Scarlett Johansson, an American actress, spoke out about being “trained” in her late teens to seem like a Hollywood “bombshell” in an interview on Tuesday, December 13. The 38-year-old actress was featured on an edition of Bruce Bozzi’s Table for Two podcasts, where she described how she was assigned a certain stereotype early in her career.
“I did Lose in Translation and Girl With the Pearl Earring and at that time, I was 18, 19 and I was emerging into my own femininity and realizing my own desirability and s*xuality. In some ways, I was being groomed to be this “bombshell” sort of performer.”
Johansson went on to say that she was suddenly surrounded and “couldn’t get out of it” since she was portraying “the other lady” and “the object of desire.”
Scarlett Johansson’s agency assisted her in avoiding the “bombshell” route.
Scarlett Johansson said in the same interview that it was her agent Bryan [Lourd] who helped her break out of that vicious cycle.
“[Bryan] thrives on assembling brilliant creatives and providing opportunities for individuals to perform interesting work. And he’s just gotten it. It was a fascinating, strange quandary to be in, but it all came down to hard effort and trying to create a position in various projects and work with wonderful ensembles.”
Johansson revealed that her Black Widow character in Iron Man 2 was initially “over-sexualized,” but she worked with the film’s director and Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige to make it more progressive. Johansson said on the Armchair Expert podcast in October 2022 that her incessant “hyper-s*xualization” in the film business caused her to assume her career was over.
“I sort of got objectified and pigeonholed in this manner where I felt like I wasn’t receiving offers for employment for things that I wanted to pursue. Everyone assumed I was older and had been [acting] for a long time. I thought [my career] was done. That’s the type of career you’ve had, these are the parts you’ve played. And I thought, ‘Is this it?’”
Scarlett Johansson made her acting debut in 1994 as Laura Nelson in North. Just Cause, If Lucy Fell, The Horse Whisperer, The Man Who Wasn’t There, An American Rhapsody, A Love Song for Bobby Long, The Prestige, He’s Just Not That Into You, The Avengers, Avengers: Endgame, Marriage Story, and Black Widow are among her other credits. Her upcoming films include My Mother’s Wedding, Project Artemis, and Asteroid City, according to her IMDb biography. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Johansson will produce the forthcoming Tower of Terror.