CP NEWS: Interview with Scarlett Johansson

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-Naomi Baria



Despite her diminutive physique, humble air and controlled poise, the only room Scarlett Johansson could enter unnoticed would be the coma ward in St. Vincent’s.

Hair tousled in loose curls, skin kissed with a pale shimmer, her strappy plum jumper reveals just enough of femininity to keep you guessing. My eyes follow her apple-red lips as they press against a bottle of Evian and curl into a smile.

At this point, I feel three very distinct urges bubbling inside me. My superego wants to inquire about her dermatologist, my ego simply wants to bask in her very presence, and my id… well, let’s just say the experimental little college girl begins to stir.

But I forget myself. Fighting back all recessive impulses, I remember I’m here to talk to Ms. Johansson about her latest film: Scoop. Her second collaboration with Woody Allen falls right on the heels of last summer’s suspense thriller, Match Point, and stars Scarlett alongside Hugh Jackman and Allen himself. Unlike the first film, Scoop invokes the spirit of the older, comedic Woody Allen movies from the 70s and 80s chockfull of classic hijinx, wild goose chases, and scathingly witty dialogue.

As soon as I peel my attention off Scarlett’s golden hair, radiant skin and generously ample, er, lips, we chat about Scoop:

Clubplanet: Woody Allen has had a series of muses over his career, and when he was interviewed for Match Point, he had nothing but great things to say about you. Do you consider yourself his newest muse?



Scarlett: I think “muse” is just a silly darling word that the media has adopted. If you suggested this to Woody, he would probably immediately dismiss it. Certainly, he and I are friends, and working with him is almost like going to summer camp. We spend a year away from each other then you come right back and hey, here we are again. Everything is as it was the summer the before. I love working with Woody. I would be happy do films with him indefinitely and hope we’ll collaborate again in the future. But it’s definitely a friendly relationship.

How did working with Woody as a director convert into working with him as an actor?

Scarlett: We were working on Match Point and I so enjoyed his company that I told him, “It would’ve been great if we could have acted together. We have such good banter between us.” He said, “Yeah, I’ll come up with something.” And out came Scoop. This film is really our off-screen banter molded into a screenplay and captured on film.

Talk about working with Hugh Jackman. Did you sleep with him beforehand to get the chemistry going?

Scarlett: No, Woody doesn’t do much rehearsal. It’s more like, “Here’s the person you’re going to fall in love with.” And of course when it’s Hugh Jackman, it’s not that hard. He’s a very charismatic, charming and incredibly sweet guy. I don’t have enough nice things to say about Hugh and every woman on the set completely fell in love with him. He’s a real moviestar.

The characters you normally play are older than yourself. Was it fun to play Sondra Pransky, someone closer to your real age?



Scarlett: I never think about the age of the characters that I play; it’s always someone roughly in their 20s. I build a back story for each character, and age is somewhat involved, but I never think about acting more or less mature.

[Sondra] was a great character to fill out and play. She’s what Woody would lovingly call a twit: kind of an idiot, really ambitious, obnoxious and totally out of it at the same time. Yet she remains lovable.

Your character is a budding journalist who sleeps with sources to get stories. You go, girl.

Scarlett: Yeah, Woody finds it very humorous the way people use sex as a means of persuasion. He comes from a time where sexuality is very frivolous; young pretty girls sleeping around are not seen as being scandalous. We live in such a conservative society today, it’s great that Woody makes light out of it. People are having just as much sex as they ever did, but no one wants to talk about it.

In terms of my character, she’s not forcing herself into sleeping with Peter Lyman (Jackman). He’s gorgeous, rich and charming—everything that she isn’t.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, how about the sleazy director at the beginning of the movie?

Scarlett: She was drunk! She was trashed and here comes this popular, successful, and sophisticated guy. There’s a larger chunk of that scene where we see her progressively get drunker, but it was a little too over the top to keep in.



You’ve reached the point in your celebrity where you’ve become prized prey of the tabloid world. Are you taking crazy pills yet?

Scarlett: No, I don’t let any of that affect my private life; very rarely are any of those tabloid stories true. I’m not going to get upset about what someone thinks about me. The only thing that disturbs me is when people follow, stalk or photograph me while I’m going about my personal life. I make some exceptions, but for the most part, I stay under the radar. New York has been a very accommodating city for an actor to live in because everyone here is very respectful. There are a lot of photographers, but I know the subway system pretty well.

Really? What train do you usually take? I mean, what else do you have coming up down the pike?

Scarlett: Black Dahlia, is coming out in September, The Prestige in October, and I just wrapped The Nanny Diaries a moment ago. But I think I’m going to take a little vacation before I start promoting these films.

What would be your fantasy movie to work on?

Scarlett: I don’t know. I never really have preconceived ideas of projects that don’t exist. But I think it would be great to do something psychologically scary like Rosemary’s Baby. Because that's what scares me.

Scoop hits theaters Friday, July 28th.

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