OnlyOnAOL: Saoirse, Cate, Brie are in the BUILD(ing)

BY DONNA FREYDKIN

From the moment it began screening for critics, "Room" left viewers sucker-punched. The story of Ma and her son, the child of rape, living in a tiny shed with no fresh air or human contact outside each other (and their captor), currently boasts a 96 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

And Brie Larson, who plays the tormented, possessive, protective mother, seemed a shoe-in come awards season – and indeed just earned back to back SAG and Golden Globe nominations. But Larson wasn't about to jinx anything by counting her statuettes before they appeared when she came in for a BUILD interview. "No. I can't. What am I to do about that?" she told us earlier this fall.

Now, Larson joins fellow nominees including Saoirse Ronan for "Brooklyn," Cate Blanchett for "Carol," Christian Bale for "The Big Short" and Matt Damon for "The Martian." Prep your speeches, and your red carpet attire, folks. But until then, many of the actors tries to anesthetize themselves from the insanity of the awards circuit.

"People have been telling me that they're good," says Ronan, who said she never reads reviews, no matter how tempted she might be.

She's the daughter of actor Paul Ronan, and her parents ran interference when Ronan earned her first Oscar nomination in 2008 for "Atonement," making sure none of it went to her head.

"I just don't think I was famous. I just find that hard to comprehend that really, in any way," she says. "My mum had gone through it all with my dad, the great highs and the lows, so she had an awful lot of perspective on this world. Having them come away with me and they knew how fickle it would be. It meant I can come in, work, publicize and leave it."

For more on the nominees:
OnlyOnAOL: Judith Light bares (nearly) all in 'Transparent'
OnlyOnAOL: Why Saoirse Ronan will never be Ellen Page
OnlyOnAOL: Get a 'Room' already, Brie Larson
Helen Mirren dares you to ask her anything
OnlyOnAOL: There's a beast inside Idris Elba

See some of our most memorable BUILD guests, who are now probably meeting with stylists and prepping their speeches.