Brie Larson has some choice words for anyone surprised Captain Marvel made $1 billion

We’re beyond sick of the assertion that female-led movies don’t sell as well as those starring men, because at this point, it’s demonstrably untrue. Movies starring women actually earn more than movies starring men, despite decades of Hollywood insisting the opposite.

So we weren’t really surprised when Captain Marvel crushed it at the box office, officially surpassing $1 billion worldwide since its release in March. Captain Marvel herself, Brie Larson, addressed the film’s incredible financial success in a recent interview, and she has some choice words for those who continue to doubt the power of women on the big screen. On April 10th, Larson appeared at the Women in the World conference in New York City, and she spoke about the “unnecessary pressure” she initially felt for the film to do well.

"We put unnecessary pressure on ourselves," the Oscar-winner said. "I understand film history. I know that the film industry started with a majority of women. It started with women filmmakers. This weird idea that women maybe can’t open movies or are not important to storytelling or the female story is not high art, it’s bogus. I don’t want to for a second buy into it."

She added, “I’m very grateful to have broken this glass ceiling of normalizing the concept that women can also make a billion dollars. I don’t know why that was so hard to comprehend in the first place. It’s just like we’re human, whatever. If people needed this to be another reminder this decade [that diversity onscreen can be a viable financial success] then great, I’m here, I did it.”

Though we’ve still got a ways to go when it comes to equal representation on the big screen, we’re so glad to have real-life superheroes like Larson shutting down outdated stereotypes, one movie at a time. Bravo, Brie.