in Terminator Genisys in the past. At this point in her career, she’s also beat out some major contenders for roles, including landing the gig as Captain Marvel in the MCU. While those who auditioned were never confirmed, names like Emily Blunt and Charlize Theron were bandied about, with Blunt later theorizing there are a limited number of female actresses fans can seemingly imagine as these sorts of characters. Given Larson’s acting roots are in comedy, she was a bit of a surprising fit for the MCU role.

The Long Story Behind Kaley Cuoco Landing The Big Bang Theory Role

It’s unclear if Brie Larson auditioned when the original character Katie was being cast or around the time when Kaley Cuoco landed the role. She’s not the only major name to try out for The Big Bang Theory either, as Elizabeth Berkley and others were revealed to have tried out. In fact that entire list is wild and includes other hopefuls like Jodi Lynn O'Keefe.

We do know that Cuoco had also seen both versions of the script that had been written: The original with the “Katie” character (which ultimately went to Amanda Walsh) and the second script with the “Penny” character. 

The only problem? Ken Miller said Kaley Cuoco wasn’t particularly interested in the Penny character when she was pitched it the second time around, having like the "darker" Katie character better. He said in the book The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive Inside Story Of The Epic Hit Series that she actually passed when offered, unlike Larson, who wasn't seen to be the right fit. 

The staff “begged.” In fact, Peter Roth even admitted everything in the second pilot had been “timed to get Kaley to play Penny.” It eventually worked, because the sitcom –with Kaley in the role – went to series and became a ratings juggernaut, lasting on CBS for 10 years and still being revisited by those with a Max subscription today. Cuoco would thank Ken Miller and Nikki Valko at subsequent table reads over the years for “hiring” her. 

Ultimately, while Larson likely would have had the comedic chops to play Penny, it’s hard to imagine a world where anyone but Cuoco portrayed the character. (And it's even wilder to think of Elizabeth Berkley in the role, as she cut back heavily on acting for a time before she recently cropped back up in the Saved By The Bell remake.)

While the Big Bang actress was a known name before Chuck Lorre’s sitcom, without playing Penny, who knows if her career would have led to projects like The Flight Attendant and Based on a True Story? Perhaps it would have gone in a different direction entirely. Plus, Larson probably wouldn’t have even had the bandwidth to sign on for Captain Marvel if she’d landed the gig, either. It would have been a different world. 

It has been said that we should not meet our heroes, but Brie Larson met hers recently and it went very well. It was an emotional moment for her, Jennifer Lopez, and really anybody who caught the moment on the red carpet of the Golden Globes. 

The video of Larson fangirling everywhere has taken the internet by storm. The two stars, who had apparently never met previously, happened to cross paths on the red carpet, leading Larson to admit something that brought both actors to tears, and now Lopez has spoken more about what happened and what it meant to her.

What Happened Between Brie Larson And Jennifer Lopez 

The moment happened while Brie Larson was being interviewed by ET, and Jennifer Lopez happened to walk by. Larson took the opportunity to say something she’s wanted to say for some time as she credits a Jennifer Lopez performance for making her want to pursue acting as a career. Larson said in part… 

The moment was emotional for both women. Larson ended her interview because she simply couldn’t continue in her current state, saying she needed to go do a shot of tequila. The Captain Marvel actress was captured later on the red carpet by Today just shouting out to people that she had met JLo because it all meant so much to her. 

How Jennifer Lopez Responded 

But the meeting of these two stars didn’t only impact Brie Larson in a big way. Speaking with Apple Music 1 (via US Weekly), Jennifer Lopez, whose new film This Me...Now has a release date in February got a little emotional just talking about the experience, because the response from Larson was a sort of validation of the work she has done in her career. Lopez said… 

It was also something of a full circle moment for Jennifer Lopez, as she certainly had her own experience of being young and seeing a film performance that pushed her into that career, and so realizing that she was that person for somebody else was powerful. Lopez continued… 

This whole exchange was wonderful to witness. It will not be a shock if 20 years from now a young actress tells Brie Larson that her Oscar win in Room or another of Larson's great roles inspired them to become an actor. Hopefully she and Lopez get to share the screen in an upcoming movie. 

Brie Larson was a fan-favorite from the star-studded Scott Pilgrim vs. the World cast when it debuted back in 2010, thanks to the signature song, epic choreography and sheer swagger of her character, pop star Envy Adams. 

