
Quick FactsBirth name: Scarlett Ingrid Johansson |
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Biography
Scarlett Ingrid Johansson was born on November 22, 1984 in New York City, New York to her parents Melanie Sloan and Karsten Olaf Johansson. Her mother was a producer and is from an Ashkenazi Jewish family from the Bronx, originally from Poland and Russia; and her father is an architect originally from Copenhagen, Denmark, who is also Swedish. Scarlett has four siblings, Christian, Vanessa, Adrian, and her twin brother Hunter. She enrolled at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute, and began auditioning for commercials, but soon lost interest, then she shifted her focus to film and theater instead of commercials. She began her acting career appearing on an off-Broadway production of Sophistry with Ethan Hawke when she was eight years old. While seeking out more roles, Scarlett decided to study at Manhattan’s Professional Children’s School, a private educational institution, where alumni includes Carrie Fisher and Sarah Michelle Gellar. She pursued musical theater while at PCS, which was one of her passions, stating she was “one of those jazz-hands kids.” Scarlett graduated from PCS in 2002 and applied to NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, but was rejected; so she decided to focus on her career.
Scarlett made her film debut as Laura Nelson as John Ritter’s daughter in the 1994 comedic drama North, starring Elijah Wood. The next year, she played Katie Armstrong in the film Just Cause, followed by an appearance in the pilot episode of “The Client” as Jenna Halliwell. She landed her first leading role for the 1996 film Manny & Lo, also starring Aleska Palladino and Mary Kay Place, playing Amanda. She earned an Independent Spirit Award nomination for her role in the film. The same year, she played Emily in the film If Lucy Fell. In 1997, Scarlett played Little Girl in the romantic drama Fall, followed by Home Alone 3, where she played Molly Pruitt, Alex’s older sister. She would next be a part of the Robert Redford film The Horse Whisperer, as Grace MacLean in 1998. Robert Redford described her maturity as “13 going on 30” while on set. Scarlett was nominated for Most Promising Actress from the Chicago Film Critics Association. In 1999, she played the role of Kathy Caldwell in My Brother and the Pig. Scarlett played Birdy Abundas in the film The Man Who Wasn’t There to start off 2001. Next came her breakthrough performance as Rebecca in Ghost World, alongside Thora Birch and Steve Buscemi. She was credited with “sensitivity and talent that belie her age” and won Best Supporting Actress at the Toronto Film Critics Association Awards for her performance. Her last film of 2001 came playing 15-tear-old Suzanne in the drama An American Rhapsody.
She acted alongside David Arquette in the film Eight Legged Freaks as Ashley Parker in 2002 before the critically acclaimed comedic drama Lost in Translation, where she played Charlotte opposite Bill Murray. The film earned over $119 million at the box office worldwide against a $4 million budget. The same year, Scarlett portrayed Griet in Girl with a Pearl Earring, a romantic drama based on the novel by Tracy Chevalier. She was nominated for a Golden Globe and BAFTA foe Best Actress for both roles, winning the BAFTA for Lost in Translation. Variety expressed their opinion, stating her “established her as among the most versatile actresses of her generation.” In 2004, she portrayed Francesca in The Perfect Score, alongside Chris Evans and Erika Christensen. A Love Song for Bobby Long and A Good Woman would next be released, where she played Pursy Will and Meg Windermere; before voicing Princess Mindy in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie and its video game of the same name. Scarlett’s next film, also in 2004, would be the romantic comedy In Good Company, also starring Dennis Quaid and Topher Grace, as Alex. Roger Ebert was impressed with her portrayal, writing that she “continues to employ the gravitational pull of quiet fascination.” 2005 began with the Woody Allen film Match Point, where she played the role of Nola Rice, an aspiring actress who begins an affair with a married man. The San Francisco Chronicle commented that Scarlett’s performance “is a powerhouse from the word go.” The film was a box office success, racking in $85 million worldwide and earned her Best Supporting Actress nominations for the Golden Globes and the Chicago Film Critics Association Awards. Later that year, she portrayed Jordan Two Data / Sara Jordan in the sci-fi thriller The Island, a Michael Bay film about a man living in a futuristic sterilized colony begins to question his existence. The film grossed almost $163 million at the box office worldwide. Scarlett also began to lend her voice to various characters for the television series
In 2006, she acted opposite Hugh Jackman in the fantasy film Scoop, playing the role of Sondra Pransky; followed by the sci-fi mystery The Prestige, co-starring Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman. Both films received box office success, bringing in $39 million worldwide against a $4 million budget, and $109 million worldwide against an estimated $40 million budget, respectively. Scarlett portrayed Kay Lake in The Black Dahlia, based on the Black Dahlia murder investigation. She would appear in Bob Dylan’s music video for “When the Deal Goes Down,” Justin Timberlake’s “What Goes Around… Comes Around,” as well as Will.i.am’s “Yes We Can.” Scarlett would play the lead in the 2007 romantic comedy The Nanny Diaries, based on the novel by Emma McLaughlin as Annie Braddock, co-starring Chris Evans and Laura Linney. The next year, she would portray Mary Bolelyn in The Other Bolelyn Girl, also starring Natalie Portman and Eric Bana. Variety credited the cast as “almost flawless … at the top of its game,” and citing “Johansson’s quieter Mary … as the film’s emotional center.” Vicky Cristina Barcelona would come next, playing Cristina; then playing Silken Floss in The Spirit. She released her debut album Anywhere I Lay in My Head, which consisted of ten cover songs and one original song; the album peaked at #126 on the Billboard 200. In 2009, Scarlett played Anna in the romantic comedy He’s Just Not That Into You, starring Ginnifer Goodwin, Jennifer Anniston, and Jennifer Connelly. She released a collaborative album with Pete Yorn titled Break Up, which reached #41 in the United States. Natasha Rominoff, aka Black Widow, was introduced in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2010’s Iron Man 2, which grossed almost $624 million worldwide at the box office. She returned to Broadway in a revival of Arthur Miller’s drama A View from the Bridge, also starring Liev Schreiber, in which she won a Tony Award the year for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play. Scarlett would star opposite Matt Damon in the family film We Bought A Zoo as Kelly Foster in 2011, before reprising her role as Natasha Rominoff in 2012’s The Avengers film. Later that year, she would act alongside Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren in the biographical drama Hitchcock, a film following the relationship between Alfred Hitchcock and his wife Alma Reville, where she played Janet Leigh. Roger Ebert wrote that she “did not look much like Leigh, but conveyed her spunk, intelligence, and sense of humor.”
