WWE star Tegan Nox reveals how ‘the power of Captain Marvel’ helped her come out as bisexual
WWE wrestler Tegan Nox and actress Brie Larson share an emotional moment as the pair talk and work out for a YouTube video. (YouTube/WWE)
The “power of Captain Marvel” helped Welsh pro wrestler Tegan Nox come out as bisexual and be more open about her mental health struggles.
The WWE star spoke with Brie Larson, the actress who played Captain Marvel, about how the comic book character gave her the “boost” to come out. She directly attributed Larson’s role as Carol Danvers, aka Captain Marvel, with giving her the confidence to be more open about her anxiety and depression and to help inspire young wrestling fans to do the same.
WWE and Larson’s YouTube channels released a video of Nox and Larson having a virtual workout session. The pair bonded over knee issues and exercise, but the conversation took a more heartfelt turn when Nox told Larson how much the Captain Marvel movie meant to her.
“The power of Captain Marvel certainly helped me come out to my fans as bisexual,” Nox told Larson. “It kind of gave me that boost like it’s OK to do this.”
She also revealed how she struggled with depression and anxiety. Tegan Nox said the first Captain Marvel film pulled her out of a “dark place” while recovering from her second ACL tear in 2018. She admitted in a WWE documentary that it was “weird to think that a comic book character or an actress could help mentally”.
Nox told Larson that her work as a mental health advocate and her role in the Marvel franchise empowered her to be more open about her sexuality and mental health struggles.
“If it wasn’t for Captain Marvel or yourself – especially with all the work you do outside of Captain Marvel – there was no way I would have the power to come out to people with my sexual orientation and my mental health,” Tegan Nox said.
View this post on Instagram
After recovering from her knee injury, Nox adopted a Captain Marvel-inspired look when she returned to professional wrestling. She revealed to Larson that embodying the character empowered her, in turn, to be there for young fans looking for advice on coming out or dealing with mental health issues.
“I feel like I’m that superhero,” Nox said. “Since I’ve done that [coming out] with the power from you and Captain Marvel, the amount of young people that have come to me and messaged me on Instagram or Twitter, and it’s like, ‘Hey, I want to do it, I want to come out to my family,’ or, ‘Hey, I suffer with this too, thank you so much.’
She continued: “I’m like, ‘God this is incredible.’ It just lights this fire where I want to use my platform to do what you’ve done and help other people and fight for everyone else’s rights. If it wasn’t for you, they wouldn’t be able to message me.”
Brie Larson thanked Tegan Nox for her kind words, saying it “meant a lot” to her that the character and her work meant so much to Nox. She said the thing that has “broken my heart open” is how many people responded to the character of Captain Marvel. Larson said seeing Nox wrestling in an outfit inspired by Captain Marvel was “why I chose to do the movie”.
“I wanted to work really hard to create a symbol that other people can take and wear and feel powerful in,” Larson said. “It wasn’t about me. It was about her and that star and what it means, and it’s cool to see that actually be that.”
