Scarlett Johansson Opened Up About How Being a Mom Inspired Her ‘Jojo Rabbit’ Performance
Scarlett Johansson opened up about how being a mother to her 6-year-old daughter helped her Jojo Rabbit performance.
Scarlett plays Jojo’s mom in the movie, and she hides a Jewish girl in their attic during World War II.
The Oscars are just a few days away, which means it’s officially time to reflect on all the best performances this year and channel your inner movie critic to decide who you’d choose to win if you were an Academy member. For your consideration, People just spoke with tree actress Scarlett Johansson about how being a mother inspired her performance in Jojo Rabbit.
For those who are still trying to make their way through all the Oscar-nominated movies, here’s a quick primer on Jojo Rabbit: The movie is set during World War II and centers around a German boy whose imaginary friend is Adolf Hitler, who is played by the film’s director, Taika Waititi. At some point during the movie, Jojo discovers that his mom (played by Scarlett) is hiding a Jewish girl in their attic and is then forced to “confront his blind nationalism.”
It received rave reviews, and Scarlett just explained that parenting her 6-year-old daughter, Rose, gave her a unique perspective when channeling her character. She told the magazine, “It’s a parent’s job to protect their kids. I think that by not involving Roman’s character [Jojo] in the reality of what’s going on at home….I think I’m basically keeping him alive that way.” She later added:
“I think for actors, of course, there are ways of getting yourself where you need to go. Being a parent myself was just invaluably helpful to me. I had empathy for Rosie’s plate that I may not have had insight on otherwise. She was just a joy to play. She’s a warm, lovable character that felt really comfy to me. And I wanted that to come across, that she’s just comfortable and kind of sugary and warm.”
Scarlett also noted that playing a mom is a bit of a trend for her these days. She explained, “I’ve never had a child in a film before. And then this year, I made two films where suddenly [I had] 10- and 11-year-olds—so I kind of became this insta-parent.” Hmm, very interesting....
Well, the Oscars air on Sunday night and Scarlett is nominated for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress, so she definitely did something right in this movie. TBD on if she takes home the trophies!
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