And now the actress has showed some social media love to the animated Netflix Scott Pilgrim series, which hit the streaming platform on November 17. Larson posted an Instagram carousel on December 8 praising the new show, along with some behind-the-scenes photos from the original 2010 film: 

In one image, the actress can be seen wearing Envy Adams' signature bleach-blonde wig and posing alongside a copy of the third book in the Bryan Lee O'Malley-penned graphic novel series, Scott Pilgrim & the Infinite Sadness. 

And as promised in the caption, the picture set does include "a bonus" Brandon Routh at the end, showing both actors mugging it up and matching in their heavily-banged hairdos in one of the original film's makeup and hair trailers. In Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Routh portrayed Todd Ingram, current boyfriend to Envy and the third evil ex of Scott Pilgrim's love interest, Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead).

Larson has been known to gift fans excellent throwback pics from her days working on the cult-favorite Scott Pilgrim movie, which starred Michael Cera as the titular character and featured Kieran Culkin, Anna Kendrick, Chris Evans, Aubrey Plaza, and Jason Schwartzman in the ensemble cast. Fun fact: there's a Scott Pilgrim email chain that was revitalized by Cera a decade after the movie came out, and the A-list cast came together to perform a reunion table read in 2020 to celebrate the action-comedy's 10th anniversary.

The movie's entire main cast, including Cera, Larson, Culkin and Winstead, have all returned to reprise their roles as the voice cast of the new animated series, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off. Per Variety, the series' co-showrunners Bryan Lee O'Malley and BenDavid Grabinski said in a statement about the casting: 

Filmmaker Edgar Wright, who directed Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, called assembling the "dynamite cast" for the film "one of the proudest and most enjoyable achievements" of his career. As reported by Variety, he "helped coax" the entire original cast back for the Netflix anime series: 

You can hear Larson, Cera, and the rest of the Scott Pilgrim crew in Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, which is available to stream with a Netflix subscription. And we'll be keeping our eyes peeled to Brie's Instagram page, should she post anymore epic Envy Adams throwbacks! 

If you go to Disneyland and you don’t have pictures, did you even go? My entire Instagram is basically just theme park pictures, it’s one of the few places I remember to take them. Pictures are one of the best parts of any theme park trip, which is why places like Disneyland have many opportunities to create, and sell you, photos of your experience. Photopass photographers are valuable cast members, though some of the most fun pictures are those taken on rides. They are almost universally hilarious, and Brie Larson recently posted a Space Mountain pic that is an absolute work of art. 

Larson was the guest narrator at this year’s Disneyland Candlelight Processional, where she read the story of Christmas. Of course, she also got to have fun at Disneyland, and she posted a picture to her Instagram Stories of a ride on one of the best rides at Disneyland, Space Mountain, where she is clearly having a blast, but I can’t take my eyes off the guy in the third row, who is really making this picture perfect. 

When you haven’t been on a ride before getting your photo taken can be a shock when you don’t know it’s coming. On a thrill ride like Space Mountain, you’ll likely just be screaming in joy. But when you know the picture is part of the ride, you can often time it so that you have a very different expression on your face. That’s almost certainly what happened with this guy. And now, because he did this on Brie Larson’s ride, he has been immortalized. This maybe isn’t the best ride photo ever, but it’s up there. 

The guy doesn’t appear to be part of Larson’s group. He’s not among the people she tags in the image. It’s unclear if he even knew he was in the same vehicle with Captain Marvel, he’s not looking directly at her, the one thing that would have made this picture even better. Either way, it’s perfect. I can only hope the guy bought a copy of this picture, as he has an incredible image of himself, that also happens to include a major celebrity. Not unlike the family that recently discovered they accidentally took a Disney World photo with George Lucas.

Brie Larson posted some additional pictures of her time at Disneyland to her Instagram.  She also hit up Disney California Adventure and the Incredicoaster. It makes sense since that's where you'll find Avengers Campus, and now and then you'll meet Captain Marvel in the land.  It clearly looks like she had a lot of fun with her friends. Honestly, the best thing about being a star under the Disney brand has to be the way you get free reign over the parks when you have the chance.

So next time you’re on Space Mountain, your job is now to come up with a better look than this guy., If you can do it with Brie Larson, so much the better. 

Have you ever caught a rerun of an older TV show and during the opening credits sequence, you spotted someone who made you say, “Hey, I know that person!”? This is actually a more common occurrence than you may realize, as there many A-list celebrities whose first IMDb credit (or one of the first) was a supporting role on a series long before they earned the honor of being a leading presence on the big (or small) screen. The following are some of our favorite examples of famous actors who appeared a bit further down the the line on the call sheet on a TV show when they were starting out.

