Brie Larson: Movies are holy

Brie Larson sees going to the cinema as a "church-like experience".

The 25-year-old actress has starred in plenty of big flicks, such as her latest movie The Gambler, but has managed to maintain a modest outlook on life.

With so many opportunities coming her way Brie isn't thinking too much about pursuing the Hollywood star path, focusing her attention on work instead.

"I am and I’m not. If it happens, I’ll deal with it when I get there. I love storytelling. I love these stories of initiation. The theatre becomes this church-like experience, where you let these images wash over you," she smiled to denofgeek.com. "It becomes a chance to empathise and reflect, and learn something about the human condition in ourselves. So that’s my guiding light, and whatever that is - whether it’s an independent film or a huge movie, it doesn’t really matter. It’s all the same story.

In The Gambler Brie plays student Amy, who gets caught up in the betting addiction of her lecturer Jim Bennett (Mark Wahlberg). The professor is given a week to pay back his debts, or else he'll suffer horrible consequences.

Brie was intrigued by the story and how the concept dates back to long ago.

"Reading the script, I was so surprised to find such an interesting depiction of a story that goes back as far as Greek mythology," she explained. "The idea is, over the course of seven days - or in Greek mythology, it’s seven gates - as you go through each one, you have to remove another piece of material to get to your true, authentic self. It’s the death that leads to rebirth."

Brie has four films in the pipeline, including Trainwreck alongside Daniel Radcliffe and Tilda Swinton.