Academy Award winning actress Brie Larson revealed a personal story of how she was a victim of Hollywood’s sexism.
Brie Larson took home the Academy Award for Best Actress on Sunday, thanks to her well-received role as a victim of kidnapping and sexual abuse in Room.
Larson took the opportunity to talk about her own history of seeing sexism in Hollywood firsthand.
Larson told reporters about a time when she learned to stand up for herself. “In particular, there were many times that I would go into auditions and a casting director would say, ‘It’s really great. Really love what you’re doing, but we’d love you to come back with a jean miniskirt and high heels,’” she told reporters.
Larson explained that these moments were “a real fork in the road” for her, feeling that each time it happened, she had to make a distinct choice about whether or not to follow the casting director’s orders.
There’s no reason for me to show up in a jean miniskirt and heels other than the fact that he wanted to create some fantasy,” Larson said. “I personally rejected that notion… It always made me feel terrible, because they were asking me to wear a jean miniskirt and heels to be sexy, but a jean miniskirt and heels does not make me feel sexy. It makes me feel uncomfortable.”
Larson points out that these run-ins were educational. “Learning, for me, what it took to feel confident and strong and take what these people were trying to get to exude out of me, comes from a personal place,” she said. “And trying to represent in film women that I know, women that I understand, complicated women, women that are inside of me — that became my mission.”