Chris Pratt (Everwood)

Before Guardians of the Galaxy made him a leading man, Chris Pratt really began to gain traction from starring in the Parks and Recreation cast as Andy Dwyer. However, even earlier than that, he starred on a WB family drama called Everwood as high school joke Bright Abbott alongside fellow future MCU star Emily VanCamp, who played his sister, Amy.

Jennifer Lawrence (The Bill Engvall Show)

Before her Academy Award-nominated performance in 2010’s Winter’s Bone, her star-making role as Katniss in The Hunger Games and Oscar-winning turn in Silver Lining’s Playbook, Jennifer Lawrence was a sitcom star — specifically a cable network sitcom star. On The Bill Engvall Show, which lasted three seasons on TBS, she starred opposite the eponymous stand-up comedian as his on-screen alter ego’s teenage daughter, Lauren Pearson,

Austin Butler (Zoey 101)

The musical talents that earned Austin Butler the title role of Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis can be traced back to his part on Ruby & the Rockits, which lasted 10 episodes on ABC Family (now Freeform) in 2009. However, the Oscar nominee’s first major TV role was on the final season of Nickelodeon’s Zoey 101 as James Garrett — a character missing from Paramount+’s feature-length follow-up, Zoey 102.

Margot Robbie (Pan Am)

While her earliest role was actually the long-running soap opera, Neighbours — much like many other Aussie A-listers — we thought we would highlight American audiences’ first true introduction to Margot Robbie on Pan Am. An interesting fact about Robbie is that the future Oscar nominee and DC movies star was actually roommates with co-star Christina Ricci while playing 1960s-era flight attendant Laura Cameron on the short-lived ABC drama from 2011 to 2012.

Seth Rogen (Freaks And Geeks)

While still part of the main ensemble, Seth Rogen’s role as the initially arrogant Ken Miller pretty much got the short end of the stick amongst the Freaks and Geeks cast, for the most part. Ironically, Rogen, arguably, went on to become the painfully short-lived coming-of-age dramedy’s biggest star, which is really saying something, given his co-stars include Jason Segel, Linda Cardellini, and John Francis Daley.

Brie Larson (Raising Dad)

A notable moment in Academy Award winner Brie Larson’s evolution from child star to modern A-list actor was her role as the late Bob Saget’s youngest on-screen daughter on Raising Dad — a sitcom that ran for one season on The WB (now The CW) in the early 2000s. Following her success as the MCU’s Captain Marvel, Larson returned to TV in 2023 — reprising her Scott Pilgrim vs. the World role for Netflix’s animated series reboot, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, and leading the Lessons in Chemistry cast for Apple TV+.

Leonardo DiCaprio (Growing Pains)

While doing press for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt recalled how they both appeared on the hit ABC sitcom Growing Pains much earlier in their career. Of course, Pitt had a one-episode guest appearance while the Oscar-winning The Revenant star and Titanic cast member had a prominent role as Luke Brewer — a homeless teen taken in by the Seavers in Season 7. 

Ana De Armas (The Boarding School)

One of the films that earned Academy Award nominee Ana de Armas a spot on the A-list was Rian Johnson’s hit whodunit, Knives Out, from 2019. More than a decade earlier, the Cuban-born actor landed a role on a coming-of-age mystery TV show called El Internado (or The Boarding School), which originally aired in Spain from 2007 to 2010.

Michael B. Jordan (The Wire)

After getting his start as a Toys ‘R Us kid, the fascinating Michael B. Jordan made his official acting debut on an episode of The Sopranos, but later landed a more prominent role on another acclaimed, gritty HBO series in 2002. He appeared amongst The Wire cast as Wallace — an orphan whose tragic story had a profound impact on the Emmy-nominated series beyond his 13-episode stint.

Anne Hathaway (Get Real)

Anne Hathaway fans should know that before she broke into the mainstream by leading Disney’s The Princess Diaries cast, the Academy Award winner made her acting debut on a 1999 Fox TV show called Get Real as a high school senior who shocks her family with the decision to refuse college. Coincidentally, the short-lived dramedy was also the debut of Hathaway’s Rio co-star, Jesse Eisenberg, and was an early gig for NCIS' Eric Christian Olsen as well.

Denzel Washington (St. Elsewhere)

With two Oscars to his name, it’s hard to imagine a TV screen big enough to contain the talent of one Denzel Washington, yet it was a TV show that helped launched the young actor’s career in the early 1980s. Following his official debut in the 1977 TV movie Wilma, the future Training Day lead played Dr. Philip Chandler on NBC’s hit medical drama, St. Elsewhere.

