We tend to think of reinvention, this issue’s theme, as a kind of transformation—a dramatic overhauling of self or systems, a marked way of doing things differently. But our cover star, Brie Larson, photographed by Collier Schorr, reminds me that reinvention can be a much more profoundly personal process. Larson won the Oscar for Best Actress in 2016, at the age of just 26, for her deeply affecting portrayal of a woman held captive for seven years in the movie Room. In the period after, she was offered roles that were considered similarly weighty, serious, “Oscar-worthy.” But instead of doing what was expected, she did what felt honest. She did comedies and action movies and launched a YouTube channel. “I want to be in reality,” she tells writer Carina Chocano.…
