Brie Larson Says Jennifer Lawrence Helped Ease the Pressure She Felt After Winning an Oscar

In her decade in the spotlight, Jennifer Lawrence has made a name for herself as a down-to-earth, surprisingly relatable celebrity (minus, of course, that Oscar and all that international fame). And should the need arise, according to Brie Larson, Lawrence isn’t afraid to drag her famous friends right back down to earth as well.

In her new cover story for the March 2019 issue of InStyle, Larson explained how, after winning her own Best Actress Oscar—in 2016, for her role in Room—she immediately turned to Lawrence for some grounding advice amid all the excitement. “I was like, ‘I don’t feel any different. I don’t feel better about myself. I still don’t feel like I’m a good actress,’” Larson recalled telling her pal over the phone the morning after her big win. “She was like, ‘Oh, yeah. That’s totally normal. I’ve had the same thing. Don’t think of it like that. Think of it as, like, you got your Ph.D. You’re certified—that’s it. It doesn’t change anything. You can still fuck up. Every judge is still human.’”

While J.Law’s characteristic bluntness may have helped keep Larson’s ego from overinflating, in the years since winning her Oscar she has become more confident in her abilities, due in large part to her upcoming turn as superhero Captain Marvel. “[Captain Marvel] didn’t apologize for herself….She’s not ever shrinking herself down,” Larson told InStyle. “I want to hold on to the cockiness and the sense of ownership. Because I do believe in my abilities, and I do value myself, and I do know that I’m strong, and I do know that I can do a lot of things that people don’t think I can do.”

Larson has previously discussed how grateful she is for her friendship with Lawrence and their fellow Best Actress winner Emma Stone. In 2017, Larson said the trio’s group texts helped her grapple with her sudden rise to fame while promoting Room. “I felt lonely and bad sometimes. I was embarrassed to keep talking about myself,” she told Vanity Fair at the time.

“That [group of friends] saved my life,” she continued. “I was able to talk with them about everything that was going on in my life, and it was with people who had been through it before and are also hilarious. That support and acceptance was everything. I was home-schooled, so I didn’t have friends that had the same interests as me, and I found it to be absolutely incredible.”

Related: Brie Larson, Oscar Winner, “Didn’t Feel Pretty Enough” for Starring Roles