Michelle Williams (Dawson's Creek)

For years, Michelle Williams was known best from the Dawson’s Creek cast as Jen Lindley. Now — after receiving multiple Academy Award nominations for acclaimed dramas like Manchester by the Sea and Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans — that role on the hit teen drama is, typically, among the last things mentioned in regards to her career.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt (3rd Rock From The Sun)

As a child actor, Joseph Gordon-Levitt starred in some good movies and made a few notable TV guest appearances before landing his first successful series regular gig with 3rd Rock from the Sun. He played the eldest member of a group of extra-terrestrial visitors, and the character resembles a teenager in human form on the Emmy-winning sci-fi sitcom.

George Clooney (The Facts Of Life)

As a TV star, George Clooney is best known from his main role on the popular ‘90s show, ER, on which he played Doug Ross. Much earlier, however, the future two-time Oscar winner had a memorable recurring role on Diff’rent Strokes' (very different) spin-off, The Facts of Life, as George Burnett — a carpenter who would become close to the girls living under Mrs. Garrett’s roof.

Woody Harrelson (Cheers)

With multiple Academy Award nominations to his name, Woody Harrelson is known today as one of Hollywood’s most versatile movie stars, but his first big break came when he joined the Cheers cast in the mid-1980s. In fact, he won his first Emmy Award for playing the naive, but lovable, Woody Byrd, whom Sam (Ted Danson) hires on as a new barkeep following he death of Coach (Nicholas Colasanto).

Jason Bateman (Little House On The Prairie)

At least before he led Netflix’s Ozark cast, Jason Bateman has always best known on the small screen as a sitcom star, with his roles as David Hogan on Valerie (later changed to The Hogan Family) and Michael Bluth on Arrested Development being the famous examples. However, his very first gig was playing James Cooper Ingalls for 21 episodes of Little House on the Prairie during the early 1980s.

Don Cheadle (The Golden Palace)

An early Don Cheadle role you may have forgotten about was featured on a TV show spin-off you may not have heard of, either. The future Academy Award nominee and MCU actor starred alongside most of the Golden Girls cast on The Golden Palace as Roland Wilson — the young manager of the titular hotel where the short-lived sitcom took place. 

Jason Momoa (Baywatch)

Even long before he landed the role of Aquaman in the DC movies, Jason Momoa was no stranger to saving lives in the water. The Hawaiian-born actor made his debut in his home state when he joined the Baywatch cast as a character also named Jason from 1999 to 2001.

Marisa Tomei (A Different World)

We know her from her Academy Award-winning role in My Cousin Vinny as Mona Lisa Vito (who she'd love to revisit) or as Peter Parker’s (reinvented) Aunt May in the MCU, to name a few examples. Yet before many people knew who Marisa Tomei was, she was on the first season of The Cosby Show spin-off, A Different World, as Hillman student Maggie Lauten.

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (The Get Down)

One interesting fact about Yahya Abdul-Mateen II: before he was an Emmy-winning DC TV show star (for playing Cal Abar on HBO’s Watchmen) and a scene-stealing DC movie villain (Black Manta in Aquaman), he worked as a San Francisco city planner until he was laid off in 2010. The role that first helped him make a name for himself as an actor was night club owner Clarene “Cadillac” Caldwell in Netflix’s musical period drama series, The Get Down, from co-creator Baz Luhrmann.

Alexandra Daddario (All My Children)

Speaking to Women’s Health in 2022, Alexandra Daddario recalls that she was fired from the long-running daytime soap opera, All My Children, which she actually found to be a liberating, educational experience. It led to seek improvement in her acting skills and pave the way for her to breakthrough in the Percy Jackson movies, give an Emmy-nominated performance as part of the HBO’s The White Lotus cast, and star in many other notable works.

Adam Driver (Girls)

Without Lena Dunham, there might not be a Kylo Ren — or at least, the memorable version of the Sith Lord we got in the hands Adam Driver. The former Marine’s scene-stealing role on HBO’s Girls as Adam Sackler is what got Hollywood to take notice of his talent, leading to his casting in the Star Wars movies and his Oscar-nominated performances in BlacKkKlansman and Marriage Story.

Melissa McCarthy (Gilmore Girls)

Gilmore Girls proved to be a launch pad for many A-listers — few of which would blow up quite like Melissa McCarthy, who played Sookie St. James on the hit dramedy.  She later won an Emmy for her leading role on the CBS sitcom Mike & Molly and received an Academy Award nomination for her supporting role as a member of the Bridesmaids cast. And that film skyrocketed her to the A-list as a trusted name in comedy and more.

