Scarlett Johansson is now 37-years-old, but she came to fame in her teen years. In a new interview on Dax Shepard’s podcast Armchair Expert, she explained how even then, she knew the way she was being treated was inappropriate. And aging her up considerably.
“I kind of became objectified and pigeonholed in this way where I felt like I wasn’t getting offers for work for things that I wanted to do,” she explained. “I remember thinking to myself, ‘I think people think I’m 40 years old.’ It somehow stopped being something that was desirable and something that I was fighting against.”
Constantly being courted for the same type of roles again and again left Johansson with the impression that there there was a very clear stopping point to her career ahead.
“Because I think everybody thought I was older and that I’d been [acting] for a long time, I got kind of pigeonholed into this weird hypersexualized thing,” she continued. “I felt like [my career] was over. It was like: that’s the kind of career you have, these are the roles you’ve played. And I was like, ‘This is it?’”She added, “The runway is not long on that. So it was scary at that time… I attributed a lot of that to the fact that people thought I was much, much older than I was.”
The Black Widow actress says that she sees younger actors and notices how things have changed since she began her career.
“Now, I see younger actors that are in their 20s. It feels like they’re allowed to be all these different things,” Johansson said. “It’s another time, too. We’re not even allowed to really pigeonhole other actors anymore, thankfully, right? People are much more dynamic.”
But there’s still a long way to go, in her opinion.
“We live in a patriarchy and I feel like there’s a fundamental reality of the woman’s condition that will always, even if those 600 men are not actively aggressive necessarily as much as they would have been a minute ago, it’s still fundamentally there,” she said. “It’s so baked into our culture and society. It’s hard for me to imagine that ever being not an element.”
Being in her thirties, Johansson said that she felt caught “between two worlds” or two generations approach to dealing with patriarchy in the entertainment industry.
“We had our mothers who were like, ‘Use whatever you can to get what the thing you need. Use your feminine wiles. Use your sexuality,’” she said. “And then there’s our generation I think that’s done that and also [said], ‘This doesn’t feel right, there’s gotta be some other way.’ And there’s the younger generation of women who are like 15 years younger than me, who are ‘You don’t have to take any of that crap. No pandering.’ There’s this system that’s completely rejected. It’s an interesting place to be in the in between of.”
Ultimately, the actress believes progress is “two steps forward and two steps back.”
“It’s not finite,” she said. “I think if you don’t leave room for people to figure it out, then the actual progressive change doesn’t really happen.”
Oct. 12 2022 |
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Feb. 09 2022 |
Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost are having their minds read by Amazon Alexa in the tech giant’s latest big-ticket Super Bowl ad.
Continuing a run of annual spots featuring Hollywood A-listers (last year’s centered on Michael B. Jordan), this one sees the couple at home using Alexa Routines for various tasks. The setup, laid out as Saturday Night Live‘s Jost uses Alexa to set up an afternoon of watching football, is imagining how it would work if the artificial intelligence technology could “read your mind.” In a series of amusing bits, they surreptitiously use the smart-device to comment on the other’s morning breath, babbling and other minor annoyances. Without speaking out loud, they give commands to Alexa as rejoinders to each other.
Johansson and Jost were married in 2020 and had a baby, Cosmo, last year. (Cosmo does not appear in the ad.)
As in past years, Amazon has put a 90-second version of the ad online, while a 60-second cut will air on Sunday’s Super Bowl. NBCUniversal is broadcasting the game from LA’s SoFi Stadium between the LA Rams and Cincinnati Bengals on NBC and Telemundo and also streaming it on Peacock.
The annual blitz of advertising on the big game is looking to stage a comeback after last year’s Covid-altered edition. NBCU said last week it had sold out its inventory of ads, with many of them fetching a record price of $7 million. The company has a twin threat of the Beijing Olympics along with the Super Bowl, with the pair of mega-events likely to generate ad revenue in the month of February well above $1 billion.
The tone of the Alexa ad also appears to match the prevailing sentiment of advertisers and viewers. The 2021 game, which was played in a stadium not even half-full of fans before vaccines had started to become widely available, was marked by more somber and reflective brand pitches.
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Jun. 26 2021 |
The actress also had to be very careful about what she shared with her husband about her day while filming the Marvel movie.
At the end of a long day battling deadly assassins, fighting in a leather jacket, and speeding across England on a motorcycle, it would probably be nice to come home and tell your partner about it.
That was only a partial option for Scarlett Johansson, whose husband, Saturday Night Live Weekend Update coanchor Colin Jost, only wanted limited details about her days filming Marvel’s Black Widow when she came home.
