Scarlett Johansson shot to fame overnight when she was cast alongside Bill Murray in 2003's "Lost in Translation." Since then she has appeared in dozens of blockbuster hits and topped the Fobes' highest-paid actress for two consecutive years.
It is safe to say Johansson has a successful career, but there was a time in her life when she seriously considered leaving showbiz, largely because she was typecast as "hypersexualized" early in her career.
The "Avengers" star opened up about those early days in The Hollywood Reporter's annual "Actress Roundtable."
"I feel when I was working in my early 20s and even in my late teens/early 20s, I felt that I sort of got, somehow, typecast. I was very hypersexualized," she said.
At the time Johansson said it seemed to be "OK to everyone" but it was not a part of her own narrative. Instead it was crafted by "a bunch of dudes in the industry."
It may have given her career a bit of a boost but Johansson said it grew increasingly difficult for her to "figure out how to get out of being an ingénue or the other woman."
It was not something she ever intended to happen and it left her reconsidering her career choices. Johansson admitted that she wanted to pursue something different in the industry that would "be more fulling 'cause there seemed like there was nowhere to go."
It took the chance to appear on Broadway to change her mind. In 2009 Johansson starred in Arthur Miller’s "A View From the Bridge." The performance earned her a Tony Award and gave her the chance to "reset" her mind and see the different opportunities available to her. She no longer needed to be that hypersexualized actress.
"It's amazing how theater is limitless," she told the roundtable. "Even though it was terrifying, it was liberating because I actually felt that every night I had the opportunity to change the narrative."
"Actress Roundtable," which sees Johansson appear on a panel alongside icons including Jennifer Lopez and Renée Zellweger, will air on Sundance TV Jan. 12.