Scarlett Johansson worked with Jon Favreau and Kevin Feige to round out the role of Natasha Romanoff. Photo: Handout
Scarlett Johansson has a complicated relationship with her history of taking on roles that highlight her “desirability and sexuality”.
“I did Lost In Translation and Girl With The Pearl Earring, and by that point, I was 18, 19 and I was coming into my own womanhood and learning my own desirability and sexuality,” the New York-born Black Widow star said on Tuesday’s (Dec 13) episode of the Table for Two With Bruce Bozzi podcast.
Looking back, the 38-year-old actress said she “was kind of being groomed, in a way, to be this what you call a bombshell-type actor,” whether she liked it or not.
“I was playing the other woman and the object of desire and I suddenly found myself cornered in this place,” she said. “I couldn’t get out of it.”
Films in which Johansson’s sexuality was a focal point include Match Point, The Other Boleyn Girl, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, He’s Just Not That Into You and Iron Man 2 – before she worked with Jon Favreau and Kevin Feige to round out the role of Natasha Romanoff.
Despite some perceived upsides, Johansson noted such a niche “burns bright and quick and then it’s done and you don’t have opportunity beyond that”.
Ultimately, the actress – who has two Oscar nominations to her name – started “trying to carve a place in different projects and work in great ensembles”.
The new remarks elaborate on those Johansson made in October during her appearance on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast.
She said at the time she felt “pigeonholed” and “hypersexualised” earlier in her career. – New York Daily News/Tribune News Service
