Scarlett Johansson: losing Gravity role to Sandra Bullock made me feel hopeless
Scarlett Johansson has spoken about her feelings of inadequacy following a run of rejections for major roles. In an in-depth interview with Variety, the actor said she considered quitting the industry around 2011, after two coveted roles instead went to Emily Blunt and Sandra Bullock.
“The first was Iron Man 2 and then the other one was Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity,” she said. “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?’
“The work I was being offered felt deeply unfulfilling. I think I was offered every Marilyn Monroe script ever. I was like, ‘Is this the end of the road creatively?’”
Johansson’s fortunes were transformed when Blunt was forced to drop out of the Marvel movie and she was re-offered the role. Then followed critically acclaimed turns on Broadway in A View from the Bridge, as well as in Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin and Spike Jonze’s Her (in which she replaced Samantha Morton).
Johansson’s candour in revealing roles she didn’t play follows similar moves by the likes of Nicholas Hoult, who told the Guardian about losing The Batman to Robert Pattinson and failing to score a role in the Top Gun sequel.
Meanwhile, Rachel McAdams recently spoke out about turning down roles in Iron Man, Casino Royale and The Devil Wears Prada, while Al Pacino claimed he was the first choice for Harrison Ford’s part in Star Wars.
Johansson also discussed taking on Disney when she sued them during the pandemic for failing to release Black Widow theatrically. “I was sad and disappointed,” she said of Disney’s reaction, which called her “callous”, before finally settling for a rumoured $40m two months later.