Brie Larson on What It’s Like Not to Be ‘Surrounded by White People’ on Set

Over 70 percent of production on Brie Larson’s upcoming film ‘Just Mercy’ were people of color because of Michael B. Jordan’s inclusion rider.

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“Just Mercy filmed in Atlanta, so they were able to pull from a certain talent pool there, but I also think they had to fly in certain people in order to meet the quota they were committed to,” Larson said of the Warner Bros film starring and executive-produced by Michael B. Jordan, who publicly announced his production company’s inclusion rider last spring.

“It was the best experience I’ve ever had,” Larson revealed. “It was the first time in my career that I had hair, makeup, and wardrobe crew that were all people of color.” She continued, “I’ve been in SAG since I was seven years old. Twenty years, I’ve been surrounded by white people. It saddens me to recognize that we’ve been segregated in this way within our industry.”

Brie Larson

Thompson notes that when individuals like Jordan, Ava DuVernay, or Reese Witherspoon — who advocated for pay parity at HBO — demand inclusion, it affects the industry as a whole.

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