Scarlett Johansson’s favourite movie was booed by audiences: “One of the worst screenings”
Famous for her long-standing catsuited turn in the MCU as Black Widow, Scarlett Johansson is an actor all too often boiled down for her looks instead of her abilities. Since her breakout role in quirky indie classic Ghost World in 2001, Johansson has packed her filmography with a wide variety of films, from high-concept sci-fi to lowkey domestic dramas to dark thrillers. Yet the public perception of her remains fixated on her ‘sex symbol’ status.
This is something the actor has been acutely aware of since she was a teenager. In 2022, she revealed in a podcast interview that she felt she was being “groomed as a ‘bombshell-type actor” while making Lost In Translation at the age of 17. Her appearance even lost her the lead role in the English-language remake of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, with director David Fincher stating that he thought she was “too sexy” to play Lisbeth Salander.
In this context, it’s understandable why she found the experience of making Jonathan Glazer’s strange, stripped-back sci-fi film Under The Skin, released in 2013, so refreshing.
Glazer’s movie, which revolves around an alien masquerading as a woman abducting men in Scotland, cleverly uses the actor’s allure as a honey pot trap. Her victims willingly go with her, lured in by both her attractiveness and perceived vulnerability, which is believable to an audience also primed to perceive her that way. Glazer emphasised this realism by casting mostly non-actors in supporting roles, using minimal special effects and filming with hidden cameras.
Johansson’s star power helped the director secure funding for the film. Placing someone with her looks in such a banal setting, which he compared to seeing “an exotic insect on the wrong continent”, aided in the character’s mysterious, otherworldly nature. Unlike Fincher, Glazer cast Johansson because of how she looked, not in spite of it.
That’s not to say Johansson didn’t bring other qualities to the challenging part. Intrigued by its premise, she remained attached to Under The Skin for four years as it underwent script changes before finally going into production. To prepare, she learned how to drive a van and speak with a British accent. Her enthusiasm for the film continued after its release, too. Speaking to The Guardian, she commented on the difference in how the media were treating her during its promotion compared to press circuits for other more commercial projects.
“[The film] brings up so many questions,” she said. “One of the journalists that I was talking to today, we ended up talking about the relativity of time. Whereas, normally, it’s like ‘So, what do you find sexy in a guy?’ Or, ‘If you had a superpower, what would it be?’”
Unfortunately, audience members at a Venice Film Festival screening weren’t totally won over by it. Glazer revealed that the mixed reception of cheers and boos took a toll on Johansson, who wasn’t used to watching her films with a live crowd. “It was one of the worst screenings I’ve attended. It was the only time the audience booed a film. Scarlett was almost in tears. I tried to say to her: ‘Don’t worry, in time the film will be recognised.’ And that’s exactly what happened. It’s now a cult movie.”
The Zone Of Interest director is correct if the myriad interpretations of the film’s themes are any indication. Think pieces since its release hail the film as everything from a feminist reversal of rape culture to a bleak representation of the immigrant experience. While Under The Skin barely moves the dial compared to the lucrativeness of Johansson’s superhero output, it may beat Marvel for longevity if its divisiveness continues to fire up fans and naysayers alike.
