The actor who apologised for trashing Scarlett Johansson’s “garbage” movie: “I felt bad about that”
You’ve got to be careful what you say when you exist under the public eye, because it can certainly get you in trouble. In Hollywood, especially, you have to think twice before you go about bad-mouthing another actor, especially if they’re way more successful than you.
Success and fulfilment don’t need to be measured by box office statistics, but if we’re looking at the cold, hard facts, most modern actors haven’t achieved half the success that Scarlett Johansson has – and probably never will – because she has appeared in such a large number of blockbuster and Oscar-winning films.
Balancing indie and boundary-pushing features like Under the Skin with an array of Marvel titles, Johansson has kept the cash rolling in since she began acting as a child, becoming one of the highest-paid actors of all time. Yet, her decision to appear in so many spectacle-driven films like The Avengers: Endgame and Black Widow feels a little counterintuitive, because it’s these very movies that are driving out more experimental and indie films and rotting people’s cinematic appetites.
I’d argue it’s fair to criticise these films, like Martin Scorsese, who compared them to theme park attractions. They’re the equivalent of fast food, but even then, I think you’d get more enjoyment out of eating a greasy carton of French fries than you would watching a visual assault of stupid special effects for over two hours straight.
Stephen Dorff, however, felt the need to publicly apologise to Johansson for criticising one of her Marvel pursuits, keen to ensure that he wasn’t merely taking a jealous stab at an “old friend”. The actor has appeared in various indie movies throughout his career (although not exclusively), and he’s not the kind of guy who’s interested in appearing in epic superhero films.
I mean, Dorff literally starred in John Waters’ Cecil B Demented, which includes the line of dialogue, “Death to those who support mainstream cinema!”, the film an attack on the kind of cinema that Marvel embodies.
Talking to The Independent, Dorff had said, “I still hunt out the good shit because I don’t want to be in Black Widow. It looks like garbage to me. It looks like a bad video game. I’m embarrassed for those people. I’m embarrassed for Scarlett! I’m sure she got paid five, seven million bucks, but I’m embarrassed for her. I don’t want to be in those movies. I really don’t. I’ll find that kid director that’s gonna be the next Kubrick, and I’ll act for him instead.”
He makes a good point, but when TMZ caught him for a quick comment, he issued an apology, admitting that The Independent “got me in a moment where I was shit talking a little bit.” He praised Johansson as a “great actress,” saying, “I love Scarlett.”
“She’s an old friend of mine, so I felt bad about that comment,” he added. It’s fair to have an opinion like that on a Marvel film, but I guess when you exist in Hollywood, you really have to be selective about who you choose to shit-talk, and who you shit-talk to. Perhaps save it for a friend, not an international publication.
