Quarantine is forcing people to get creative with their newfound free time and for actor Brie Larson, that apparently means becoming a YouTuber. Let’s remember that Larson’s breakout role was playing a woman who spent years locked in a tiny room, so she knows how to prepare for the boredom long haul. Larson announced her new channel on Thursday and looked for advice, where else, on YouTube.Titling her first (21-minute!) video “So, I made a decision…,” Larson turned to some of YouTube’s biggest names, as well as her grandma, mom and BFF for tips and tricks. Justine Ezarik from iJustine, Mitchell Moffit and Gregory Brown from AsapSCIENCE, Sean Evans from First We Feast, Kelly Stamps, Swoozie, Michelle Khare, Lauren Riihimaki from LaurDIY, Juanpa Zurita, Karina Garcia from The Karina Bear, Connor Franta and Lilly Singh all provided invaluable advice not only for Larson, but for anyone starting out on YouTube.TL;DR: be yourself, talk about what you like, use your platform for good and plug in your mic. We can’t stress the mic part enough.
While it's great to get advice from the professionals, Larson also hit up those closest to her IRL, including her best friend, actor Jessie Ennis, makeup artist Nina Park, hairstylist Bryce Scarlett and personal trainer, Jason Walsh. When the best advice is "be yourself," it doesn't hurt to solicit the help of those who know you best. Brie chatted with her grandmother and her mother too, who had to look up a YouTube video to get a definition for YouTube. Thumbs up.Speaking directly to camera at the top and bottom of the video, Larson said she’s still trying to figure out just what to do with her new channel. "YouTube has been a place where I have learned so much," she said. "Whether it’s been how to use my printer or it’s been watching how to be a considerate activist—this is the place to talk about things that are important and that matter." At this moment, it seems like her channel could be anything and everything.Speaking with
Hot Ones host Sean Evans, Larson said her plan in reaching out to creators who have shared “interesting, creative, humane, empathetic things on the platform,” was to steal their ideas and have the most popular channel online. “I’m very transparent about my evil plans,” joked Larson.Brie told Canadian YouTuber and late-night host Lilly Singh she hopes to be able to follow in Singh’s footsteps in terms of creating content that bridges the divide between heavy issues and humor. “I’m introverted, I’m scared, I have social anxiety and through, in particular, playing Captain Marvel, that kind of wiped clean those titles I had for myself,” said Larson. “It made me go, ‘Wow, I’m not really that anymore.’ From there, I found that speaking out, telling my story and talking about things that I’m scare of has helped me so much.”[video_embed id='1898956']RELATED: YouTuber Adelaine Morin shares how to get Billie Eilish’s red carpet look [/video_embed]Seeing as she's the reigning queen of YouTube, Larson also asked Singh to reveal the secret as to why YouTubers are so cute. “Ring lights,” said Singh. True. Singh also suggested that Larson give fans a true behind-the-scenes look at filming a big budget movie. “You’re a human too. What are the ups and downs of shooting a movie that takes so many days and so much of your effort,” said Singh. Basically, we need
more Will Smiths out here.Larson’s impressive film career and work as an actor often came up as possible content. “We want to know about that. We want to hear those stories,” said Swoozie after Larson revealed she auditioned for
Star Wars,
The Hunger Games and
Terminator.Gaming was another big topic on Larson’s introductory course to YouTube. Larson and Ezarick bonded over their Nintendo Switch consoles and love of Animal Crossing, while Larson and Singh agreed that Fortnite was *just* violent enough to be therapeutic without being disturbing. “I threw my first boyfriend out of my house because I was trying to beat the final level of Super Mario Galaxy,” said Larson. “He said that I was taking it too seriously.” Game over.[video_embed id='1983709']RELATED: Emerging artist Atileo talks self-exploration and teaming up for a unique musical initiative [/video_embed]Though Larson’s channel will likely include content surrounding her lettuce garden and favourite muffin recipe, the
Just Mercy star said she plans on using her space for education and social justice issues as well. “I’m a white woman with privilege and a platform so it doesn’t make any sense for me to just make it all about me the whole time,” she said. In the video description, Larson also listed several Black artists, activists and social justice organizations to follow.“We will, of course, continue conversations like that on this channel, but I also think it’s important to recognize that those are the people with boots on the ground doing this work in a very profound way and you should hear it from them.”[video_embed id='1973107']BEFORE YOU GO: Michael B. Jordan wants Hollywood to 'commit to Black hiring' [/video_embed]
