(Credits: YouTube Still)
Mon 11 August 2025 5:00, UK
Scarlett Johansson has had a vast and prolific career, beginning in Hollywood as a child and later becoming one of the highest-grossing actors of all time.
While some might view the business as being full of glitz and glamour, the experience of starting out as a child is entirely different, with countless dangers that arise from working in a very adult world. It’s a business where young people are often exploited, with young girls in particular being subject to a complex industry that can have a hugely negative impact on your self-esteem and confidence.
Some people manage to make it out the other side, with the likes of Zendaya going from a flourishing Disney career to a thriving one in the world of arthouse and commercial cinema, while others struggle to transition from one stage to the next. Johansson has conflicting thoughts over her early film roles, with the actor describing how the projects she took on had a strange impact on her perception of herself and her relationship to sexuality.
Johansson rose to the dizzying heights of global fame after roles in films like Lost in Translation and Girl With The Pearl Earring. She shortly came to be known as a Hollywood ‘sex symbol’, often playing characters who were hyper-sexualised and had story arcs that revolved around their romantic lives.
Naturally, Johansson struggled with the labels that were being thrown her way, with the actor saying, “I did Lost in Translation and Girl With the Pearl Earring, and by that point, I was 18, 19 and I was coming into my own womanhood and learning my own desirability and sexuality. I was kind of being groomed, in a way, to be this what you call a bombshell-type actor. I was playing the other woman and the object of desire and I suddenly found myself cornered in this place. I couldn’t get out of it.”
Johansson expanded on the impact that this had on her, saying, “It would be easy to sit across from someone in that situation and go, ‘This is working.’ But for that kind of bombshell, you know, that burns bright and quick and then it’s done and you don’t have opportunity beyond that. It was an interesting, weird conundrum to be in but it really came back to working at it and trying to carve a place in different projects and work in great ensembles.”
It’s a very narrow and limiting stereotype to occupy as a performer, and one that can only present with a limited number of opportunities and creative challenges. When being so heavily type-casted, there is no room for true expression or creativity, leading Johansson to break away from this label by starring in gritty thrillers like Under the Skin and reprise her role in the Marvel universe as Black Widow.
These kinds of stereotypes are incredibly harmful, and especially when they are leveraged against you from such a young age. Hollywood is a difficult place for self-discovery, but Johansson was able to keep her wits about her and carve out roles that were more reflective of who she is.
Related Topics