In January of 2013, Scarlett starred in the Broadway revival of Car on a Hot Tin Roof, directed by Rob Ashford, playing Maggie. The romantic comedy Don Jon premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, where she portrayed Barbara, a character written specifically for her by her co-star Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Later that year, she played The Female in Under the Skin before voicing Samantha in Her. Though intimidated by the role of Samantha, Scarlett won Best Supporting Actress at the Saturn Awards, as well as winning Best Actress at the Rome International Film Festival. In 2014, she voiced the role of Olivia in an episode of “HitREDord on TV” for the segment “Two Player Game” before playing Molly in the film Chef. Next came Marvel’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which is arguably one of the MCU’s top 3 films, grossing over $714 million worldwide. Scarlett narrated a short film named Deep Down before playing the title character in the sci-fi thriller Lucy. Scarlett gave brith to her daughter, Rose Dorothy Dauriac, on August 30, 2014, with Romain Dauriac. In 2015, she voiced the role of Pink Lady in the television mini-series “Assassin Banana” in episodes 2 and 3 before her next Marvel film, Avengers: Age of Ultron. Scarlett began 2016 alongside George Clooney in the film Hail, Caesar! as DeeAnna Moran, then voicing Kaa in the live-action remake of Disney’s The Jungle Book. She returned for Captain America: Civil War in the MCU, then voiced Ash in the popular animated film Sing. Scarlett also narrated an audiobook for Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. In 2017, she played the role of Major in the crime drama Ghost in the Shell, then Jess in the comedy Rough Night alongside Kate McKinnon and Zoe Kravitz.
2018 started with voicing Nutmeg in the animated film Isle of Dogs, a film about a boy’s odyssey in search of his lost dog. Scarlett collaborated with Pete Yorn and released a video, which she was also in, for the song “Bad Dreams,” before Avengers: Infinity War was released, the film grossed over $2 billion at the box office worldwide. A standalone Black Widow film was officially announced and slowly took form throughout the year, including finding its director in Cate Shortland. Scarlett began 2019 with appearing in the mid-credit scene of Captain Marvel a month before Avengers: Endgame was released. Both films grossed over $2 billion at the box office worldwide, and Endgame took the #1 spot as the highest-grossing film of all time. Later, she would portray the role of Nicole Barber in the film Marriage Story, opposite Adam Driver. Not long after, Scarlett played Jojo’s mother, Rosie, in Taika Waititi’s film Jojo Rabbit. She ended up receiving nominations for both roles during the 2020 awards season, including Oscar nominations. In late October of 2020, she married “Saturday Night Live” head writer and Weekend Update host Colin Jost.
Scarlett’s standalone Marvel film Black Widow was released on July 9, 2021 on both Disney+ and in theaters after being pushed back multiple times due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film broke pandemic box office records, previously held by F9, and grossed over $379 million worldwide. Scarlett also became the first Marvel Studios star to executive produce their own film. By the end of the month, she filed a lawsuit with Disney for breaching her contract over the dual release, as Black Widow became the most pirated film during the pandemic era. The lawsuit was settled in the fall and since, Disney has scrapped the idea of a dual release for its films, which has help the next three MCU releases thrive in theaters. The film took home awards for Outstanding Feature Film at the Women’s Image Network Awards and People’s Choice Awards for Movie of 2021, along with earning Scarlett the Female Movie Star of 2021 award as well. In the fall, it was announced that Scarlett and husband Colin have brought their first child, Cosmo Jost, into the world. November 19th marked Scarlett’s first public outing since Cosmo’s birth in attending the American Cinematheque Awards which honored Scarlett for her contributions to cinema. In December, Sing 2 was released in theaters, where she reprised her role as Ash. The film has grossed over $215 million worldwide at the box office and is also bringing in revenue after being released on VOD on January 7, 2022.
Scarlett’s upcoming projects include Asteroid City, a Wes Anderson film which also stars Tom Hanks, Margot Robbie, and Bill Murray. The film is currently in post-production and is expected to be released sometime in 2022. She has also signed on to the Apple TV drama Bride, which is in pre-production. The film follows a woman created to be an ideal wife but when she rejects her creator, she’s forced to flee her confined existence, confronting a world that sees her as a monster. Scarlett is also attached to star and produce in a remake of The Tower of Terror, based on the theme park ride, as well as rumored to play Audrey in a remake of the musical Little Shop of Horrors. She is also launching her own skin care line in early 2022.
Scarlett has been incredibly philanthropic throughout her career, supporting organizations including Aid Still Required, Cancer Research UK, Stand Up to Cancer, Too Many Women, and USA Harvest. Scarlett became a global ambassador for Oxfam in 2005 and auctioned off a trip to the world premiere of He’s Just Not That Into You on eBay in 2008. She was a part in the anti-poverty campaign ONE, and in 2018 collaborated with 300 women in Hollywood to set up the Time’s Up initiative to protect women from harassment and discrimination and took part in Los Angeles’ Women’s March. at the beginning of the year as well.