From Black Widow to Cannes: 5 things to know about Scarlett Johansson

News24

24-05-2025

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Scarlett Johansson made her directorial debut with Eleanor the Great at Cannes this week.
Initial reviews for Johansson's debut film were mixed, though lead actor June Squibb received widespread acclaim.
Here are five things to know about the teen star turned Hollywood A-Lister.
One of Hollywood's top-grossing actors, Scarlett Johansson, walked the red carpet twice at Cannes, for her directorial debut with Eleanor the Great on Tuesday and for Wes Anderson's film The Phoenician Scheme, which premiered last Sunday.
Johansson faced some tough initial reviews for her debut film as a director after its premiere.
Film bible Variety called it 'an unconvincing crowd-pleaser', The Hollywood Reporter said it was 'wobbly', and Britain's Guardian newspaper critic called it 'frankly odd' in a two-star review.
Screen was more positive, however, saying online 'streamers should come calling', while The Times in London said it had 'the jackpot combination of being tear-inducing and laugh-out-loud funny'.
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Lead actor June Squibb, 95, won almost universal praise for her turn as a grief-stricken retiree who moves to New York and adopts the personal story of her deceased best friend who survived the Holocaust.
'It's a film about many things: it's about friendship, it's about grief, it's about forgiveness. And I think those are all themes we can use a lot more of these days,' Johansson said after the premiere.
Johansson's movie is in the running for prizes in the 'Certain Regard' secondary section at Cannes, which is for up-and-coming directors and includes Kirsten Stewart's and Harris Dickinson's films this year.
Here are five things to know about the teen star turned Hollywood A-Lister:
1. Starlet Scarlett
When baby Johansson was born into a Jewish family in Manhattan in 1984, early signs suggested stardom was ahead.
Her parents named her after Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind, and from a young age, she was drawn to tap dance and theatre.
Barely into double digits, she made her screen debut, and soon after, Robert Redford cast her in The Horse Whisperer for her first major role.
Then, just shy of 20, she hit the big time with Sofia Coppola's art-house classic, Lost in Translation.
In the film, which unfolds in the alienating surroundings of a Tokyo hotel, Johansson manages to touch the heart of an ever-sardonic Bill Murray and charm spectators and critics worldwide.
2. Cha-ching!
Over the following decades, Johansson starred in a string of hits, and top directors, from Wes Anderson and the Coen brothers to Jonathan Glazer and Christopher Nolan, queued up to cast her.
Catapulting her into the movie stratosphere, she joined the Marvel universe as the indomitable Black Widow in 2010 and made eight films with the franchise.
During this collaboration, she topped the Forbes list of highest-paid actresses and was featured in hits, including Avengers: Infinity War (2018), one of the top-10 highest-grossing films of all time, according to IMDB Pro.
3. Other missions
But Johansson, the box-office megastar, has also missed out on, or sidestepped, plenty of big roles.
There was a potential Mission Impossible movie, but this was shelved, officially due to scheduling clashes.
She did not land the lead in Les Miserables, which went to Anne Hathaway, who won an Oscar for it, nor did she get Lisbeth Salander in Millennium.
But she was plenty busy, often starring in lower-budget films that wowed critics and audiences.
These included a stand-out performance as an alien in Jonathan Glazer's remarkable Under the Skin (2013), which was shot in wintery backstreets, abandoned houses, and seedy minivans.
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So far, she has not won an Oscar, but she was nominated for best actor and supporting actor in 2020 for her roles in indie favourites Marriage Story and Jojo Rabbit.
4. That voice
It is unmistakable, and Johansson has capitalised on it, though sometimes with unwanted repercussions.
She brought her deep, distinctive vocals to the voice of Samantha in Spike Jonze's Her (2013), a film about an artificial intelligence system Joaquin Phoenix falls for.
But in May last year, Johansson accused tech firm OpenAI of using her voice in their own generative AI ChatGPT, which responded by modifying its tone.
She has also appeared in hit animations, including The Jungle Book and the two Sing films.
Johansson has also released two albums: Anywhere I Lay My Head in 2008 and Break Up a year later.
They did not rock the music world, but when reviewing the inaugural album, Pitchfork called it a 'curio' while praising Johansson's voice's 'wide textural range.'
5. Against the grain
Never reluctant to speak her mind, Johansson has been outspoken on various social and film-related issues.
She has supported harassment victims, pushed for gender-equal pay, and spotlighted the impact of streaming on theatrical releases.
She is also willing to take more controversial stances, not least in defending Woody Allen - who has cast her in three films - when much of Hollywood has shunned him over a long-running sexual assault scandal.
'I love Woody. I believe him, and I would work with him any time,' she told The Hollywood Reporter in 2019.