THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 56 SEPTEMBER 4, 2019
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RES.after Black Widow but has an eye
toward moving behind the cam-
era. “Before, I was more focused
on my acting career,” she says.
“Now, I’d happily take the time to
develop something to direct.
I’ve actively looked for a long
time and just haven’t found the
right fit.”
On Johansson’s right hand
is a tattoo of a bracelet with
Thor’s hammer, an homage to
her Danish father, an architect.
In her left ear are nine pierc-
ings — “I actively avoid period
films so I don’t have to take all my
earrings out,” she says. Born and
raised in Manhattan, Johansson
began acting off-Broadway as
a child and booked her first
film role, in Rob Reiner’s movie
North, at age 10, with her mother
serving as her manager. Critics
took note of her preternatural
poise in Robert Redford’s The
Horse Whisperer at 14 and Terry
Zwigoff’s Ghost World at 17. But
it was Sofia Coppola’s Lost in
Tr a n s l a t i o n at 19 that cemented
Johansson as an actress whose
subtlety as a performer matched
her youthful allure. As her criti-
cal bona fides grew, so, too, did
Johansson’s box office power.
Thanks largely to Marvel movies
but also to other hits including
the 2014 science fiction film Lucy
($463.4 million worldwide), she
is the highest-grossing actress
in the world and the third
highest-grossing actor, period,
with her movies having earned
more than $14 billion at the box
office worldwide.
When her career began to
take off with Lost in Translation,
Johansson was the subject of
umpteen profile stories that
seemed to have been written by
a leering uncle, with passages
lingering on her pillowy lips or
her husky voice. “Everything used
to start, like, ‘Her blond hair ...
she billowed through a room,’
or whatever. It wasn’t just me, it
was any actress,” Johansson says.
“Now you can’t write about any-
one’s physical appearance.” There
was another, more interesting
quality Johansson projected even
from a young age: a willingness
to displease. “To be a likable
female is to be malleable to
whatever the person in the room
wants from us,” says Laura Dern,
who plays Johansson’s charac-
ter’s divorce attorney in Marriage
Story. “Be a young lady. Be seen
and not heard. Scarlett’s persona
is, ‘I’m here and I know who I am.
I’m not here to make you like me.’
That’s a very impressive energy in
a woman.”
It’s a quality that has sparked
frustration in some communi-
ties in the past, as in a recent
interview with As If magazine,
in which she said she “should be
allowed to play any person, or any
tree, or any animal because that is
my job.” The interview reignited
a debate about actors portray-
ing characters of other races,1 A young Johansson with Robert Redford in 1998’s The Horse Whisperer. 2 Johansson’s star turn in 2003’s Lost in Translation with Bill Murray. 3 As Black Widow in April’s Avengers: Endgame.
4 From left: Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz, Johansson and Woody Allen on the
set of 2008’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona. 5 Johansson in 2017’s Ghost in the Shell.genders and sexual identities, a
controversy Johansson has been
a lighting rod for since she played
a character who was Japanese
in the source material in 2017’s
Ghost in the Shell and then backed
out of a role as a transgender man
in the movie Rub & Tug in 2018
amid criticism from trans activ-
ists. After her recent interview
inflamed the matter, Johansson
issued a statement that “not every
actor has been given the same
opportunities that I have been
privileged to.” Asked if she’d like
to further clear up her position,
Johansson demurs. “There’s other
voices that have more to say on
this subject that probably need
a microphone,” she says. “Yeah.
I think I’m done speaking on
that subject.”
Characteristically, Johansson
has resisted pressure from her
politically minded friends to
take a wait-and-see attitude tothe Democratic primary. “Other
Democrats have said to me, ‘Oh,
it’s really early to back someone,’ ”
Johansson says. “That kind of
worries me because it doesn’t feel
that early to me. I’m like, ‘Really?’
It’s disconcerting that there’s not
a clear candidate at this time.”
Johansson says she is support-
ing Elizabeth Warren. “She feels
like someone who is thoughtful
and progressive but realistic,”
Johansson says. “It’s not like her
campaign is making these crazy,
outlandish promises that seem
impossible to reach. There’s a
strategy there.” She says she’ll
be involved in the presidential
election, whoever faces Donald
Trump. “I’ll be there however
I’m needed,” Johansson says. “If I
can help with voter engagement,
whether it’s doing some sort of
PSA campaign or actively trying
to involve people in the process
of registering and voting. I really2 341