Summary
Scarlett Johansson reunited with one of her Marvel co-stars in a recent interview. Johansson interviewedThunderbolts*star David Harbour and they talked about their acting careers.
Johansson debuted in theMarvel Cinematic Universe(MCU) inIron Man 2(2010) as Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow. She signed a multi-film deal with Marvel studios, appearing in multiple projects across the MCU, includingThe Avengers(2012),Captain America: The Winter Soldier(2014),Avengers: Age of Ultron(2015),Captain America: Civil War(2016),Avengers: Infinity War(2018),Avengers: Endgame(2019), andBlack Widow(2021).Black Widowis Johansson’s first and solo film in the MCU. It’s also her final movie because her character died inEndgameandBlack Widowwas set before the events ofInfinity War. InBlack Widow, Johansson and Harbour appeared as father and daughter, Alexei and Natasha. However, they were a fake American family on a covert mission to gather information from S.H.I.E.L.D.’s North Institute. The co-stars talked about their career and Harbour mentioned Johannson’s 10-year stint with Marvel Studios.
In Interview Magazine’s latest celebrity-on-celebrity dialogue, Johansson interviewed Harbour, and they talked about the latter’s new HBO showDTF St. LouisandStranger Things, which final season will be released later this year. Harbour said that after 10 years, he was ready to do something new. Then, he mentioned Johannson spending the same amount of time with Marvel Studios. “You did the Marvel thing for 10 years, right?” he asked Johansson, and she responded affirmatively. She then recounted her time with Marvel and said that in some films, her character was engaging. In other projects, when there were a lot of cast members involved, she said, “There was so much plot to serve that you start to feel like you’re a device to move it along.” However, the challenging part was committing to a project for several months because it limited what they could do to themselves. Johansson explained:
And if you’re committed to five and a half months of that, it’s like, “Okay. I can’t paint my nails, I can’t get a haircut.” These sound like silly problems, but your identity is wrapped up in this job for a long time, and if you’re not doing engaging work as an actor, you feel a little cagey sometimes.
In the same conversation, they talked about Marvel’s recent filmThunderbolts*. The interview seemingly happened when the film was released because Johansson asked Harbour if the release date was on that day. He confirmed, saying, “It’s the opening day of a movie that basically you are the seventh Thunderbolt in.” He also asked Johansson if she had watched the film and she said, “No.” Then Harbour congratulated Johansson for being an executive producer of the project. However, Johansson said she had to ask them to remove her credits because she wasn’t really involved in the project. Johansson was the executive producer ofBlack Widow, and it’s typical for producer credits to be carried over to sequels that feature the same characters.Thunderbolts*feature at least three characters fromBlack Widow—Yelena (Florence Pugh), Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko), and Alexie (Harbour).
Johansson’s statement about making big commitments is something Harbour could surely relate to, given that he has been part ofStranger Things, which has run for a decade, too. It also reflects the challenges of keeping their personal identity when their jobs demand that they be in character for half a year. Johansson isn’t complaining about the limitations of their work, but it also shows that being an actor isn’t easy. When they have to play a role requiring strict appearance continuity, it’s easy for them to feel disconnected from themselves outside the job. Johansson speaks about the blurred line between professional and personal identity as actors. Her revelations also offer a rare glimpse of how movie stars sometimes feel suffocated and constrained when their roles become all-consuming.
