Brie Larson Talks Getting to Tell a Love Story in ‘Lessons in Chemistry’ After Finale

(This story contains spoilers from the finale of Lessons in chemistry.)

Academy Award winning actress Brie Larson has had supporting roles in romantic comedies such as The spectacular now And Train wreck. But in Chemistry lessons, she gets to tell her own love story.

“Part of my initial interest in this story is that images of love are so sacred and so important, and how they come to you and why they come to you is part of the magic of this life,” says Larson, who wrote the plays a leading role. role of Elizabeth Zott in the Apple TV+ series. “It also means that it is very difficult to struggle with.”

Deciding how best to show that struggle when bringing the story from Bonnie Garmus’ novel of the same name to TV is something Larson worked closely on as an executive producer with showrunner Lee Eisenberg, who developed the series. It was a challenge for Larson to embody Zott, a chemist who can no longer rely on the predictable when she falls in love with research chemist Calvin Evans (Lewis Pullman) from Hastings Laboratory and suffers an unimaginable loss.

“I’m just a lot more emotional than she is,” Larson says The Hollywood Reporter, in which she explained that she would do recordings of her letting out a loud scream to release her emotions, and then get back into character. ‘Elizabeth is just not a crier. She doesn’t have access to that.”

Still, it was worth figuring out how to portray a woman who does not have to sacrifice her spirit for love, but must learn to be open to receiving it.

“It was so nice for me to be able to do something loving and sweet, and not always talk about the darkest things going on in the world,” says Larson, whose latest film, The miraclesin which she plays Captain Marvel, is currently in theaters.

“I think it’s a really beautiful representation of how to work with someone you love and the fact that their spirit and their uniqueness and specificity and their love of science brings them together, I think is really beautiful.”

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How does it feel to be in a press strike and finally be able to promote this project?

Oh, I’m so excited to hear what people learn from it. We spend a lot of time thinking about it, daydreaming about it, and working on it. So I’m just excited to hear what came through and what resonates with people.

What about this story resonated with you the most and made you want to take the reins as the lead character and executive producer?

I cannot emphasize enough how important Elizabeth Zott’s character felt to me from the moment I started reading the book. It was mainly the tone that touched me and surprised me. Because I think a lot about tone as someone who makes things. It’s a dance where you don’t make something less dark or scary as it is, but also make it so that people can get closer to it and actually think about it or think about it. I felt like she did so well in the book. And that felt like the biggest thrill and the biggest challenge of this for me. I also think that ultimately it’s the confluence of science and love that it’s grappling with, that we organize our lives around, and realize that it’s both. It’s about process, care and accuracy, but there is also chance and arbitrariness. And I think love is part of that. It cannot be contained. You don’t know when it’s going to come. So to feel like these are two things colliding against each other in this show just felt really rich.

How does your experience working on a landmark TV series like this compare to your other projects?

I will say that after about two weeks I got really confused because my whole world, other than when I was sleeping, was the 50’s and everyone is dressed in those clothes, and they are the only cars I see. And the Hastings Laboratory was one giant bunch; everything was connected. At some point I had to remind myself: I’m in downtown LA, my name is Brie. But you’re so immersed in another world and it’s really cool. For example, putting on her costume is so different from how I dress in my daily life. That helps get into the mindset of what we were creating from the very beginning.

Lee Eisenberg says you and Elizabeth have some characteristics in common in terms of both of you being –

Bossy? (laughs). Very stubborn and bossy probably.

Funny and incredibly focused actually. In what ways do you identify with Elizabeth and in what ways did you find her challenging to play?

There is a lot I identify with. I have an intense focus. If it’s something I want to do, I can just get on with it and I’m very committed to the things I love and the things I want to do. And yes, I am bossy and stubborn. I believe in what is true. I also think I’m a pretty literal listener, and I’m pretty clear in how I feel and not afraid to say so.

But I think the biggest difference between Elizabeth and me is that I’m just a lot more emotional than she is. Just the beauty of life makes me cry all the time. Sadness makes me cry too, but I would say I am constantly moved and touched by humanity, and Elizabeth is just not a crier. She doesn’t have access to that. And I didn’t think about it that much until we were actually doing these scenes and Lee kept saying, “No, you have to hold it in.” And I thought, “I don’t think I can do that.” Sometimes I had to do shots where I would just let out a loud scream and we would just keep filming because it felt like I was being affected so deeply; I don’t have that capacity. So it’s interesting to maintain that sense of detachment. It’s a cool part of my job that I get to explore different ways of being in the world. But I’m emotional. I can not do it.

How did you and Lewis Pullman find Elizabeth and Calvin’s unique brand of chemistry on set?

Part of my initial interest in this story is that images of love are so sacred and so important, and how they come to you and why they come to you is part of the magic of this life. But it also means that it is very difficult to struggle with. Everyone has had their own experiences in life. So, how do you talk about it? Luckily we had a great director who could guide and explore us very well, because we don’t have much time to talk about such a great love. And that’s part of the impact. So when we were on set and it worked, we were all like, “Whew, this is going to be okay.” Because the show really wouldn’t work if you didn’t buy that relationship. That’s just not the case.

It was so nice for me to be able to do something loving and sweet, and not always talk about the darkest things happening in the world. And as we continued with that story, I felt like that love story was really the anchor. In a book you have the opportunity to get into someone’s head, so that you can reflect in a different way; we have to show everything in a TV program. But I think it’s a really beautiful representation of how to work with someone you love, and I think the fact that their spirit and their uniqueness and specificity and their love of science brings them together is really beautiful.

The friendship between Elizabeth and Harriet (Aja Naomi King) is an unexpected relationship that also develops. Can you talk about what this unfolding brings to the overall story?

So, like I said, with the difference between a book and television, you can read a page where Elizabeth goes to the grocery store, but all you’re thinking about is what she’s thinking about. You don’t necessarily take the time to imagine who else is in the supermarket. We have to make those choices. And once we started talking about the series, it became very clear that there was no way we could tell this story in this time period without acknowledging the bigger picture and context of what was going on. So we had some really fantastic advisors who were able to talk to us about this town (Sugar Hill), in this area, and what was happening. Aja Naomi King is just so brilliant. And you… I feel like I’m going to cry. She’s just so beautiful and so true and honest, and she cared so much. And I was just so grateful that she really worked so hard and really felt compelled to tell that story, and I was there just to support that. It’s difficult when we talk about the tone and how you show the reality of that, and those were difficult days. But we had each other, and I’m really glad we did.