Drake (Degrassi: The Next Generation)

One of the most memorable and important characters from Degrassi: The Next Generation is Jimmy Brooks, who served as an inspirational representation for wheelchair users on the long-running Canadian coming-of-age drama. The role was played by an actor named Aubrey Graham, who still acts on occasion — an Anchorman 2 cameo, for instance — but primarily performs as a rapper under the moniker Drake.

Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men)

At just eight years old, Kiernan Shipka proved to be a stand-out alongside AMC’s Mad Men cast with her performance as Sally Draper. She later went on to lead her own TV show (Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) and headline movies like Amazon Prime’s horror-comedy, Totally Killer and The Silence.

Ryan Reynolds (Fifteen)

Despite his many earnest roles over the years, it may be hard to picture Ryan Reynolds as anything other than the smarmy goof he plays in the likes of the Deadpool movies and National Lampoon’s Van Wilder, for instance. Perhaps watching him make his debut in the Canadian coming-of-age drama Fifteen will help audiences see another side of him.

Tommy Lee Jones (One Life To Live)

It is amazing to think about how many acclaimed and even legendary actors started out on soap operas, such as Tommy Lee Jones. One of the earliest roles for the Academy Award-winning star of The Fugitive and the Men in Black movies was the ill-fated Mark Toland on One Life to Live from 1971 to 1975.

John Travolta (Welcome Back, Kotter)

Before his Academy Award-nominated role in 1977’s Saturday Night Fever — and its fantastic movie soundtrack — made him one of the biggest stars of all time, John Travolta was better known by another name: Vinnie Barbarino. That was the future Pulp Fiction cast member’s character on Welcome Back, Kotter — a hit sitcom that never made it to 100 episodes. He practically stole the show from star and co-creator Gabe Kaplan with his famous catchphrase, “Up your nose with a rubber hose!”

Jennifer Love Hewitt (Kids Incorporated)

Her role as Sarah Reeves on the original Party of Five may have made Jennifer Love Hewitt a teen idol, but it was not her first major TV gig. The Ghost Whisperer star was 10 when she demonstrated her multiple talents on Disney Channel’s Kids Incorporated, which focuses on the lives of a group of young artists who perform live music at a club for children.

Benedict Cumberbatch (Fortysomething)

It was his eponymous role on the modern crime drama Sherlock that made Benedict Cumberbatch a nigh-unpronounceable household name, but his first starring role on a TV series was Fortysomething. The MCU’s Doctor Strange actor played the on-screen son of none other than House’s Hugh Laurie on the English dramedy that lasted six episodes.

Jared Leto (My So-Called Life)

In one of the best ‘90s shows that ended too soon, My So-Called Life, Jared Leto portrayed what would become his first iconic role: high school heartthrob Jordan Catalano. The much celebrated coming-of-age drama also marked one for the first times the future Academy Award winner acted alongside his sibling and Thirty Seconds to Mars bandmate, Shannon.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Passions)

Movie star Mary Elizabeth Winstead has more than a few very notable small-screen roles — such as a leading stint in Fargo Season 3 and Hera Syndulla alongside the Ahsoka cast for Disney+. The Scott Pilgrim vs. The World cast member’s earliest major TV gig, however, was on the supernatural soap opera Passions.

For any TV actors out there hoping one day to make it onto the big screen, let these stories serve as proof that your dreams may not be far away from becoming a reality.

Major, and I mean major, spoilers for the book and miniseries Lessons in Chemistry are ahead. If you haven’t seen the Brie Larson-led show on the 2023 TV schedule, you can stream it with an Apple TV+ subscription.  

With every book-to-screen adaptation, it’s a given that changes will be made as the project goes from page to live-action. That was certainly the case for the Apple TV+ adaptation of Lessons in Chemistry. The show made bold decisions that were different from the book, like completely changing Harriet’s character. However, it’s also still very faithful to the novel by Bonnie Garmus. This is especially true in the finale, which is actually quite different from its source material. 

Now, Brie Larson, who leads the Lessons in Chemistry cast as Elizabeth Zott and was an executive producer on the series, has opened up about some of the changes made in the finale, and why the ending was “perfect.” 

How The End Of Apple TV+’s Lessons In Chemistry Differs From The Book

In the book, following the publication of an offensively unflattering article in Life, Elizabeth decides to quit “Supper At Six” and go back into chemistry. She affectionately tells her audience that “courage is the root of change,” and that they should “pledge” to not hold themselves back. That goes for her too. The article was the inciting incident for the chemist to make a change she’d been wanting for a long time.

