Scarlett Johansson: ‘Since an early age, I’ve been rejected constantly’

Katy Perry, Orlando Bloom attends The Premiere of "Carnival Row" in Los Angeles

I kind of enjoy the “who gives a flying f-” of Parade with this cover. Black Widow’s release was pushed back more than a month ago, but Parade was like “screw it, we already did this cover and interview, we’ll run it.” I actually like that Scarlett Johansson’s promotion included a Parade interview – for those who don’t know, Parade is just the newspaper insert magazine for most Sunday papers. They were shilling Black Widow to “middle America,” thus the wholesome content. You can read Scarlett’s Parade interview here. Some highlights:

She’ll be rooting for the New York Yankees when it’s time for bats and balls once again. “They were killing it when I was in high school,” she says of the 1998–2000 World Series champs. Her favorite player? Derek Jeter. “I used to keep his rookie card in my wallet!”

Motherhood in New York. At age 35, the former child star is the top female box-office draw in the world. But to her 5-year-old daughter, Rose, she’s the doting mom who—in non-quarantine times—often took her past the apartment in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village where Johansson grew up with her parents and three siblings. “One of the great privileges of raising your kids where you grew up is that you get to do the stuff and see the things you did when you were a kid,” she says.

She’s the second-choice for a lot of roles: She wasn’t always Hollywood’s hottest property. She tells Parade how she lost out on several roles—including, at first, the part of Black Widow (to Emily Blunt). “Since an early age, I’ve been rejected constantly,” she says. “I’ve basically made a career out of being second choice.”

Being with Colin Jost since 2017: They’ve been engaged since last year. Do they have a wedding date? “No comment,” she says with a laugh. But she has called him “the love of my life.”

[From Parade]

LOL, she didn’t even bother to say anything about Colin Jost in Parade. So funny. She didn’t comment because Parade is, well, downmarket for Scarlett’s image. She would have given a quote about Jost if it was Vogue or Vanity Fair. As for being second choice for so many roles… where? When? Beyond the Black Widow role – which happened a decade ago, right? From recent memory, Scarlett has been the first choice for most of the roles she’s done in the past decade. But I imagine that’s her way of being “humble.”

2020 Vanity Fair Oscar Party

2020 Vanity Fair Oscar Party

Photos courtesy of WENN, Backgrid and cover courtesy of Parade.

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69 Responses to “Scarlett Johansson: ‘Since an early age, I’ve been rejected constantly’”

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  1. Lightpurple says:

    That picture is oddly disturbing

    • Ashley says:

      It’s the lighting, the angle, her nose looks huge, the fold on her nose are too pronounced, and the picture looks washed out. She’s wearing a leather jacket like she’s a 50 year old actress trying to look young. Parade wasn’t the best choice for a star of her caliber. I seem to remember it was mostly older actors who posed for it. It really seems like they picked the most unflattering photo. If I were her I’d be angry.

      • OverIt says:

        ’[L]ike she’s a 50 year old actress trying to look young. . . . I seem to remember it was mostly older actors who posed for it. It really seems like they picked the most unflattering photo. If I were her I’d be angry‘.

        What a horrible ageist comment. Ageism is the last ‘acceptable’ discrimination. Think about the underlying beliefs that generate comments like this the next time you complain about how society treats women.

      • LULU wang was robbed says:

        I have the same nose as her so a hearty F you to you, Ashley

  2. EenieGoogles says:

    You’ve also literally been in high-demaand since childhood.

    She is the worst.

    • SM says:

      I know, right? All the other actresses that do actually get rejected must wonder who they are then, if Scarlet is the one who is always rejected. She is so out of touch. Also, it would take a really talented person to turn someone as Scarlet look like that on the cover. Looks forrible

    • Nikki* says:

      I really don’t see anything wrong with her saying she got many of her roles as a second choice, after someone else turned something down. I don’t think it was bragging at all.

    • MeganBot2020 says:

      Just because she works a lot doesn’t mean she doesn’t also get rejections.

      There are probably tons of movie roles she went up for and didn’t get, we just don’t know about them. And we don’t know what recent roles she’s landed that she only got because someone else turned it down. That kind of information is rarely made public.

    • Eugh says:

      Before I found your comment, I actually exclaimed SHE’S THE WORST

      Worst tats, worst witch’s nail engagement ring, worst privilege, worst uneducated hot takes on every possible subject

  3. Quincytoo says:

    I like him way more than I like her

  4. MattyLove says:

    I completely forgot (or maybe didn’t know) she had a daughter.

    • pottymouth pup says:

      me too (which just goes to show that even a high profile celebrity can keep their children out of the spotlight if they choose to do so)

  5. Miss V says:

    Emily Blunt would have been infinitely better as Black Widow! That is all.

    • Bettyrose says:

      But Emily Blunt is so not Manhattan. She lives in a quaint village called Brooklyn with leafy trees and friendly neighbors. (Sorry, I find Blunt even more grating than ScarJo).

