ENTERTAINMENT

THE STAR REVEALS HER LATEST FIERCE ROLE

Scarlett Johansson was the world’s highest paid actress in 2018 and she’s known to play powerful female characters, but it wasn’t until this year that she portrayed a different type of woman, a mother.

Being a real-life parent to five-year-old Rose helped, the 34-year-old says, when it came to playing the fiercely defiant mum Rosie in Jojo Rabbit.

“It was just invaluable. I had empathy for Rosie that I may not have had insight on otherwise. She was just a joy to play.”

The new movie from beloved Kiwi director Taika Waititi (44) tells the tale of a lonely German boy who discovers his mother (Scarlett) is hiding a Jewish girl in their home during World

War II. The only person he can confide in is his imaginary friend Adolf Hitler. After reading the script, Scarlett was immediately intrigued by her character.

“What I love about Rosie is that she’s unabashedly imaginative, poetic and romantic. At the same time, she’s this very grounding force for Jojo. She’s fighting for the Resistance and is really a very modern woman,” Scarlett tells. “She’s such a bright light in this dark time. It’s very rare for me to read something and say, ‘I have to do this’, but I really felt that way when I read this script.”

While the star already knew Taika from their Marvel movies, getting the chance to work closely with him was a highlight.

Says Scarlett, “Taika’s writing can somehow be sad, poignant and charming all at once. His writing is so colourful, but also complicated. That’s the gift that Taika gives to the actors.”