Getting under our skin: Seven of ScarJo’s best works
Kiwi audiences will finally get a chance to see what Scarlett Johansson was really up to while in Wellington early last year when Ghost in the Shell opens this week.
Now one of the most bankable actresses in Hollywood, Ghost looks set to continue her reign as the current queen of blockbuster sci-fi action. To celebrate the film’s release, we looks back at seven of the 32-year-old actresses best performances so far.
The Horse Whisperer (1998)
While surrounded by an all-star cast, including Kristin Scott Thomas, Chris Cooper and our own Sam Neill, Johansson stood out as traumatised teenager Grace MacLean in Robert Redford’s adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ much-loved novel. A big step up from the previous year’s Home Alone 3, she received plenty of praise for her performance as the injured young rider.
Ghost World (2001)
Considered by some to be a cult classic, Terry Zwigoff’s black comedy, based on Daniel Clowes’ comic book of the same name delivered Johansson her ‘‘breakout’’ role.
She plays Rebecca, one of two ‘‘social outcast’’ teens who encounter a lonely, middle-aged man and strike up a seemingly unlikely friendship with him.
Lost in Translation (2003)
Bill Murray might have won all the plaudits for Sofia Coppola’s Tokyo-set romantic-dramedy, but it was Johansson who successfully grounded the film.
Her young college graduate Charlotte finds solace from her own relationship strains and disillusionment with life in hanging out with Murray’s oddball, ageing movie actor. A film famous for the final scene where Murray’s Bob whispers something inaudible in Charlotte’s ear.
Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003)
Based on the novel of the same name by Tracy Chevalier, Johansson is just about unrecognisable as the almost albino Griet, a servant in the household of the Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer.
Repressing all her natural ‘‘zippy’’ tendencies, as British director Peter Webber called them, she was a revelation in what, at times, seemed like a near wordless role.
Match Point (2005)
Woody Allen not only found a new home (London), but also a new muse (and mojo) with this excellent psychological thriller.
Johansson is Nola, a struggling actress whose life gets more complicated when she embarks on an affair with a former tennis professional who is already in a relationship with the daughter of a wealthy English family. Allen enjoyed working with her so much she was again the female lead in his next film – Scoop.
Her (2013)
Johansson uses her honeyed tones to full effect as the voice of a new artificially intelligent operating system in Spike Jonze’s delightful, yet poignant sci-fi romantic drama. Forget S1mOne, ARIIA, Lisa and Vikki, her Sam is the real stuff of electric dreams. Johansson’s disembodied voice will have you re-programming Siri, your Sat Nav and your mobile’s speaking clock.
Under the Skin (2013)
In Jonathan Glazer’s atmospheric and chilling sci-fi thriller, Johansson sports a black barnet to play a mysterious woman trawling the streets and isolated scenic sights of Scotland looking for male specimens of the Celtic race.
What could have been simply an art house version of Species or The Terminator is elevated by liquid and luscious visuals, a slowly unfolding mystery and the hypnotic power of both Mica Levi’s score and Johansson herself.