Scarlett Johansson says her comments on 'authentic casting' were taken out of context

Scarlett Johansson has hit back at criticism over her comments on "authentic casting", insisting they were “taken out of context.”

The actress was slammed for telling As If magazine “art should be free of restrictions” meaning she should be able to play “any person, or any tree, or any animal.”

Critics responded to her remarks by pointing to her "privileged" position as a “cisgender white woman” with “no shortage of work opportunities”.

They insisted transgender actors should play transgender characters, for example, and Hollywood should end its persistent “whitewashing”.

Johansson, 34, responded to the social media backlash saying her comments had been edited by a number of publications for "click bait."

In a statement released on Saturday she said: “An interview that was recently published has been edited for click bait and is widely taken out of context.”

“The question I was answering in my conversation with the contemporary artist, David Salle, was about the confrontation between political correctness and art.

"I personally feel that, in an ideal world, any actor should be able to play anybody and art, in all forms, should be immune to political correctness. That is the point I was making, albeit didn’t come across that way.

"I recognize that in reality, there is a wide spread discrepancy amongst my industry that favors Caucasian, cisgender actors and that not every actor has been given the same opportunities that I have been privileged to."

The actress came under fire in 2017 for playing an Asian character in Ghost in the Shell and canceled plans last year to portray a transgender man in the upcoming film Rub & Tug, after transgender actors and advocates questioned the casting.

The debate around diversity in Hollywood has attracted high-profile advocates on both sides.

Two-time Oscar winner Cate Blanchett said she would "fight to the death" to defend an actor's right to take any role while Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston defended his casting as a disabled character in The Upside.

On the opposite side of the argument, British actress Jameela Jamil revealed she turned down a film in which she would have played a deaf woman, arguing the role should go to an actor who is hearing impaired.

And Darren Criss, star of American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace, vowed not to take any more roles as LGBT characters.