Talking with her brings to mind a line about another great-looking movie dame, Jessica Rabbit; Scarlett Johansson isn't bad, she's just drawn that way. Like Mrs. Rabbit, her ripe looks and a voice like scorched velvet have a strange effect on those around her.
It's a sad state of affairs when a young actress is notable for not behaving like an idiot, but it must be said that for all her paparazzi appeal, she doesn't lure it with wildly inappropriate behavior.
"I don't know when that became a standard for young people." She adds that she and her friends go out to dine and dance like anyone else, "but we're all responsible young adults, within reason I suppose, and that should be the norm. I think that is the norm, really, but maybe it's not just interesting."
While that tissue gag may be a momentary gross-out, it also raised $5,300 for U.S.A. Harvest, and raised more awareness through the hundreds of articles written about the event.
In addition to working with them, she also serves as an ambassador for Oxfam and the Red organization. And during her European press tour, she stopped off in Oslo to co-host the Nobel Prize concert to honor former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari. "How many opportunities do you have to meet the Nobel Peace laureate?" she asked.
Born to act?
Despite her youth, the 24-year-old is hardly an ingenue and believes she's been an actress from birth. "I was a real ham when I was a child, one of those jazz-hands kids," she says. She took voice lessons and started studying at the Lee Strasberg Theare and Film Institute at age 7. She booked her first film job, on "North," a year later, and hasn't stopped working since.
She caught the industry's attention at 12, when she won the role of Grace in Robert Redford's "The Horse Whisperer." "That was a huge break for me. Every girl from 11 to 16 wanted that part," she says. Roles in "The Man Who Wasn't There" and "Ghost World" followed. Starring roles in "Lost in Translation" and, 10 days after that wrapped, "Girl With a Pearl Earring," cemented her status. She was nominated for Golden Globes for both performances, winning a BAFTA for the former. "Translation" was also notable because at age 17 she was playing a married woman in her 20s. "I've always played older than my age," Johansson points out.
In the last few years, she has also starred in three Woody Allen movies and is eager for more. "I would do Woody's shoeshine," she says emphatically. "I'm lucky to be able to fit into that young-woman category in his mind, so I hope he keeps writing for young women. I think he will."