Johansson exposed Jost’s spoiler over-caution during a recent interview on The Jess Cagle Show on Sirius XM, telling the host how their evening conversations went following a long day of work for both of them in London.
“When we were shooting this film in London, Colin was also there – he was shooting Tom and Jerry – which worked out great because we were together in the same city for a long time, which is rare,” the actress said. “And if I was in the middle of a big action set piece or sequence or whatever, he couldn’t hear – he was just not wanting to hear anything – anything – about it, anything about the details – of course he wants to know, ‘How was your day?’ but as soon as it was like, ‘Can you read this scene with [me]?’ he was like, ‘Am I gonna get any spoilers?'”
Before Jost helped his wife out, it seems he asked for warnings (presumably rather than finding them out for the first time when reading something out loud).
“He wanted to know ‘spoiler alert’ before we read lines together. Can you believe that?” Johansson laughed.
Johansson and Jost tied the knot last October, announcing their nuptials via Meals on Wheels’ Instagram account.
Black Widow hits theaters and Disney+ premier on July 9.
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Jun. 24 2021 |
Disney is in the early stages of development on a new Tower of Terror movie, which Scarlett Johansson will produce, Deadline can confirm.
The project, inspired by the classic Disney ride, is being scripted by Toy Story 4 helmer Josh Cooley.
Plot details have not yet been released. It remains uncertain at this point whether Johansson will also star in the movie. The Black Widow star will produce the project through her company These Pictures, alongside Jonathan Lia.
Collider was the first to break news about Johansson’s involvement.
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Jun. 24 2021 |
Scarlett Johansson talks about her upcoming film Black Widow, her marriage to Colin Jost and where to get the best pizza in New York.
Jimmy and Scarlett Johansson take turns identifying random Marvel films, like Spider-Man: Homecoming and Avengers: Age of Ultron, from one-second video clips.
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Jun. 23 2021 |
Scarlett Johansson will receive the 35th annual American Cinematheque Award gala and tribute at the Beverly Hilton on Nov. 18.
American Cinematheque chair Rick Nicita said Johansson’s career embodies the essence of the prestigious award.
“Her immense talent has shone brightly from her movie debut as a child through her emergence as a megastar of blockbusters,” Nicita said in a statement Tuesday morning. “She has acted in adventurous independent films with cutting-edge directors. She has starred in the most commercial of franchises. She has taken leading roles and supporting roles in movies budgeted big and small. Whenever she graces the screen with her luminous presence, the audience knows that they will see a dedicated artist at the height of her powers. We can’t wait to share in the next phase of Scarlett Johansson’s marvelous career.”
A New York native, Johansson made her professional acting debut at the age of eight in the off-Broadway production of “Sophistry” alongside Ethan Hawke. She has since appeared in an array of successful blockbuster franchises, most notably in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Natasha Romanoff, a.k.a. Black Widow. First appearing in “Iron Man 2” alongside Robert Downey Jr. and Don Cheadle in 2010, Johansson went on to star in the two “Captain America” sequels and all four “Avengers” films. She will make her eighth and presumably final appearance as the titular superhero in her long-awaited solo film “Black Widow.”
Johansson received critical acclaim for her role as Nicole Barber in “Marriage Story” and her supporting role as Rozie Betzler in “Jojo Rabbit.” She received nominations for an Oscar, Screen Actors Guild Award and a BAFTA Award for her roles in both 2019 films. Other notable credits include “Lucy,” “Under the Skin,” “Ghost in the Shell,” “Isle of Dogs,” “Her,” “The Horse Whisperer,” “Manny & Lo,” “Hail, Caesar!,” “The Jungle Book,” “Chef,” “Don Jon” and “Hitchcock.”
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May. 12 2021 |
The upcoming 2021 MTV Movie & TV Awards will honor Scarlett Johansson with its Generation Award on Sunday.
The Generation Award celebrates actors whose diverse contributions to both film and television have turned them into household names. The Black Widow actress joins previous recipients Sandra Bullock, Jim Carrey, Tom Cruise, Johnny Depp, Robert Downey Jr., Jamie Foxx, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Mike Myers. Additional Generation Award honorees include Chris Pratt, Adam Sandler, Will Smith, Mark Wahlberg and Reese Witherspoon.
Hosted by Leslie Jones, Sunday’s ceremony will recognize and celebrate the year’s most notable scripted film and television titles. Disney’s WandaVision leads those nominations with five for categories including best show, best performance in a show and best villain. Emily in Paris, The Boys, The Mandalorian and Borat Subsequent Moviefilm are also in contention.