Then, she finds out the mysterious and endowed Avery Parker is Calvin’s biological mother, and she approaches Elizabeth with a preposition to take over Hastings. The scientist accepts the job, and she’s able to take over the lab she loves. 

In the show, the ending is quite different. Elizabeth decides to take on Tampax as a sponsor for the show. She is able to make a big statement about women’s equality through this, and she also reveals that this episode of “Supper at Six” would be her final. The cooking show doesn’t end, but she leaves under the condition that healthy change will be made at the network. 

After that, there’s a three-year time jump, and we learn that Brie Larson’s character went back to school to complete her PhD, and as she’s working on her degree, she’s also teaching chemistry.

While vastly different, both endings work quite well, and Brie Larson explained why she thought the end of the series was “perfect.”

Why Brie Larson Thinks Lessons In Chemistry’s Ending Is ‘Perfect’ 

Having Lessons in Chemistry end with such a bold feminist statement was incredibly moving. Speaking specifically about the finale and the Tampax sponsorship with TV Line Lason called the moment “just perfect,” and said: 

Along with this new, and incredibly fitting sponsor, Larson also spoke about how “Supper at Six” came to a close, and why they decided to leave the show’s fate open-ended. The star and executive producer said:

As we discussed earlier, this ending is very different from the book’s. However, it’s still true to character and incredibly satisfying. 

To compare the two endings for yourself, you can pick up Bonnie Garmus' book at any bookstore, and you can stream all eight episodes of Lessons in Chemistry right now. When you are done with that, and have come to your own conclusion about this finale, make sure to check out all of Apple TV+’s best shows. 

Entertainers are entertainers. There are singers who can act, and there are actors who can sing. While the world is full of the former crossing over successfully, the latter is less successful, but that doesn't mean they aren't great singers, so here's our list of actors that have tried singing, whether they were hits or not. 

Bruce Willis

In 1987 Bruce Willis was at the top of his game. A year before everyone's favorite Christmas movie, Die Hard, came out, Willis did a made-for-HBO movie called The Return of Bruno where he played a blues singer. Willis spun that into an album of the same name and his singing career was off. While it's actually a decent album, the two follow-ups were bombs and that was where things pretty much ended for his singing career. 

Jennifer Love Hewitt

Jennifer Love Hewitt has been singing as long as she's been performing on screen. As a ten-year-old, Hewitt sang backup on the hit song "Toy Soldiers" by Martika, and at 12 she recorded her first album. She has a great voice, but she's never seen real crossover success. 

Don Johnson

Miami Vice was a monster hit in the mid-'80s and Don Johnson spun that into a record deal. He recorded his first album, Heartbeat, in 1986 and it was actually a moderate success, especially in Germany. His follow-up, Let It Roll also sold well in Europe, but didn't chart in the US, so his brief-though-somewhat-successful career as a singer was over. 

Jada Pinkett Smith

Did you know that Jada Pinkett Smith sang in a Nu Metal band in the early aughts? Yep, a band she formed called Wicked Wisdom even toured with Ozzfest and opened for Britney Spears. Pinkett is a solid singer and the band is very good, but it was short-lived, releasing just two albums, the last in 2006. 

Russell Crowe

Russell Crowe has been playing guitar and singing rock and roll for decades. He continues to occasionally play concerts, usually for charity and every once in a while he'll show up on stage with a big star. Like when he joined fellow Aussie Keith Urban in 2012 to play some Johnny Cash. 

Jamie Foxx

Jamie Foxx is the rare example of an actor having a very successful music career as well. He's got platinum albums, he's won a Grammy, and he'll forever be known for his guest spot in Kanye West's "Gold Digger." 

Burt Reynolds

Burt Reynolds sang in the musical At Long Last Love, and he once did a duet in a movie with the legend herself, Dolly Parton. Before all that though, he attempted to find a hit in the music business when he released a country album called Ask Me What I Am in 1973. I'm the biggest Burt Reynolds fan you'll ever meet and even I can admit it's a pretty rough album. 

Zooey Deschanel

When M. Ward first heard Zooey Deschanel sing in Elf, he was amazed. Later he learned she also wrote and played music. That was enough to start the duo She & Him, and Ward and Deschanel have been working on the project off and one for 15 years now. Together they've released seven successful albums, the latest a tribute to Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson that is very, very good. Deschanel even met her boyfriend Jonathon Scott while singing on Car Pool Karaoke. 

Jeremy Renner

As if Jeremy Renner's inspiring recovery from a snow plow accident isn't enough, the multitalented star has also released his first couple of EPs over the last few years. The Avengers star is a multi-instrumentalist and can sing too. There's almost nothing he can't do, it seems. 

