Scarlett Johansson is always stalked by controversy

Gulf Today Report

There seems to be a certain seductive charm to American actress Scarlett Johansson.  In 2013, she was named the sexiest woman alive for the second time by the well-known men’s lifestyle magazine Esquire.

“The Avengers” star was named the sexiest woman in 2006 by the same magazine.

However, apart from some of the famous men she has dated, including Sean Penn, Justin Timberlake and Josh Hartnett, she has also courted a fair share of controversy over her performances in films, but she has not always responded in the right way.

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Over the years, the US actor has faced backlash for her roles in a number of projects, including accusations of whitewashing for her casting in manga adaptation Ghost in the Shell and playing a trans character in Rub and Tug.

In 2011, she posed in the buff for some pictures, which raised the hackles of her fans. She just brushed it aside, saying there was nothing wrong with them. They were for her then husband, Ryan Reynolds, she remarked.

Speaking to The Gentlewoman, the actor said of her repeated controversies: “I’ve made a career out of it. I’m going to have opinions about things, because that’s just who I am.”

However, Johansson acknowledged that she hadn’t always responded in the right way to criticism, saying: “I mean, everyone has a hard time admitting when they’re wrong about stuff, and for all of that to come out publicly, it can be embarrassing.

“To have the experience of, ‘Wow, I was really off mark there, or I wasn’t looking at the big picture, or I was inconsiderate.’ I’m also a person… I can be reactive. I can be impatient. That doesn’t mix that great with self-awareness.”

While Johansson said she had been learning to recognise “when it’s not your turn to speak”, she doesn’t think actors need to have public roles in society to do their jobs, says the Independent.

“Whatever my political views are, all that stuff, I feel most successful when people can sit in a theatre or at home and disappear into a story or a performance and see pieces of themselves...  They have an emotional reaction to it – good, bad, uncomfortable, validating, whatever. That’s my job. The other stuff is not my job.”

Johansson will next star as the titular hero in Marvel’s Black Widow, which has been delayed multiple times due to the pandemic.