Scarlett Johansson thinks her career could have gone a different direction ifshe continued to take “bombshell-type” roles. The 38-year-old actress sat downfor a rare podcast interview on Table for Two with Bruce Bozzi andrecognized how 2003’s Lost in Translation set her on a certain trajectory.
“It sort of was my transition into my adult career,” Johansson, who made herfilm debut at age 9, recalled. “I had a really hard time doing Lost inTranslation. I was 17, I was far away, I was working with Bill Murray who Iwas an enormous fan of and he obviously has a very big personality and he’ssort of a formidable character at times. Our characters have this kind of reallove for one another, this profound relationship, and that was hard for me to— I struggled with that for different reasons.”
Weeks after wrapping Sofia Coppola’s romantic dramedy, Johansson went on tofilm Girl With the Pearl Earring alongside Colin Firth. After finishing bothmovies, Johansson felt like she was in a “weird fever dream.”
“Young girls like that are really objectified and that’s just a fact,”Johansson said at one point, explaining how her career began with “this pathof ingénue.”
“I did Lost in Translation and Girl With the Pearl Earring and by thatpoint, I was 18, 19, and I was coming into my own womanhood and learning myown desirability and sexuality. I think it was because of that trajectory Ihad been sort of launched towards — I really got stuck,” Johansson told Bozzi.”I was kind of being groomed, in a way, to be this what you call a bombshell-type of actor . I was playing the other woman and the object of desire and Isuddenly found myself cornered in this place like I couldn’t get out of it.Right around that time is when I met with Bryan.”
Johansson is referring to CAA partner and co-chairman, Bryan Lourd. Theactress credits the powerhouse agent, who is married to Bozzi, with changingher career.
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“It would be easy to sit across from someone in that situation and go, ‘Thisis working,'” she said. “But for that kind of bombshell, you know, that burnsbright and quick and then it’s done and you don’t have opportunity beyondthat. And I just felt, how is this burning out so quickly? It was aninteresting, weird conundrum to be in but it really came back to doing work —to working at it and trying to carve a place in different projects and work ingreat ensembles.”
One “incredible opportunity” that came along was the second IronMan movie.
“That part at the time was very underdeveloped and oversexualized, but Iwanted to form a relationship with Jon Favreau, who I worked with a couple oftimes after that, who’s an inspiration for me. And I also wanted to work withKevin Feige, who’s the head of Marvel, who I knew had a vision for this bigpicture, which at the time people forget, that genre was not what it is now,”Johansson continued. “The first IronMan with Robert Downey was a sensation,it was unprecedented.”
Johansson is now one of Hollywood’s highest-earning stars and has beennominated for an Oscar twice since teaming up with Lourd. While some may thinkthat gold statue is her dream, Johansson’s ultimate goal may come as asurprise.
“I really love producing and I love producing other people’s stuff,” shedeclared. “My ideal job is a corner office on the Disney lot.”
Johansson sued Disney last year for simultaneously releasing Black Widow intheaters and on its streaming platform Disney+, claiming the move violated hercontract. The two reached a confidential settlement rumored to be around $40million. Sounds like that’s all water on the bridge.
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