As we get closer to the new year, we’re always looking for ways to make our lives fuller, our thighs thicker, and our hearts healthier. On a recent set visit to Captain Marvel, we found our new inspiration when Samuel L. Jackson pulled out his phone and showed us a video of Brie Larson pushing a Jeep up a hill. The show of unbelievable strength was almost as wonderful as Jackson’s clear love and pride for his co-star and friend’s transformation, and we were happy to listen to him gush about the star’s rigorous training regime.
“I think about a year ago, Brie started working out,” Jackson said. “And the girl that I did Kong and Unicorn Store with is not this person. She’s like five percent body fat now. She used to send me workout videos, which were like, crazy dope workout videos. The first one she sent me, she was lifting… like a hundred pounds. The last one she sent me was 350. She does chin-ups. And she sent me a video of her pushing a Jeep up a hill. It’s pretty amazing stuff. She’s made a distinct transformation that I don’t think a lot of people would be willing to do. It’s a huge commitment to do stuff like that.”
As for whether Larson’s enthusiasm rubbed off on him, Jackson was quick to let us know, “No, I have an age limit. I’m done with all of that. I go to pilates. I only push my body weight. I don’t mess with any other weights.”
When we chatted to Brie later she was happy to give us an insight into how her real life show of superhero strength came to be. “It was a joke with the trainer, Jason Walsh,” Larson said. “I spent nine months training with him ahead of time, and I was getting super strong…We were joking about it…And I was like, ‘Well, she can move planets, the least I could do is move a car.’ I’m trying to remember how long we had trained together for, maybe five or six months at that point? And I just showed up in the gym one day and he was like, ‘All right, let’s do it.’ And I pushed the car, yeah! And it wasn’t as hard as I thought, which was kind of crazy. There was someone in the front seat in case for some reason [something went wrong], and the car is in neutral but it’s going uphill. And I pushed it for a minute.” Marvel recently released this incredible video highlighting Larson’s intense training routine.
It’s an impressive accomplishment for Larson. The actor said, “I’ve never been a particularly elegant or athletic person. I’m just an introvert with asthma.”
There’s something about being physically strong that can be incredibly empowering, and for Larson it’s been a journey that she’s adored. “I love it. I mean it definitely makes things more complicated in certain ways because I could be taking a lot more naps than I am. I could just be like, ‘Renee and Joanna got it, I’m gonna go eat some cake.’ But instead, a huge part of how I learned more about her and became her and embodied her was through discovering my own strength. Pretty amazing thing.”
Images: Disney, Marvel
