Scarlett Johansson: ‘Every Role I was Offered for Years’ After 2003 was ‘A Sex Object’

Actress Scarlett Johansson says “every role” she was offered for years after the 2003 film Lost in Translation was that of “a sex object.”

“After Lost in Translation, every role that I was offered for years was ‘the girlfriend,’ ‘the other woman,’ a sex object,” Johansson toldVanity Fair. “I couldn’t get out of the cycle.”

“It sort of felt like, ‘Oh, I guess this is my identity now as an actor.’ There wasn’t much I could do with that,” the Black Widow star continued, adding that her representatives couldn’t help it, because, “They were reacting to the norm. The industry worked like that forever.”

Johansson also acknowledged, “You come into your sexuality and your desirability as part of your growth, and it’s exciting to blossom into yourself. You’re wearing the clothes you want, you’re expressing yourself.”

“Then you suddenly turn around and you’re like, ‘Wait, I feel like I’m being’ — I don’t want to say exploited because it’s such a severe word,” the actress added. “That term is so heavy, but yeah, it was a kind of an exploitation.”

The Ghost World star also lamented being ogled while she was in her teens and early 20’s — an experience many women admit to looking back on with fondness once they are older.

“The person [journalist] would be, like, describing my body — and you wouldn’t expect that to be what the takeaway was,” Johansson said. “They were staring at my lips that whole time? That’s so rude.”

Johansson then brought up fellow actress, 21-year-old Millie Bobby Brown, citing a recent Instagram video in which the Stranger Things star called out journalists by name who she claimed had written disparaging remarks about her appearance.

“I guess they still do that. I don’t think that people can do that,” Johansson lamented.

Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.