Brie Larson has opened up about her struggle with body image and self-acceptance in a candid new interview with W Magazine.
In the recent interview, the 31-year-old Captain Marvel star revealed that she is finally "comfortable" with herself, after a long struggle with "feeling ugly and like an outcast".
"I don't believe that there is a beauty standard," she said. "I struggled with feeling ugly and like an outcast for so much of my life."
"And so I really, really feel for that. It took me a long time to be able to be totally comfortable with myself."
"The thing that has brought me solace is knowing that I can be whoever I want to be with myself."
Larson's own self-love journey has made her a passionate advocate of helping others to do the same thing.
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The Golden Globe winner added: "What breaks my heart is to think of people in the world who don’t feel that they have safety within their own bodies.
"That, to me, is my ultimate goal in life: to do whatever it is that I can so people have the freedom to express themselves... and be exactly who it is that they want to be - whatever that is - knowing that that can also change."
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However, this isn't the first time that the actress has opened up about this issue and in September of this year, she revealed on her YouTube channel that she was initially unsure about whether or not she could handle the pressure of being in the Marvel franchise.
She said that she remembers thinking: "Oh, I can't do that. I have too much anxiety. That's too much for me. I don't think I could handle that."
"I'm too much of an introvert," she said she thought. "That's way too big of a thing for me."
In the video below, Larson shares an audition storytime:
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She eventually met with Marvel, and they pitched the movie to her and showed her early designs for Captain Marvel's costume.
The actress said that she was "really moved" by Marvel's vision for the movie and said: "I was very surprised by the way that they were talking about feminism and the way they were handling it."
She remembered being told that the film would have "all-female writers. Female director. Going to have as many female voices in this as possible".
Eventually, Larson was sold, and looking back, she has no regrets about taking this huge step toward increased self-confidence.