Why I Adore: Scarlett Johansson

In this chapter of ‘the filmmaker’s guide’ we’re going to look at people that I absolutely adore and why I adore them. They can be anyone who is famous for being in film such as: actors and actresses, directors and producers, composers etc. We’re going to be looking at my childhood heroes, people I have discovered recently and people that I have yet to look entirely into. We’ll take a bit of a look at how I discovered them, what I think of them and why I think this way about them. Hopefully, we can gain a common ground, you can discover some new people or, via the email address in my bio, you can email me with any new people I don’t know about that you think I would like based on what you’ve seen. These are supposed to be positive articles and made to brighten your day and mine. So, let’s take a wild ride into my childhood, my teen years and what I absolutely adore about the film industry because it is alive and kicking (and if it isn’t, hell I might be out of a job…). Let’s go!

Scarlett Johansson

I first discovered Scarlett Johansson when I was about fourteen in "Iron Man 2" when I first saw it when it came out. I was quite surprised at how funny she was and how nice her voice sounded. I thought that she was initially putting that voice on and seriously, when I heard her speak, I wished that she would sing. And she did. I found an album called "Anywhere I Lay My Head" by Scarlett Johansson which is a bluesy soulful album including songs like "Falling Down" and "I Wish I Was in New Orleans" which are amazing. After this, I watched many of her films such as "Vicky Christina Barcelona" and "Girl with the Pearl Earring". I found her to be such a versatile actress with an incredible amount of talent. She can sing, she can act, she is articulate and smart and beautiful. She is incredibly classy and one of my all-time favourite people in the universe.

My favourite performance by Scarlett Johansson was in Nolan's "The Prestige". I loved her as Olivia. I thought that this was a very different role to those I had ever seen her portray before and I was stunned. This was a deceptive and manipulative role that was a challenge and she definitely stepped up to it. I also loved her in one of my favourite historical fiction adaptations, "The Other Boleyn Girl" in which she portrayed Mary Boleyn. She was classy and again, this role being a period drama-type, was a challenge and Scarlett Johansson could definitely do it better than most everyone else. Portraying Janet Leigh in "Hitchcock" again, was another challenge for her as this person did not only live a while ago, but Janet Leigh is the mother of Jamie Lee Curtis and obviously, she would want to see how Scarlett Johansson portrayed her mother on screen. I can honestly say that Scarlett Johansson was brilliant in every way and I would not have chosen anyone else if I were making the movie myself.

As Black Widow, she has seriously been a great character and honestly, she has trained so hard for it. Her entire career has transformed and yet she has stayed away from being typecast by also doing more serious drama movies and continuing to challenge her abilities on screen. My favourite thing about Scarlett Johansson is the fact that she is basically a chameleon on screen - she can play any role. She has done historical, drama, action, horror, biopic, romance and many other genres. She isn't a one trick pony and she will never be typecast as a character no matter how much she plays Black Widow.

Honestly, I don't want Scarlett Johansson to ever change, I think she's a brilliant human being and I hope she continues to get roles that challenge her and her acting ability so that she can stretch her talents even further in cinema. She has already done so much, but I feel like there is so much more she can do and she will probably do it better than most everyone else as well. Why? Well because she is Scarlett Johansson.

Join me next time for "Why I Adore: Christian Bale"