Scarlett Johansson Recalls Being “Pigeon-Holed” Because Of Her Looks Early In Her Career: “A Really Harsh Time”
After more than 30 years of acting onscreen, Scarlett Johansson recently opened up about being pigeon-holed early in her career.
While she sees roles improving for women in recent years, the 2x Oscar nominee detailed how Hollywood “pulled apart” women over their looks in the early aughts, which she said was “socially acceptable at the time.”
“It was such another time too,” she explained on CBS Sunday Morning. “I think growing up in the industry, and then being a woman, a 20-something-year-old woman in the early 2000s, in the spotlight in general, it was just a really harsh time. Women were just pulled apart for how they looked in a way that was socially acceptable at the time.”
Johansson continued, “It was tough. There was a lot placed on how women looked. What was offered at that time for women my age, as far as acting roles or opportunities, was much slimmer than it is now.”
The Jurassic World Rebirth actress noted there are “much more empowering roles” now, compared to the “slim pickins” for young women in the ’90s and aughts.
“You would get really pigeon-holed and offered the same [roles],” added Johansson. “It would be like the other woman, or the side piece, the bombshell. That was the archetype that was prevalent when I was that age.”
Following her feature directorial debut with last year’s Eleanor the Great, Johansson can next be seen reuniting with Adam Driver in James Gray’s Paper Tiger.