    • Melani says:

      Emily is a great actress, but Scarlett looks like a typical russian slavic woman, who is Natasha – short, curvy, roundish face. Marvel movies don’t demand high quality acting, just authentic looks are enough, one way or another.

      • another Nina says:

        I always wonder where do you guys get these stereotypes about Slavic women? From other Hollywood movies? Same as growling that they refer to as Russian language? To me,
        Scarlett does look like a beautiful Jewish girl of Eastern European origin but definitely not like Eva Hercigova or Maria Sharapova…

      • Melanie says:

        @ANOTHER NINA
        I literally live here and I am slavic. Scarlett has some jewish in her, obviously, but she’s no Gal Gadot.
        And no, slavic women aren’t like Maria Sharapova – skinny and athletic, we’re are more curvy and short and have round or fuller faces, without visible cheekbones.

    • Lwt00 says:

      Emily Blunt as Black Widow would have made me excited for the Marvel films.

    • Deering24 says:

      Agreed—a great lost opportunity. Just like Idris Elba passing on Bond. 😭

  6. Justme says:

    Oh, please. Rejected constantly, yet at the same time she’s had steady work since she was a teenager. Wasn’t she been the highest paid actress for several years now?
    Her story certainly doesn’t read like one of constant rejection and having to fight for even minor roles, hoping to get noticed and finally achieving a breakthrough.

    This might come off harsh, but I just read a feature on Thandie Newton and it just struck me how so many black or biracial actresses don’t achieve “real” success until much later in their careers. There’s a new white breakout star every year, yet young black women breaking through are few and far in between.

    We don’t know what happens behind the scenes, but as far as anyone can tell, Scarlett has had a charmed career, better than most, even.

    • Snappyfish says:

      I agree!! I can’t stand her. Her defense of Woody Allen didn’t help. She is pretty enough but I don’t see the whole “most beautiful”. Her acting is wooden at best. Now I’m not an avenger fan & haven’t seen her as Black Widow but I think I’ll survive. Most interviews she comes off as if her head is firmly up her bum.

      I like Colin Jost & hope he comes out of this ok. He will be her, what, 3 or 4th husband?

      • Elizabeth says:

        I don’t even think she’s pretty enough. I do not get her charm, at all. There are so many other actresses who are FAR more talented and much more beautiful.

  7. Flip says:

    I would let Scarlett Johansson destroy my life. Ruin my credit, get me kicked out of my family. I would sacrifice years off the end of my life, decades, I would die tomorrow. Just one kiss. All I need is one kiss Scarlett. My queen. My angel.

  8. emmy says:

    LOL I enjoy a good struggle interview by impossibly rich people on a Sunday. Whatever, I’m sure in her world, that’s a thing. Someone else was also in talk for that part, I know what it’s like to be rejected! Oh, Scarlett.

  9. olala says:

    she is a nasty piece of work. I wish she just disappeared. But people like her are obviously doing well in Hollywood.

  10. Seeker542 says:

    Scarlett Johansson can really act given the material– I loved her role in Jojo Rabbit — but I cringe when she opens her mouth sometimes. I seriously side eye anyone who supports Woody Allen.

  11. Marjorie says:

    She has bad tattoos, all I’ve got.

  12. Spicecake38 says:

    I saw an interview she did with CBS Sunday morning probably about 6-7 years ago.She talked about her success,but she did talk about being rejected often but she was saying that that was when she was young ( child actress young).She said her voice was often something she was told didn’t *match*her physical appearance.Whatever though I’m not crying for her .She’s decent at best,IMO so therefore very lucky to be where she is professionally.

  13. Nev says:

    Stop this.

  14. Valiantly Varnished says:

    It’s Ramadan so I am limited as to what I can say at the moment but I will just say this. The way you guys feel about GOOP is the way I feel about Scarlett. That is all.

    • MrsBanjo says:

      Ramadan Mubarak!

      Yeah, she’s absolutely ridiculous. I don’t know if she’s even trying (GOOP certainly doesn’t), but she doesn’t ever come across as remotely genuine.

  15. Melissa says:

    She still reminds me of the outlet store version of Charlize.

  16. Bettyrose says:

    Just the fact she grew up in a Greenwhich Village apt large enough for a family of six says enough. Girl, life has not mistreated you.

    • Redgrl says:

      That leaped out at me too!

    • oddsnends says:

      If she was a child actor, her wages might have paid for that apartment. I wouldn’t envy that.

    • Maxime duCamp says:

      I side-eye the heck out of Johannson and don’t know enough about her to know if her parents are rich but you gotta remember that NYC 30 years ago was not the NYC of today. Greenwich Village apartments, anything downtown really, weren’t as crazy out of reach as they are today. Hell 8 years ago a former colleague and her husband moved to NYC and got a rent-controlled one-bedroom in Greenwich Village for under $1000 per/month (granted that was a unicorn apt. even back then but they got it through a broker (weren’t subletting it from a friend or relative who’d had it for years, which is or was the typical way people got them). And just because a family lived in the apartment doesn’t mean it was family-sized. A few years ago, I recall the comedian Jim Gaffigan (I think that’s his name) was saying that he, his wife and their kids (4 or 5 kids) lived in a 2 or 3 bedroom apartment somewhere in Lower Manhattan.

