'Nobody's Baby,' But Everyone's Cover Girl
Monday, February 9, 2015 at 12:00PM Another wave of Scarlett Johansson mania is nearly upon us courtesy of The Age of Ultron. Here she is very late seventies/early eighties styled for W magazine's spring issue
Photography by Mert Alas
As a child in New York, Johansson was fascinated with every aspect of show business. “I had a big imagination,” she said. “I particularly loved Judy Garland, and, to me, she did it all. For as long as I can remember, I wanted to be an actor. And I wanted to do everything. When you’re a kid, they send you on a lot of commercial auditions, and I was terrible at selling things. I never got those parts. I remember crying in the subway, and my mom said, ‘Look—let’s forget it. Do something else.’ And I replied, ‘No. You can’t take this away from me. I want to be an actor!’ Waiting for the B train, I had my come-to-Jesus moment.”
So Johansson (and her mother, who became her manager) decided she would audition only for films. In addition to a precocious mix of sexy and cute, even as a girl, Johansson had a trump card: her deep, slightly hoarse, smoky speaking voice.
This new W magazine profile is by Lynn Hirschberg and Scarlett shares that the black hair in Under the Skin was her idea. A good one! Strangely the photos for this article aren't up despite a link saying they are.
Reader Comments (9)
I thought everyone had a "come-to-Jesus" moment waiting for the B train. Course it often coincided with a "walk-of-shame" moment.........
Love the photo.
She is just so beautiful.
And a more luminous, intelligent child performance than hers in "The Horse Whisperer" would be hard to find. Kudos to Robert Redford for recognizing her rare talents early on.
Yeah, I love The Horse Whisperer! I thought I was the only one!
@cal: I think it's such an underrated and beautiful film! My bias for Redford may be showing, though. He's one of my favorite actors. :)
What are your five favourite Scar Jo performances Nat?
@Bhuray: I know you didn't ask me, but I'll share my choices anyway! ;)
1. Lost in Translation
2. Under the Skin
3. Don Jon
4. Ghost World
5. Girl with a Pearl Earring
SCAR-JO 3:16!!!!!!!
I'm sorry but something about "a precocious mix of sexy and cute, even as a girl" makes me really uncomfortable...
GURL.
You better strike while the iron's hot. NOW is the time to land a plump role, after the wave of critical and commercial success you had in the last couple years, campaign the hell out of it and BOOM snatch an Oscar when you most deserve it. We are all living in a ScarJo moment right now and you better capitalize on that shit because goodwill will get you EVERYWHERE.
BTW I think she's severely underrated in Girl with a Pearl Earring. But Tyler, those are all basically my pics too. And I LOVE her 100% committed stints on SNL too.
BTW if she had been way younger when it was made, she would've been a perfect Cherie Currie in 2010's The Runaways. That pic above gives me the ~vibes~.