OK! Exclusive: Brie Larson's New Movie Short Term 12 Might Be The Reason She Wears Her Pajamas to The Oscars

And speaking of picking 'em? Yeah, this one is a gem. It will hit you directly in the heart and your tear ducts and it's worth every minute of it. We talked about this movie you have to see, delicious cheesy pasta and wearing PJ's to the Oscars. Ladies and gentlemen, Brie Larson.

OK!: So first of all, this movie punched me in the heart. That’s the only way I can describe it to people. What kinds of reactions have you been getting from people? What do they say to you because I was like I don’t even know how to explain how this movie made me feel?

Brie Larson: It’s been really interesting because I’ve been doing a lot of Q&As and things, so I come in at the end of screenings and the reaction is overall really emotional. Some people know exactly why they’re emotional but a lot don’t. They’re confused as to why they cried through 60% of the movie, even during happy parts. My favorite part about it is a lot of people who shared the experience of watching the movie together feel connected to each other. It’s pretty incredible. It feels like everyone went through group therapy.

OK!: And bounce houses make everything better

BL: So true! It’s a happy place.

OK!: I would imagine tears are a sign of success; this movie has done something that affected someone so much that their body is just emitting water at this point.

BL: Yeah it’s nice because you’re watching characters that have held it in for a long time and you’re watching them finally let go and so it’s amazing to watch other people let go because they’re taken by the journey of these people.

OK!: How do you prepare for a role like this that’s seemingly a little different than things you’ve done?

BL: Well there was a few different aspects of the process. One was having a good understanding of this world and the system that Grace works in. So I shadowed at a facility and spoke with staff, got to be on the floor with kids and also spent time on smoke breaks with line staff and picked their brains about not just what their day is like there but what it’s like when they go home and how they deal with these emotions. Then there were some things very specific to Grace: learning about the backstory and seeing how it would affect her present. And then I listened to a lot of Norwegian Black Metal and that was kind of the soundtrack. I felt like that was what it sounded like in her head. So the headphones you see in the film, those turquoise Urban Ears when I do room checks, those were my actual headphones and they were on all the time. I would work myself up and listen to this aggressive, demonic music then throw myself into scenes where I had to be loving and caring and act that there was nothing wrong.

OK!: What was the end of the day like? How did you come out of it?

BL: Well the thing that I learned from working with and shadowing the line staff, is that a huge part of their process is letting go and it’s going home and decompressing and saving room for yourself, so that became part of my practice as well. I understood for those 12 hours that I was there on set I fought really hard and I got to the emotional places I needed to get to, but when I got home it wasn’t about that anymore. I would cook myself cheesy pasta dinners and watch SNL and laugh. Laughter was a huge part of the whole thing. Don’t linger too much in the darkness.