I'm With Her: Brie Larson Playing 1st Female POTUS Candidate
Thursday, March 23, 2017 at 10:05AM By Spencer Coile
Fresh off the heels of an Oscar victory, stone-facing Casey Affleck, and battling Kong, it appears Brie Larson is coming back stronger than ever-- ready to test her political prowess.
Amazon Studios has obtained rights to Victoria Woodhull, aptly named after the first female to ever run for the U.S. presidency. Larson, not only serving as a producer for the film, will jump into the title role of Victoria. Although very little is known about the upcoming project thus far, below are some initial thoughts and predictions about this latest venture from Larson and company.
Biopics are always a gamble... ironically, because they are carried out traditionally, plodding through life events like they are destinations on a Monopoly board. Will the story live up to its namesake? After all, not many people know Woodhull's journey-- myself included. Perhaps even in the 21st century, a story such as this one is worth exploring. Although Victoria Woodhull, notorious suffragette-turned-politician, achieved household name status in the late 1800's, her legacy is still one that can be felt by millions today. In such a troubling time, both politically and socially, an historical account about one woman's rise to notoriety could not be more timely. Hopefully Victoria Woodhull takes into account the political climate of 1872 and deconstructs it in a way that explores femininity and identity politics that ultimately parallels today's landscape.
Miss Woodhull, if you're nasty
What's more, after her stint as freckled photographer extraordinaire with roughly two facial expressions in Kong, I am itching to see Larson step out of her comfort zone and step into the skin of such an incredibly fascinating and under-discussed woman. Short Term 12's Grace and Room's Ma were both stunning and fully realized portrayals of fragile womanhood, but Woodhull is another challenge altogether-- a challenge that Larson has undoubtedly proven to be ready for.
What do you all think? Is there potential in Larson's latest endeavor? And is Amazon the right home for it?
Reader Comments (17)
Even i thought Ronan, Blanchett or Rampling should won over her any days, but i thought she is good actress. She and Vikander are in same league, but i wish the best for their career considered how many times Oscar winner disappeared or went slump after their win ( *cough*Hillary Swank *cough*
Keep going Brie !!
I am very interested in seeing any film that provides ANY information on the untold or little known history of women who "nevertheless, persisted". Given the huge box office for Hidden Figures, there's an audience for these stories. Good for Brie; hope it's an engaging film. (Carey Mulligan was decent in a fictional part set against the real story in Suffragette, but that movie was failed by its screenplay and marketing campaign.)
The Melissa Leo film "Most Hated Woman in America" looks great. And I'm also excited about another biopic-- an HBO/BBC production on Anne Lister, a wealthy landowner from the north of England who married a woman in the 1830s and wrote secret diaries, to be written and directed by the incomparable Sally Wainwright.
Keep 'em coming.
Pam -- re suffragette. also why was it fictional in the first place with such a gripping true story right there?
Amy -- this is the first time I've felt like Larson is it in the for the long haul. It seems like the type of part you play when you have your pick of roles but you want everyone to know that you're going to be for the next decade what so and so and so were for other decades: a perennial Oscar nominee / major female star.
Brie's post Oscar role choices have not been very interesting. They've been good choices but not very interesting. Same as what happened to Chastain (though she lost, I know I know). They need to be pursuing the Dogvilles, the Notes on a Scandals, the really juicy risk-taking roles. Everybody should stop playing conventional heroes for a while.
Nathaniel R. -- Sorry, but i still don't get what you meaning....sorry English not my first language
Btw, how is your opinion regarding Eastern Promise sequel...i really excited especially we don't know what will happen to Kiril, Anna especially Nikolai in eastern promise
Yeah, I was worried that with her blockbuster movies now/coming up she would maybe going for the less demanding roles. Glad to see she's bringing this story to the screen. Hopefully we'll see some new things from Brie.
If there is a older woman role in the movie- count Streep in! Sounds like this is right up her alley.
I'm still pining for a movie about Edith Wilson and how she became, in a weird way, America's first woman President in October 1919. It's one of the great untold stories in the history of womens' suffrage in America, as far as I'm concerned.
Am I the only one who likes Brie in Room and had no problem with her Oscar win despite the fact her performance wasn't my fave of the lineup?
G - No, I'm with you. I thought Larson was a worthy choice, and I don't begrudge her win at all. I thought Ronan, Blanchett, and especially Rampling were superior, but that Best Actress lineup was probably the strongest so far this decade. I even thought JLaw was great in Joy, even though that movie was a mess.
...it's totally unlike 2012 where a good actress (Lawrence) won for probably her worst performance (Silver Linings Playbook), when there were at least two wildly superior performances worthier than her (Chastain, and especially Riva, who was a tour-de-force).
Aaron - Glad someone is with me on this. I liked all of the nominees including the equally unfairly maligned JLaw in Joy too. Brie definitely didn't give my favorite performance of that lineup but the best performance rarely ever wins and she was still a good enough winner. Don't get why some act like she's one of the worst Best Actress winners or something.
I did a few projects on Victoria Woodhull in high school, and this is bound to be intriguing. My memory is foggy, but as I recall, she was not only a presidential candidate and tireless campaigner for equality, but advocated for free love and legalized sex work, ran the first women-operated brokerage firm with her sister, and ran a newspaper on top of that.
Highly controversial, spurned by the core women's movement for it...Woodhull was far ahead of her time and a really strange, fascinating figure. I'm not sure how they will handle all of this, but I too hope it provides a nice take on contemporary women's leadership issues as well!
Brie Larson aka Alicia Vikander is not a bad actress and seem to be a very good person. What happens is that she has no charisma. She's a talented someone.
I remember when Paul Verhoeven was trying to make a biopic on Woodhull starring Nicole Kidman. I'm glad the project has been revived
@G - nope, I'm good with her win, too. That was a pretty strong lineup and while I understand if people would have preferred Rampling or Blanchett, I don't get how anyone would've preferred Ronan over Larson. Ronan was lovely but that role wasn't nearly as challenging as Larson's.
Selecting a winner is not measured on the challenge of a role. Her character arc was the most devastating.
@3rtful - absolutely, character arc is also very important. I was saying that challenge is A factor, not the ONLY factor.