Brianne Sidonie Desaulniers, known professionally as Brie Larson, is an American actress and filmmaker. Noted for her supporting work in comedies when a teenager, she has since expanded to leading roles in independent dramas and film franchises, receiving such accolades as an Academy Award and a Golden Globe. Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2019.
Born in Sacramento, California, Larson was homeschooled. At age six, she became the youngest student admitted to a training program at the American Conservatory Theater. She soon relocated to Los Angeles and began her acting career in 1998 with a comedy sketch in The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. She appeared as a regular in the 2001 sitcom Raising Dad and briefly dabbled with a music career, releasing the album Finally Out of P.E. in 2005. Larson subsequently played supporting roles in the comedy films Hoot (2006), Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010), and 21 Jump Street (2012), and appeared as a sardonic teenager in the television series United States of Tara (2009–2011).
Larson's breakthrough came with a leading role in the acclaimed independent drama Short Term 12 (2013), and she continued to take on supporting parts in the romance The Spectacular Now (2013) and the comedy Trainwreck (2015). For playing a kidnapping victim in the drama Room (2015), Larson won the Academy Award for Best Actress. The 2017 adventure film Kong: Skull Island marked her first big-budget release, after which she starred as Carol Danvers in the 2019 Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero films Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame.
Larson has also co-written and co-directed two short films, including The Arm (2012), which received a special jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival. She made her feature film directorial debut in 2017 with the independent comedy-drama Unicorn Store. A gender equality activist and an advocate for sexual assault survivors, Larson is vocal about social and political issues.