Scarlett Johansson: Being ‘Hypersexualized’ and ‘Objectified’ Led Me to Believe My Career Was Over

Zack Sharf
·2 min read
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Scarlett Johansson revealed on a recent episode of Dax Shepard’s “Armchair Expert” podcast that she felt her career would end early on because she was “hypersexualized” by the industry at a young age. The actor said she became so “objectified” and “pigeonholed” as a young actor that she didn’t think it was possible she’d be able to diversify her characters.

“I kind of became objectified and pigeonholed in this way where I felt like I wasn’t getting offers for work for things that I wanted to do,” Johansson said (via Yahoo). “I remember thinking to myself, ‘I think people think I’m 40 years old.’ It somehow stopped being something that was desirable and something that I was fighting against.”

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“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,” Johansson continued. “I felt like [my career] was over. 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?'”

For Johansson, the times have changed and young actors, from Zendaya to Florence Pugh, are no longer so easily forced into being pigeonholed.

“I see younger actors that are in their 20s, it feels like they’re allowed to be all these different things,” Johansson said. “It’s another time, too. We’re not even allowed to really pigeonhole other actors anymore, thankfully, right? People are much more dynamic.”

Johansson hasn’t been seen on the big screen since “Black Widow,” although she did lend her voice to “Sing 2.” Next up for the actor is her first Wes Anderson project, the star-studded “Asteroid City,” followed by Kristin Scott Thomas’ directorial effort “My Mother’s Wedding” opposite Sienna Miller and Emily Beecham.

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