William Shatner

It's always been a little hard to tell if William Shatner's music career is serious, or a joke. At times it seems like it could be either. One thing I can say about it is that if you've never heard Shatner's version of Pulp's "Common People", seek it out, it is truly excellent. 

Eddie Murphy

Very early in this career, Eddie Murphy started singing comedy songs on his albums. That inspired him to take a shot a serious music and his first single "Party All The Time" was a hit. It reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. Sadly, that would be the high point for the actor's music career.  

Corey Feldman

You have to appreciate how hard Corey Feldman is trying to make a music career take off. He tours a lot, playing live, and giving it his all in every performance. For it, he takes an endless amount of grief, but that just makes us root a little harder for him. The music isn't for me, but I applaud the effort. 

Emma Roberts

Emma Roberts is Hollywood royalty who got her first really big break (though not her first gig, that was in Blow) on the Nickelodeon show Unfabulous. For the show, where she played a middle school singer/songwriter, she recorded quite a bit of music and even released an album. In the end, it was her acting that took off and music took a backseat. At least so far. 

Jared Leto

Obviously, Jared Leto has to be on this list. His band, Thirty Seconds to Mars, which he formed with his brother in 1998, is wildly successful. They've sold more than 15 million albums and played sold-out shows around the world. He's by far the most successful musician on this list. 

Alyssa Milano

Alyssa Milano's music career never made much of a wave in the U.S., but in Japan, she was actually really popular. She released four albums on a Japanese record label and one even went platinum. It's a small tidbit of her career that doesn't get talked about much. 

Tom Hardy

Before Tom Hardy landed the first role of his career in Black Hawk Down in 2001, the British actor took a swing at a rap career. He recorded a mixtape called Tommy No 1 and Eddie Too Tall in 1999, though it didn't see the light of day until well after Hardy became famous, in 2018. It's actually pretty good too. 

Lindsay Lohan

Lindsay Lohan has had a lot of ups and downs in her career, and one thing that could fall under both was her brief foray into music. Lohan was at the height of her Disney career, on the verge of the release of her most beloved movie, Mean Girls, when she was signed to Tommy Mottola's Casablanca Records. The two albums she recorded sold okay, but after the second, her career as a singer was over. 

Scarlett Johansson

Scarlett Johansson's first album, Anywhere I Lay My Head, released in 1998, features members of TV on the Radio, and even David Bowie sings on two tracks. Most of the songs were written or co-written by the great Tom Waits. Unfortunately, it just didn't sell all that well. Her follow-up, Break Up, recorded with Pete Yorn sold a little better, but not enough to sustain more of a career in music. She also released a song in 2015 called "Candy" with a short-lived band, The Singles, with Este Haim.

Hayden Panettiere

On Nashville, Hayden Panettiere played a country singer/songwriter living in Nashville, so naturally, she sang a lot on the show. She even recorded and released a few songs from the show. Panettiere was also nominated for a Grammy early in her career for her singing parts in A Bug's Life. In 2008, she branched out with a more pop-oriented sound and while she undoubtedly has some serious singing chops, the song "Wake Up Call" is more famous today for the video starring herself and Sebastian Stan. 

Joe Pesci

When you think of performers with silky smooth voices, Joe Pesci probably isn't the first name that comes to mind. Still, the Goodfellas star has been singing publicly since the 1960s when he released an album called Little Joe Sure Can Sing! After the huge success of My Cousin Vinny, Pesci released another album sort of in character, called Vincent LaGuardia Gambini Sings Just for You which is part comedy, part serious. It's not all that great, but he's not a bad singer. 

Kevin Bacon

The Bacon Brothers, Micheal and Kevin Bacon have been recording and touring for almost 30 years now. It's always been a passion for the Footloose star and it's clear he takes the band as seriously as he takes his acting. 

Robert Downey, Jr.

The whole world for Robert Downey, Jr. changed in 2008 when the first Iron Man was released. Downey had been a star for years, but the role took him to world superstardom. Right before that, he recorded his first album, 2006's The Futurist. The album had disappointing sales, and Downey dedicated his working life to the MCU and never seemed to find time for a follow-up.  

Steven Seagal

Like most things Steven Seagal does these days, his music career is pretty odd. He's a guitar player and blues singer who has released two albums and still plays live occasionally. While the music is not terrible by any means, it's also not all that interesting. 

Brie Larson

Brie Larson started in the music business when she was just 16. She was signed by Casablanca Records and recorded an album called Finally Out of P.E. However, the Marvels star eventually moved her focus to her acting career. She still occasionally plays guitar and sings little ditties on her YouTube page. 

