Hollywood is like a well-oiled machinery, where every department works like gears pushing the load forward. All the parts need to work in tandem to achieve absolute harmony, but most of the time creative heads keep these mechanisms separate from each other to exercise better control. And that might not sit well with curious minds, like that of actress Brie Larson.
The MCU star has a repertoire that shines on different levels, from in front of the camera to behind it. Larson recently pointed out a major flaw in Hollywood’s machinery, and there have been mixed reactions to her observation.
Brie Larson wants actors to be more involved with the production
Having spent decades in the film industry, Brie Larson has closely monitored every single one of its gears. Her curiosity often leads her to learn more about what goes on behind the camera, which is why she took on the role of executive producer in her Apple TV+ limited series Lessons in Chemistry.
In Variety’s latest Actors on Actors segment, Larson expressed while talking with actor Andrew Scott:
So I had this perhaps cockamamie idea where I was starting to become obsessive about how when we have our call sheets it says cast and crew. Everything is cast and crew, and I was like that’s a problem. Because we’re creating a dynamic between the people on one side of the line, and I was like if I could be in it earlier…
We have these amazing production meetings that happen. Actors aren’t invited to them. So to me, it always felt like playing a championship basketball game, and your star player doesn’t train with the rest of the team.
Though Larson might be speaking out of experience from her time on set, her statement caused a stir on social media with fans taking sides.
Fans are not so sure if Brie Larson’s idea is good enough
While the separation in roll calls might seem a bit degrading and counter-productive at first, many fans argued that it really is not the case. Though Sherlock star Andrew Scott seemed to agree with Larson’s statement, a number of fans took to social media to express their annoyance at her complaints.
Some of them from X are listed here:
However, some fans also defended Larson, on the grounds that she has experience on set, and the better communication and involvement of actors in the production activities might help smoothen it out. They wrote:
Whether her idea of involving actors more in production duties is a good one, depends if that actually bears fruit. There have been instances when an actor’s input proved beneficial to the team, while at other times keeping the cast and the crew separate helped the actors completely focus on the task at hand.
You can watch Lessons in Chemistry on Apple TV+.