MTV revealed last week that it will also honor Sacha Baron Cohen with its Comedic Genius Award on Sunday.
Nikki Glaser will host the second night of the 2021 MTV Movie & TV Awards, which will honor unscripted titles. Nominees for the first-ever MTV Movie & TV Awards: Unscripted include RuPaul’s Drag Race, Bling Empire, 90 Day Fiancé, The Bachelorette and Legendary. See the full list of nominees here.
News of Johansson’s MTV Movie & TV Awards honor comes just days after she issued a statement against the HFPA for its lack of diversity among its ranks. Joining Avengers co-star Mark Ruffalo who spoke out a day before, Johansson recalled her experience with HFPA members criticized the Hollywood organization.
“The HFPA is an organization that was legitimized by the likes of Harvey Weinstein to amass momentum for Academy recognition, and the industry followed suit. Unless there is necessary fundamental reform within the organization, I believe it is time that we take a step back from the HFPA and focus on the importance and strength of unity within our unions and the industry as a whole,” she said.
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May. 08 2021 |
Scarlett Johansson has joined the outcry against the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, adding her voice to fellow Avenger Mark Ruffalo, who spoke out on Friday. They unite with numerous publicists, studios, and media organizations in condemning the HFPA’s lackluster diversity and inclusion initiatives.
“As an actor promoting a film, one is expected to participate in awards season by attending press conferences as well as awards shows,” Johansson said in her statement. “In the past, this has often meant facing sexist questions and remarks by certain HFPA members that bordered on sexual harassment. It is the exact reason why I, for many years, refused to participate in their conferences.“The HFPA is an organization that was legitimized by the likes of Harvey Weinstein to amass momentum for Academy recognition, and the industry followed suit. Unless there is necessary fundamental reform within the organization, I believe it is time that we take a step back from the HFPA and focus on the importance and strength of unity within our unions and the industry as a whole.”
Johansson’s statement continues the dam breaking against HFPA, a movement that began at mid-week when Netflix’s co-CEO Ted Sarandos spoke out and said the studio would not participate in HFPA events until it revamped its organizational goals. Amazon Studios, GLAAD, The Black Journalists Assn., Time’s Up and many Hollywood publicists also have decried the HFPA’s actions.Still silent is Disney, whose Black Widow starring Johansson is coming in July to theaters and Disney+ Premier Access.
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Mar. 10 2021 |
Marvel Studios’ BLACK WIDOW..Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson)..Photo: Film Frame..©Marvel Studios 2020
Today at Disney’s annual shareholder meeting, CEO Bob Chapek continued to underscore that the release date for Marvel’s long-awaited feature Black Widow is May 7, and that the Cate Shortland-directed title will be seen in theaters. Chapek made the same confirmation back on Feb. 11 during the studio’s fiscal Q1 earnings call.
There’s been some intense speculation in the exhibition and rival distribution circles that the Marvel movie will either move once again as overseas markets — which the Scarlett Johansson pic greatly needs to launch — remain in Covid lockdown, or that Disney has some sort of simultaneous theatrical/Disney+ release in its back pocket a la this past weekend’s dud Raya and the Last Dragon, which opened to $8.6M.
Speaking of which, Chapek mentioned nothing about Raya‘s financial success on the Disney+ PVOD side, whereby subscribers had to fork over an additional $30 to watch the animation title. The other whisper that’s been going around is that Disney would make Black Widow available during a truncated theatrical window, followed by a drop on Disney+. This past weekend, Raya had to share the Disney+ menu with Marvel’s series finale for WandaVision, which was available to subscribers for free.
Girl Scout To Disney CEO: Why Can’t We Rent A Theater To Watch ‘Raya And The Last Dragon’ With Our Cookie Dough?
Recently, Universal pushed its big summer tentpole, F9, from May 28 — Memorial Day weekend — to June 25, as the studio awaits more foreign theatrical markets to reopen. That said, as Covid cases finally decrease, New York City has already reopened theaters, with Los Angeles hopefully coming back online next week given today’s news about LA county moving to the red tier.
Said Chapek today: “I hope you’ve all had an opportunity to see our latest family entertainment achievement, Disney Animation Studios Raya and the Last Dragon which we released last week in theaters and on Disney+ premiere access to great acclaim and social buzz. As we’ve said we believe it’s important to put the consumer in charge and let them decide how they want to enjoy our films particularly as we navigate through the pandemic. We are really excited about the full slate of films we have in store. Next up is Black Widow currently sent for release in theaters on May 7.”
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