Gwyneth Paltrow

Gwyneth Paltrow's singing has mostly been attached to her acting career, with her most famous song, "Country Strong" coming from the soundtrack of the movie of the same name. Paltrow does all the singing herself, and it's actually pretty great. She also flirted with more music-related stuff earlier in her career, including recording a duet with Huey Lewis. She should consider doing more! 

Milla Jovovich

The 1990s were full of ethereal singers like Hope Sandoval of Mazzy Star and Milla Jovovich's brief foray into music fit very well in that style. Her breathy style was very much of the time. One song that I can certainly recommend is her version of Lou Reed's "Satellite of Love" from the soundtrack to Million Dollar Hotel.

Florence Pugh

Florence Pugh started her career as singer called Flossie Rose on a YouTube channel in the early 2010s. Once her acting career took off, her music took a backseat, but many of the videos are still available. There is some interesting stuff there, even if it's pretty simple, as she was just a teenager at the time. 

Juliette Lewis

Juliette Lewis has had a huge career revival with her powerhouse performance in Yellowjackets, but all in her professional life, she's also been a singer. Her band, Julliette and the Licks, has been recording and playing live for almost 30 years now and as you'd expect, it's raw and in your face. 

Lucy Hale

Lucy Hale acts, hosts big TV specials, and sings. In fact, her debut album (and to date only album), Road Between, reached as high as #4 on the Billboard Country charts in 2014. It's certainly good enough for a follow-up, so maybe someday we'll get one. 

Joey Lawrence

No one else quite defines the 1990s the way Joey Lawrence does. The star of Blossom was a teen heartthrob and adorned the walls of high school girls across the country. It only makes sense he would try out a music career to capitalize on his fame. Sadly, his ambition wasn't matched by album sales. 

Scott Baio

Scott Baio starred in two huge shows in the '70s and '80s. First as Chachi on Happy Days then as the title character on Charles in Charge. Somewhere he found time to record two albums for RCA Records, but neither sold well and his music career fizzled out. 

David Duchovny

The truth is out there, and so is David Duchovny's budding musical career. He's only been at it for a few years, but he's released three albums and while the critics haven't loved his music, they haven't hated it either. He's clearly passionate about it, and it's refreshing that his albums are mostly original tunes. 

Breaking into music is hard, and while celebrities have a few built-in advantages, they don't guarantee success. For every Jared Leto, there is a Robert Downey, Jr. Still, it's always fun to hear what some of these stars have to offer, usually it's better than you expect, even when it's not great. 

Kamala Khan is a Marvel superfan who found herself in the middle of the MCU alongside Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel, Teyonah Parris’ Monica Rambeau and Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury thanks to some super circumstances. Iman Vellani is also a hardcore fan. The 21-year-old actress just entered the Marvel big leagues as one of the stars of The Marvels, and she spoke with CinemaBlend about what it’s like to know Brie Larson IRL. 

Vellani told CinemaBlend she’s still pinching herself over being a “hometown hero” of Markham, the small suburban town outside of Toronto. Ahead of The Marvels premiere last week, her friends and family turned up to an early screening of the movie and sent her photos of themselves next to the Marvel logo. She calls her parents her “biggest promoters,” and she can call Brie Larson a true friend. Here’s what she told us: 

Much like Kamala Khan, Iman Vellani is noticing a change in herself as she looks Marvel fame in the face. She’s actual friends with Brie Larson now and she sees her as the human that she is. As Vellani continued: 

Unlike many Marvel actors, Vellani’s first time on a set was on Ms. Marvel, followed by The Marvels. She’s had a larger-than-life debut role in Hollywood, and she’s come to a point where she’s no longer necessarily putting people like Larson, Kevin Feige or Samuel L. Jackson on a pedestal anymore because they are colleagues of hers with whom she’s spent a sizable amount of time. 

After The Marvels flipped from “rotten” to “fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes, the movie had the weakest opening weekend for a Marvel movie to date. When Vellani was asked about the movie’s box office, the actress said that she was not focused on that because it’s “not even in my control” and “for Bob Iger” to worry about. 

Vellani didn’t get the chance to see the movie on the big screen with fans when it premiered because when The Marvels first screened, the SAG-AFTRA actors strike was in its final days. The actress said she geeked out about the movie’s great scenes, including the exciting end credits scene, from a laptop in her room. Following The Marvels ending, Iman Vellani’s Kamala Khan certainly has a bright future ahead of her, and here’s hoping she and Brie Larson will continue to share the screen in upcoming Marvel movies.