Yahoo News Scarlett Johansson Nearly Quit Acting After Losing 'Gravity' Role to Sandra Bullock: 'I Felt Really Frustrated'
"It was sort of the straw that broke the camel’s back," the award-winning actress said
Daniele Venturelli/WireImage
Scarlett JohanssonIn an alternate universe, Scarlett Johansson’s last acting role would’ve been 2009’s He’s Just Not That Into You.
The Black Widow star, 38, opened up about the difficulties of rejection in Hollywood, and how it almost led her to pursue another career path.
“I got turned down for two roles — the first was Iron Man 2 and then the other one was Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity,” she told Variety last month.
She continued: “I had wanted that role so much. It was sort of the straw that broke the camel’s back. I felt really frustrated and hopeless. Like, ‘Am I doing the right job?’ "
While Johansson didn't land the role in Gravity, she praised Sandra Bullock, 58, for her performance.
"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."
The mom of two said she was typecast as a bombshell following her role in Sofia Coppola’s 2003 film, Lost in Translation. The stereotype stunted her growth as an actress.
"The work I was being offered [after] felt deeply unfulfilling,” she explained. “I think I was offered every Marilyn Monroe script ever. I was like, ‘Is this the end of the road creatively?’ ”
As luck would have it, Emily Blunt, who was originally cast as crime-fighter Natasha Romanoff in Iron Man 2, was forced to drop out due to a conflicting schedule with another film – and the role went to Johansson.
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“The best call you can receive is after you are rejected for something and then you get it,” she told Parade of landing the part. “You appreciate it more. I’ve basically made a career out of being second choice.”
Over the next decade, Johansson starred in eight additional Marvel films. 2021’s Black Widow was her final film in the Avengers universe.
“I absolutely loved every filming experience I had, working 10 years with Marvel and with that amazing cast, and I love the character Natasha,” she said of the "bittersweet" ending. "I have a lot of empathy for her, and it was amazing to build that character over such a long period of time.”
Related: Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost Cozy Up on 'Asteroid City' Red Carpet at Cannes: Photos
Now, the Tony Award winner is spreading her wings in the upcoming Wes Anderson-directed offbeat comedy Asteroid City. The film earned a six-minute standing ovation at the Cannes film festival last month.
Anderson, 54, wrote the role of Midge Campbell, whom Johansson describes as a “sociopath,” specifically for her.
“I was curious: Who is this person? How did she get here, to be so successful at that time? She’s this star of stage and screen — what drove her there?” she said of analyzing her character to fit Anderson’s meticulous approach. “I like the sort of constraints of Wes [Anderson’s] precision. I think in some ways, it’s more liberating.”
Asteroid City hits theaters on June 23.
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