By Gill Pringle
A big plus for the upcoming blockbuster, Kong: Skull Island, is the presence of Brie Larson, who picked up the Best Actress Oscar in 2016 for her astounding performance in the acclaimed drama, Room. Playing the no-nonsense Weaver, a war photojournalist and peace activist, Larson forms part of a team of soldiers, explorers, and scientists who travel to an uncharted island in the Pacific, unaware that they are crossing into the domain of monsters, including the mythic marauding ape, Kong. The surprise deliverer of Brie Larson’s blockbuster stripes, Kong: Skull Island was shot in Vietnam, Hawaii, and Queensland, Australia.
When FilmInk chatted with the actress, we couldn’t help getting all parochial, and yes, we did ask Larson how she enjoyed shooting in Australia. “Oh, it was great,” the actress replies. “We were on The Gold Coast… Surfers Paradise. It was so beautiful! I really enjoyed it there a lot! I could have stayed there a lot longer.”
A burgeoning big name now thanks to the Oscar and her casting as Marvel Studios’ first headlining female superhero in 2019’s Captain Marvel, the Kong: Skull Island shoot marked Larson’s first trip to Australia. “It’s nice for the first time that you visit there to be able to spend quite a bit of time there,” she says. “A cool thing about my job is that you really feel like you’ve lived in a place, because it’s not like you’re there for ten days, and you’re trying to see all the sights. You’re actually rooted. You have an apartment, and you’re doing grocery shopping. Going to the market is one of my favourite things when I’m in a new place, because products are completely different. Completely different! I became obsessed with Twisties! I’d eat Twisties every day! Every day!”
Twisties, however, weren’t the only local delicacy that Larson indulged in…she even developed a taste for that infamous black-hued loved-in-Australia-but-hated-everywhere-else sandwich spread. “I like Vegemite,” Larson smiles. “With some butter! I don’t know if that’s how you guys do it, but that’s how…with butter, or with avocado.”
Does this mean that we get to claim this happy little Vegemite as our own???
Kong: Skull Island is released in cinemas on March 9.
