Actress Tessa Thompson (Thor: Ragnarok) got her first real glimpse of the popular video game Fortnite when Oscar winner Brie Larson (Room) invited her to watch her play and teach her the basics of the online battle royale phenomenon.
Speaking over video chat, Larson, who was excited to show Thompson the world of Fortnite from her “gaming cave” at home, told her friend that it was “a dream come true to get you addicted to my favorite game.”
Thompson was also excited because she said she needed “new pastimes” and “new ways to spend my days.” For this demonstration, Thompson, unfortunately, did not have her own gaming system, so she could only play vicariously through Larson who admitted that during the pandemic she had “lost a lot of her life to this game.”
“I haven’t played video games…since I was a kid,” Thompson says.
After explaining the concept of the game, Larson and Thompson set a couple of goals for themselves before jumping into the action. First, they wanted to win. Second, they wanted to “tame a wolf,” something a character can do in the game by feeding it a piece of virtual meat.
They also took some time to pick out an outfit for their avatar. Thompson was impressed to see that Larson had an avatar that was dressed like her Captain Marvel character and included her very own Baby Yoda riding in his hover pod. At one point, she refers to a potion that gives a character extra protection as “snacks.”
One of the best parts of the video is when Larson’s avatar is killed and is placed in the “waiting area” with all the other deceased competitors until the next game starts.
“This is like waiting for an audition,” Thompson says. “Remember that? When you just like, see all your enemies.”
The friends continued their journey through the game by driving a purple sports car into an opponent and finally finding a pack of wolves and trying (unsuccessfully?) to tame one of them. Either way, the game ended on a high note when Larson won one of the battles. Both women raised their arms in victory. “We won!” Larson screamed.
“See, that’s how you get hooked,” Thompson says. “I would love to play with you. That would be very cool. We could coordinate our outfits.”