      • Lightpurple says:

        A friend got a lovely Greenwich Village two bedroom with a large living room right out of business school back in the early 90s. It had been rent controlled and the prior tenant had been in it for decades and they were limited in how much they could increase the rent for a new tenant. She lives out in the suburbs now in a huge house with her husband and kids but she held onto the Greenwich Village place and her brother lives in it.

    • Bettyrose says:

      It’s true. That doesn’t necessarily mean wealth. Based on Wikipedia, I’d say she was comfortably middle class but exposed to lots of art, culture, and opportunity due to her parents’ professions and the fact of living in Manhattan. Not overly privileged but it does sound like a nice childhood.

  17. ClaireB says:

    This woman apparently cannot contain the a$$hole, even for Parade magazine. How long ago did she do this interview? Pre-pandemic? Because it sounds extra out of touch now. Do both the interviewer and her PR people hate her?

    • Jules says:

      I think everything and everyone celebrity-related sound out of touch and just so unnecessary.

  18. Caty Page says:

    Telling women who are conventionally attractive and financially successful that they must appear “humble” results in this tone-deaf trainwreck. Talking about her love of funeral potatoes and The Bears would feel more sincere.

    I wish she would just feel free to speak like Goop. If Gweneth did Parade, she would still talk about her 10k diamond tampons or something. That’s who she is and she owns it.

  19. Awkward symphony says:

    Lmao she along with natalie Portman had starting roles since they were babies!!! I don’t know how her publicist was okay with this self pity nonsense which might actually backfire and put off people from paying to see the movie.
    The self pity nonsense made me dislike people like Gwyneth and kate Hudson who despite them sharing their luxury lifestyle and pictures of their upbringing via SM. It wouldve been better to just say she struggled to change her image or something

  20. My3cents says:

    Just shut the F–K up. Please.
    Or maybe just hire someone professional to edit your privleage.

  21. manta says:

    I know she can be insufferable but I can’t see why people dismiss what she says here.
    Both can be true: she worked steadily but wasn’t the first choice for many projects she was involved in (especially her teen and young adult years)
    I’m curious how so many are sure she was always fisrt choice and thus a lier.

    It’s not inconceivable the people at the wheel had someone else in mind for The Island, The Prestige, The Other Boleyn Girl, just to name a few films her role could have easily been filled by somebody else.

  22. Lilly (with the double-L) says:

    I like her and I hear she’s kind to fans. I get it, though, why she comes off humble braggy to many. Maybe she and I are just kinda bad picker of men sisters, although I do like Colin Jost and I take the small mention of him as an attempt to be discreet – like she is with her child.

  23. Carol says:

    OK, Becky, I believe you.

  24. Val says:

    All I have to say is that her former French boyfriend implied she had been a total high maintenance bitch during their relationship. I totally believe him.

  25. RedWeatherTiger says:

    Just when I thought I could not dislike her any more, BOOM. I do.

  26. S says:

    Yeah, the highest paid actress in Hollywood, who has been steadily working since her teens talking about “constant rejection” is very up her own ass, but also seems very on-brand for a women who thinks she should be able to play every role, regardless of race, ethnicity or gender ID.

    As for Jost, pretty sure Scarlett said her last two husbands were also the love of her life so…Good luck with that, Colin.

  27. Meg says:

    Remember around the time she won a tony she said she knows what it feels like to be an unemployed actor

  28. Truthiness says:

    I truly think she is 2nd choice for most of her jobs. The fact that Charlize, Natalie Portman, Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton, Renee Z, and Saoirse exist and are acting/competing makes her point. It’s just that she makes serious bank from Marvel movies. We NEED better writing for female roles and MORE of them. C’mon Phoebe Waller Bridge, keep writing!

  29. Bendix says:

    I still think the role of Black Widow should have gone to Milla Jovovich.
    Fight me!

  30. MA says:

    The audacity when she is one of the top A list actresses amid the many, many talented women of color who get NOTHING. Viola Davis gets a cable TV show ffs. And no awareness when an Asian woman couldn’t even be the first choice for Ghost in a Shell????

  31. Natasha says:

    I can’t believe her daughter is already 5. I hope the daughter makes better tattoo choices than her mom.

  32. shanaynay says:

    I can understand why. I personally think she isn’t that great an actress.

  33. Laurie says:

    She probably has been the second choice for a while. She has had to compete for roles with women like Naomi Watts, Diane Kruger, Natalie Portman, Reese Witherspoon, and now Margot Robbie. She became a top-earning actress because of the superhero movies. I can totally believe what she’s saying.

  34. april says:

    To me, she and Christina Applegate look like twins.