Famous Faces
Scarlett fever
She may be just 20 but actress Scarlett Johansson is fast becoming Hollywood’s hottest property. Here, she talks to Darryl Smith about glamour, gossip and Ewan McGregor.
NO ACTRESS
can have made a bigger impact in such a short space of time as Scarlett Johansson — or so it would seem.
The naturally beautiful blonde first made us sit up and take notice in January last year with the simultaneous release of Lost In Translation and
Girl With The Pearl Earring. A month later she was the belle of the ball at the BAFTA awards, with two nominations in the same category (she won Best Actress for Lost In Translation).
Similar accolades came her way from the Golden Globes but the Oscars, perhaps in an attempt to stay aloof to the hype, turned a blind eye. She turned up to the ceremony all the same — and still stole the show. As she sashayed her way down the red carpet, the bulbs flashed wildly and it was her face that adorned the next morning’s papers.
The world couldn’t get enough of the new acting sensation and the dissecting of the talent began. Her voice was compared to Lauren
Bacall, her looks to Marilyn Monroe — not a bad combination.
But what was most impressive was that Scarlett took the whole thing in her stride like a seasoned veteran. That didn’t surprise anyone who has worked with her though. Far from being the overnight success portrayed, Scarlett has been part of the business since auditioning for TV commercials aged six. She won her first acting award when she was 12 and Robert Redford, who directed her for his film
The Horse Whisperer famously described her as “13 going on 30”.
So no wild parties, diva like tantrums or stories of youthful excess have appeared in the gossip columns about this particular Hollywood starlet. If anything, Scarlett has used her success to throw herself into the work opportunities that have presented themselves.
Regular cinemagoers have had the chance to see her in four different movies in the first seven months of this year alone and a fifth, futuristic thriller
The Island, is released next week.
This workaholic reaction hasn’t pleased everyone though — particularly her mum.
“My mum would like me to take a vacation, probably a vacation with her,” Scarlett smiles. “She complains that she never gets to see me anymore but she knows what I want, she knows I am happy, she’s good in that way. Even though she might advise me to not take something and hang out at home, in her motherly way, she gets it. She knows I am really enjoying it. That goes for all of my siblings, she cares that we are doing stuff that we really care about.”
Born in New York of Polish/Danish descent, Scarlett had to grow up fast as her parents split up when she was 13. She speaks to her dad, an architect, regularly and her mum is now her manager. She has a twin brother and an older sister and brother. She is close to all her family despite some professional jealousies manifesting themselves at an early age.
“Somebody had suggested to my mum that we were the very cute Johansson family and we should go to this commercial agency. So we all went, but the only person they wanted was my older brother — I was devastated.
“But my parents never pushed me in that way. My childhood was filled with things that I loved to do. I lived in New York, had a normal family life and went to a regular school. I always had the chance to do whatever I wanted.
“Acting has been a passion of mine. I wanted to be in musicals as a kid and took tap dance so what I’m doing now is a dream come true.”
That dream continues with The Island, her first major blockbuster movie, also starring our own Ewan McGregor.
The pair are residents of a mid-21st century, contained facility. The world outside is polluted and uninhabitable and everyone is hoping to be chosen for a new life on ‘The Island’, reportedly the last uncontaminated spot on the planet.
But all is not as it seems as the exotic utopia is in fact a screen for something more sinister. McGregor and Johansson make a daring escape to the outside world they’ve never known.
Running around for her first action movie left Scarlett looking wistfully back at those pictures of herself on the red carpet just over 12 months ago.
“It was certainly more physically demanding than Girl With The Pearl
Earring,” she jokes, “and it wasn’t very flattering or glamorous either. Ewan and I were sweaty and smelly the whole time, trawling through greasy, oily water. It was a little bit different to the prep for an award show!
“But working with Ewan was so much fun. It’s very rare that you work for the whole day and then you actually want to hang out with somebody off-set. He’s such a sweetheart — he has a wonderful family and he’s such a regular guy. We laughed a lot and I’d love to work with him again. We make a good team.
“It was nice to get the chance to do an action film, though and I was pleased that the studio could see me like that. I’ve had 12 years of different kinds of films, but I’ve never done an action film. It’s nice to know they think I can go the distance.”
Scarlett has since pulled out of another action film, the third instalment to Tom Cruise’s
Mission Impossible franchise, allegedly citing the actor’s wish for her to take up Scientology as the reason.
The decision showed her maturity but also gave her an insight into some of the pitfalls of her profession and new-found fame. Living the dream can be a nightmare.
“It’s hard to step outside the circle once you’re in it,” she explains. “I don’t know if you ever get accustomed to it. It’s a wonderful opportunity on one hand but then there’s a strange part about what being a celebrity means, and giving up part of your private life.
“People speculate, and make up things. They build you up then bring you down, which is disconcerting. I read lots of things about myself that aren’t true. I’ve read that I’ve been with people I’ve never met. I don’t mention names now. Things can be taken the wrong way or out of context.
“I’m a very private person. Living in New York helps because nobody is really interested in anybody else there. You’d be amazed how many times Michael Stipe [lead singer of REM] passes me on my block — about 15 times a week! People have this idea of celebrity that it’s a huge deal. But I’m not trying to be a celebrity, I’m just trying to make good movies. The media side of it is what gets you lopsided, if you start believing ‘I am the most incredible thing of the last 10 years’.
“I try to be clever about my choices. It’s so shocking to hear Calvin Klein want you for their new campaign. I thought, ‘Who, me? OK, I hope they have a good make-up artist!’ I have to decide where to draw the line between ‘this is fun, pretty and fabulous’, and being over-exposed.”
Scarlett has spent the last few months in London filming a new, as yet untitled, comedy with Woody Allen. It’s the second summer she’s spent in the capital and the second time she’s worked here on a Woody Allen film. The first was for
Match Point, released later this year. In it she plays a femme fatale, to Jonathan Rhys Myers’ tennis pro, and works alongside a host of British talent including James Nesbitt and Brian Cox.
“Working with Woody has been fantastic,” says Scarlett of an artist whom others have not been so quick to work with again. “He would probably want me to say he was a beast or a monster. That’s what he said, ‘When you do your press interviews make sure they know how horrible I am.’
“But I just adored working with him. He was always trying to dig into my personal life and know every aspect of my romantic life, trying to live vicariously. He was very funny and I’d work with him a million times over.
“There are only a couple of celebrities I’ve been intimidated by,” she giggles. “One was Bill Clinton and the other was Patrick
Swayze. I actually ran up to Patrick at a party, and said, ‘Hi, it’s so nice to meet you. I just want you to know I’ve really liked
Dirty Dancing since I was a little girl.’ He replied, ‘That was a long time ago.’ And I shrunk into a corner, cried and went home.”
That rejection apart, Scarlett is still having the time of her life.
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