Brie Larson pushed herself to her limits to become Captain Marvel

In the official trailer for Captain Marvel, protagonist Carol Danvers gets knocked down again and again but always ends up dusting herself off and picking herself up.

For US actress Brie Larson, who plays the titular superhero in the latest film from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), that summed up the gruelling nine months she spent preparing for the role.

She told more than 300 members of the media at a press conference yesterday at Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre: "It was all about putting myself in experiences that allowed me to confront myself, meditating a lot on what female strength could look like and not wanting to emulate things that I had seen on screen before.

"So I kind of went on this path of training every day for nine months to see what I was made of and how strong I could get. It changed me so much."

CRYING

Larson, 29, added: "There is something about pushing yourself beyond the threshold that is comfortable and then going even further than that.

"It means sometimes you end up on the floor crying, begging for it to stop. But all of that is who Carol is.

"When I see that montage of her getting back up over the years, I feel like that was 100 per cent my experience."

The 21st film in the MCU, Captain Marvel - which opens here on March 7 - is the first Marvel movie to feature a female superhero as its central character.

It is also the first Marvel film helmed by a woman, Anna Boden, who makes up half of the directorial duo with frequent collaborator Ryan Fleck.

Boden said: "It is 2019, and I think everybody here looks forward to the day that it is not newsworthy that a woman is directing this kind of movie."

Set in the 1990s, a previously unseen period of history of the MCU, Captain Marvel takes place amid a galactic war between two alien races, the Kree and the shape-shifting Skrull.

It follows the journey of Danvers, a former fighter pilot who is imbued with superpowers after her DNA becomes fused with that of a Kree, turning her into one of the MCU's most powerful superheroes.

Larson, Boden and Fleck were joined by cast members Samuel L. Jackson, who reprises his role as S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury (albeit decades younger), and Gemma Chan, who plays Kree sniper Minn-Erva.

NEWTON FOOD CENTRE

Arriving in Singapore on Wednesday, Larson enjoyed a Peranakan feast at Guan Hoe Soon restaurant in Joo Chiat, a jaunt around the ArtScience Museum and Gardens By The Bay, before being joined by Chan at Newton Food Centre - all of which was documented on the women's Instagram stories.

For English actress Chan, who returned to the filming location of Singapore off the back of hit romcom Crazy Rich Asians' success, her blue-skinned Captain Marvel alien is quite different from that of classy Singaporean socialite Astrid Leong.

"Astrid is gentle and kind. Minn-Erva is kind of the opposite...

"It was great to play a character that is sarcastic. She has a lot of sassy one-liners."

Chan, 36, also relished the physical challenge of the role.

"I had to start doing kick-boxing and sniper training. The main thing I had to be concerned about was trying not to hit myself in the face with my rifle," she said.

Larson also had her fair share of cuts and bruises while filming the many fight scenes in the film.

The restrictive Captain Marvel rubber suit did not make things any easier for her.

"It is like 40 per cent harder to do anything in it. You get really sore just from wearing it day-to-day because it requires so much energy just to move in it," she said.

And if there was any doubt about her transformation from indie darling to Best Actress Oscar winner for the 2015 drama Room to bona fide superwoman, Larson was filmed pushing a 2,000kg Jeep up a hill as part of her training.

She posted the video of her feat on Instagram and also sent it to co-star Jackson.

Larson said to laughter from the packed room: "When you are pushing a Jeep up a hill for 60 seconds, I feel you are allowed to brag."