“I realise it was insensitive”: the controversial role Scarlett Johansson pulled out of
The two roles were markedly different in every respect, but Scarlett Johansson discovered twice in quick succession that doubling down on her desire to play controversial roles destined to generate backlash wasn’t the wisest idea.
There was uproar when it was announced she’d be playing the lead role in the live-action adaptation of Ghost in the Shell. The whitewashing accusations were initially played down, but when the film was actually released, they only grew louder after fans of the source material and general observers alike decried the third act revelation that recontextualised her performance, and not for the better.
Rupert Sanders’ cyberpunk blockbuster hit cinemas in March 2017, and the following year, she experienced another wave of negative publicity when she was revealed as the star of the biographical drama Rub & Tug, the story of a transgender man and massage parlour owner named Dante ‘Tex’ Gill.
In response to the initial outcry, Johansson only served to dig herself an even deeper hole when her representatives released a statement instructing the critics “that they can be directed to Jeffrey Tambor, Jared Leto, and Felicity Huffman’s reps for comment” in reference to the aforementioned names being cisgender actors who played transgender parts.
Funnily enough, that didn’t have the desired effect in calming the oncoming storm, and the bad buzz grew so loud that Johansson swiftly issued another statement to Out. In it, she confirmed that she was stepping away from Rub & Tug altogether, realising such bullishness hadn’t won her any supporters.
“In light of recent ethical questions raised surrounding my casting as Dante ‘Tex’ Gill, I have decided to respectfully withdraw my participation in the project,” Johansson’s statement read. “Our cultural understanding of transgender people continues to advance, and I’ve learned a lot from the community since making my first statement about my casting and realised it was insensitive.”
The Academy Award nominee admitted that she “would have loved the opportunity to bring Dante’s story and transition to life,” but she understood completely “why many feel he should be portrayed by a transgender person”. She did eventually, at least, having initially refused to acknowledge why so many people were up in arms about it in the first place.
“I am thankful that this casting debate, albeit controversial, has sparked a larger conversation about diversity and representation in film,” she continued before sharing her belief that “all artists should be considered equally and fairly”. It was the right call for Johansson to own up to her misstep, but without an A-lister in the lead, Rub & Tug was sent back to square one and has yet to emerge from development hell.
It’s a debate that carries on more than half a decade after the Marvel Cinematic Universe veteran first existed the project, though, which she eventually handled with dignity after her early combative approach.
