Scarlett Johansson, now 37, believes she was lured into hyper-sexualized parts at an early career stage. Her career started when she was young, at the age of 9.
For the 500th episode of the podcast, Scarlett Johansson spoke with Dax Shepard and Monica Padman about growing up in Hollywood and onscreen. She explained that she was hypersexualized at a young age, making her character seem older than she actually was.
I was objectified and classified based on my shape only, and I felt like I didn’t get job offers for things I wanted to do. I remember thinking to myself: “People think I’m 40”. Then I realized that it was no longer something desirable for me; instead, it was something to fight against
And since everyone thought I was older and had been acting much longer, I was pigeonholed into this weird, hypersexualized thing. I felt like my career was over. I said to myself: “This is the kind of career you have; these are the roles you play.” And I thought: “Is that all?” We don’t have that much time on our hands. So I was scared at the time. I attributed this to the fact that people thought I was much older.
Moving on with the conversation, Johansson discussed how the environment for young women in movies has changed and how the female character’s narrative has shifted to be more than merely attractive equivalents, which the actress views as a welcome change.
Now I see more young actresses who are in their 20s. It seems that they can be many different things – she explained. It is another era. Actors today are no longer pigeonholed, fortunately, right? People are much more dynamic.
Then Johansson discussed how the Me Too movement has helped women’s rights but still has much work to be done.
Because of the patriarchal nature of our culture, I believe that the underlying fact of the status of women will never change. Even if those 600 guys aren’t necessarily acting as aggressively as they may have a minute earlier, everything is still essentially the same. It has so become a part of our society and culture.
I find it challenging to think it might not be a valid element. I’ve concluded that it’s critical to comprehend that, for growth and change to be genuinely significant, two strides ahead must be followed by two steps back, and things must first become better before they worsen. Real progressive change won’t occur, in my opinion, if you don’t give people the opportunity to comprehend this.
