Scarlett Johansson recounted the film roles she lost out on and how it affected the way she viewed her career trajectory in Hollywood.
During a recent interview with Variety, Scarlett opened up about the uncertainties that come with being an actor and the movies she was rejected from that almost made her choose another career path.
After starring in Sofia Coppola's 2003 hit Lost in Translation, Scarlett was propelled into the spotlight as a Hollywood It girl. Unfortunately, Scarlett soon became typecast and was continuously offered roles as the "bombshell."
"It was hard to get out of that pigeonhole,” Scarlett told Variety. “And I did films like He’s Just Not That Into You and movies that kind of continued that narrative. I couldn’t make any headway.”
"I got turned down for two roles — the first was Iron Man 2 and then the other one was Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity,” she continued. “I had wanted that role so much."
"I did a screen test for the movie Gravity, that Sandra Bullock is fantastic in, but I had to be in like the full whole space suit thing, and sort of pretend I was kind of like floating in space," she recalled. "Even though I was just sitting in a chair with a helmet on."
But when she didn't get them, Scarlett admitted it was "the straw that broke the camel's back." She then began contemplating if she was in the right business.
"I felt really frustrated and hopeless. Like, ‘Am I doing the right job?’ The work I was being offered felt deeply unfulfilling. I think I was offered every Marilyn Monroe script ever. I was like, ‘Is this the end of the road creatively?’”
But as luck would have it, Emily Blunt, who was originally cast as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow in Iron Man 2, was forced to drop out of the project due to a scheduling issue. Scarlett was back in! And although her appearance in the film was limited, she still believed it would help move her career in the right direction.
“That movie wasn’t going to move the needle forward in terms of how my character was written, but there was potential for what it could be — a potential for growth in subsequent films.”
After filming, she went on to star in the Tony Award–winning play A View from the Bridge, which she credits as giving her a "growth spurt" — both creatively and artistically.
She soon began to attach herself to more projects that aligned with her vision, like Her and Under Her Skin.
“Suddenly it was like, ‘I still love this job,’" Scarlett said. "And it reignited my passion for the work. I felt less anxious.”
Scarlett would go on to star in eight additional Marvel movies, and more roles that challenged her creatively, like her Oscar-nominated films Marriage Story and Jojo Rabbit. Now, she's preparing for her next big project: Wes Anderson's Asteroid City.
To learn more about Scarlett and her career trajectory, read her full Variety interview.
And be sure to check her out in Asteroid City when it hits theaters June 16.