(Credits: Far Out / YouTube Still)
Sat 6 December 2025 17:45, UK
Scarlett Johansson might be one of the more polarising names in the business, but she’s got the one thing that most actors struggle with – versatility.
After all, when you think about it, her roles are far more diverse than any other name, having been in almost every genre, style, and story you could possibly imagine, from the bigger blockbuster hits to the low-key small screen gems. There doesn’t seem to be anything that she struggles with, either, not even the more emotionally demanding roles that require nuance.
In fact, these are the roles where Johansson seems to shine the most – more so than her more explosive endeavours, like Black Widow, or other sci-fi action hits, like Lucy or Ghost in the Shell. However, Johansson’s coveted status doesn’t mean she’s invincible to Hollywood rejection. In fact, her streak as one of the biggest names means quite the opposite, and often, she’s left feeling, as she once put it, “second choice”.
Johansson has actually experienced rejection from an early age, something that she opened up about a few years back, after having just received an Oscar nomination for Marriage Story. Rejection, to Johansson, is a tough part of the job, but it’s also a necessary means to achieve gratitude, which she realised when she was first given the opportunity to appear in Iron Man 2.
The role of Black Widow was initially offered to Emily Blunt, but she had to turn it down because she was contracted to do Gulliver’s Travels. “The best call you can receive is after you are rejected for something and then you get it,” Johansson reflected to Parade. “You appreciate it more. I’ve basically made a career out of being second choice.”
Going back even further, Scarlett was once slated to play Mary Queen of Scots, with many major outlets once reporting on it as though it was a sure thing. It was reportedly being written by Jimmy McGovern, with Phillip Noyce also attached at one point, as Johansson explained in 2006 when asked whether the rumours were true about her playing the coveted role: “It is true,” she told IndieLondon. Adding, “Phillip Noyce is directing it, and I think we’re going to be shooting in the summertime. It’ll be an adventure, that’s for sure, and it’s the whole story from her return to Scotland to her execution.”
Of course, the project never materialised, at least not in the way people expected, and Johansson instead went on to star in The Other Boleyn Girl. She still remained a speculative name whenever other potential projects came up, but never ended up stepping into those coveted shoes. Still, it remains a project that Johansson never really let go of, especially as she told HuffingtonPost in 2012 that it was the one project that got away.
“I’d love to play Mary Queen of Scots,” she said. “That is like the project that got away, I think everybody has one of those. I love that story.” She also clarified attachments to Marilyn Monroe, saying that she “never wanted” to play the iconic Hollywood star because, although “she is a very underrated actress, it just seemed exhausting in a way that I couldn’t wrap my head around.”
While it’s unclear why the original film never happened, perhaps it’s for the best, as the one that did occur – 2018’s Mary Queen of Scots, starring Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie – seems to be something of a winner when it comes to praising the casting choice, even if critics found other aspects to take issue with.
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