Netflix came to the defense of Brie Larson after a Twitter user accused the “Captain Marvel” actress of not being qualified enough to be a director. The streaming giant is releasing Larson’s feature directorial debut, “Unicorn Store,” next month. The drama premiered at TIFF 2017 and stars Larson opposite Samuel L. Jackson, Bradley Whitford, and Mamoudou Athie.
After Netflix premiered the “Unicorn Store” trailer online last week, Twitter user @TheJoeGil reacted to the film in a since-deleted post that questioned Larson’s status as a director. The social media user said Larson was “just riding ‘Captain Marvel’s’ wave” to land directing gigs (again, the film debuted at a major North American film festival in 2017) and had not put in the time and energy like fellow actor Jonah Hill, who was “mentored by Martin Scorsese and took years before he made his directorial debut out of respect for the artistry of film and the position of director.”
Netflix stood up for Larson by replying directly to @TheJoeGil with a list of Larson’s accomplishments to date. As the streaming giant noted, Larson has been working since 1998 and has amassed 58 acting credits, 53 award nominations, two writing credits, two short film directing credits, one composing credit, one producing credit, one Oscar, and one feature directing credit. If it wasn’t clear, Larson is not just someone who stumbled into directing. Furthermore, Larson won SXSW jury prizes for co-directing the short films “The Arm” and “Weighting,” so it’s not like she hasn’t already been recognized for her directorial chops.
Larson shared Netflix’s support on her own Twitter page, which boasts over 1.3 million followers. “Unicorn Store” will be available to stream on Netflix starting April 5.
So excited to share the trailer for Unicorn Store, @brielarson‘s directorial debut and an absolutely charming, heartfelt, exploration of the things that drive us and the creativity that adulthood often tries to extinguish. pic.twitter.com/1nLqX8DJ3r
— Netflix Film (@NetflixFilm) March 22, 2019
Brie Larson has:
58 acting credits
53 award noms
2 writing credits
2 short film directing credits
1 composing credit
1 producing credit
1 Oscar
1 feature directing credit
Been working since 1998
Worked with Apatow, Baumbach, Wright, Boden, Fleck, Abrahamson, and more.— Netflix Film (@NetflixFilm) March 22, 2019
NETFLEX https://t.co/FsGSFzpoRO
— Brie Larson (@brielarson) March 28, 2019
Brie, you only won 1 Oscar out of a total of 58 attempts. Do better xxx
— edgarwright (@edgarwright) March 28, 2019
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