Scarlett Johansson Reveals Being 'Hypersexualized', Opens up on Feeling Her Career Was Over
Actress Scarlett Johansson opened up on dealing with these struggles as a woman in Hollywood.
As one of Hollywood's biggest names today, Scarlett Johansson started her acting career at the early age of nine in her film debut, "North", in 1994. She, later on, transitioned to adult roles in 2003 with the films "Lost in Translation" and the drama "Girl with a Pearl Earring". Johansson rose to international acclaim during her debut in the Marvel cinematic universe as Black Widow in "Iron Man 2".
However, in a recent interview on the "Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard" podcast, the 37-year-old actress opened up about her acting journey and reveals that her road to success came at the expense of being "hypersexualized" at an early age.
"Because I think everybody thought I was older and that I'd been [acting] for a long time, I got kind of pigeonholed into this weird hypersexualized thing. I felt like [my career] was over," she said. "It was like: that's the kind of career you have, these are the roles you've played. And I was like, 'this is it?'"
Scarlett Johansson has portrayed mostly similar roles during her early career: a sensual, objectified love interest in films like " Lost in Translation" and "Match Point.
A More Progressive Industry for Women
Despite the struggles and stigma that she dealt with during her early career, she shared her gratitude as today's views have become significantly more progressive than before.
"It's kind of changed," Johansson expressed. "We live in a patriarchy and I feel like there's a fundamental reality of the woman's condition that will always, even if those 600 men are not actively aggressive necessarily as much as they would have been a minute ago, it's still fundamentally there. It's so baked into our culture and society. It's hard for me to imagine that ever being not an element."
The actress has since starred in a variety of new genres and explored new roles, including recurring roles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Black Widow, even starring in her own superhero film, "Black Widow" in 2021. Her upcoming projects include producing and starring in the film, "Bride".
