Scarlett Johansson deserves MTV's 'Generation Award' for indies like ‘Under the Skin’ and 'Avengers' franchise
Scarlett Johansson is one of the biggest Hollywood stars. Her impressive filmography is why the 2021 MTV Movie and TV Awards will be honoring her with its prestigious ‘Generation Award’. A-listers like Sandra Bullock, Johnny Depp, Tom Cruise, Robert Downey Jr, Jamie Foxx, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, and a few other A-listers have been former winners.
The 2021 edition of the awards will be celebrating the best of both TV and movies in the two-day event. Scarlett Johansson, who will soon star as the ‘Black Widow’ in Marvel’s movie with the same name, has worked really hard to reach the position she is now. There is only a handful among the Hollywood elite like her who can competently perform in both popcorn action fare like 'Avengers' to gritty dramas like 'Marriage Story,' and win multiple awards doing it. We take a look at her journey so far.
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Early Life
Scarlett Johansson was born and raised in Manhattan, New York City and very few know that she started auditioning with her mother at the age of seven. Starting at such an early age surely proved to be wonderful for the actress and she honed her skills while working on different kinds of films. She aspired to be an actress from a young age and as luck had it she first hit the stage in an Off-Broadway play as a child actor.
Talking about acting at a young age, she explained to The Guardian, she was “always ‘a big ham, it's like I hopped out of the womb and said, 'I will perform!'" At the age of nine, the talented actress made her debut with the fantasy comedy flick called ‘North’ released in 1994. She then continued working as a child actor in movies like ‘Manny & Lo’ in 1996, ‘The Horse Whisperer’ with Robert Redford and Kristin Scott Thomas in 1998, and ‘Ghost World’ with Thora Birch in 2001. Scarlett might have started young but it wasn’t until the age of 12 when she really understood what acting was. Talking about the same she told Interview magazine, “I'd made probably five or six movies at that point. I was doing a lot of really emotional work but I remember finding that place of realizing, 'Oh, wait, I can manipulate this thing that I'm doing.’”
Rise to fame
Her parents divorced when she was 13 and it was around the same time that Hollywood filmmakers started taking her seriously. After a few years, it was her role in ‘Lost in Translation’ with Bill Murray that made everyone sit up and notice her. Scarlett ended up winning a BAFTA for it. Speaking about filming the movie, she earlier spoke on The Howard Stern Show and stated, “It was a hard shoot for me. felt sort of out of the loop. I was 17 years old when I made that movie." The movie indeed helped in cementing her position in the industry. She then went on to give stellar performances in movies like ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’, ‘A Love Song for Bobby Long’, ‘The Prestige’, ‘Vicky Cristina Barcelona’, Under the Skin’, and ‘Her’.
Helmed by Jonathan Glazer, ‘Under the Skin’ was shot in the year 2011 in Scotland and the movie further proved that Scarlett was here to stay in the long term. Speaking on her odd experience while filming the movie, she told The Denver Post, "It took me several weeks of shooting to figure out what I was playing” further explaining how the character taught her new things, “I think when you get older you start to get curious about yourself in a different way, not just how can I get what I want.”
Ultimate stardom
While the Hollywood icon was inclined toward art cinema and 'serious' movies, she also dabbled in all-out commercial ones too. As luck would have it, she bagged the role of Black Widow in Jon Favreau's ‘Iron Man 2’. The film which was part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) pocketed a massive $623.9 million at the global box-office against its $200 million budget. As of 2020, the two-time Academy Award-nominated actress has appeared in eight films as Black Widow. As we all now know, her solo ‘Black Widow’ flick will soon hit the theatres and leading streaming platforms.
In 2019, the Golden Globes winner spoke to People magazine and dubbed the experience of working in the 'Avengers' movies as “life-changing.” "It's been such a pleasure to come to work every day. I feel incredibly fortunate to be with such a beautiful cast of creative people, open-minded people, and it's been an incredible journey.” Apart from Avengers movies, the versatile actress also showed her exceptional acting skills in films like ‘Lucy’ in 2014, ‘Ghost in the Shell’ in 2017 along with comedy films, namely ‘Hail, Caesar!’ in 2016 and ‘Rough Night’ in 2017.
With art house movies like 2019’s ‘Marriage Story’ and ‘Jojo Rabbit’, she further proved that if the role demands it, she is more than just a pretty face as she brings complex characters to life. With more than 26 years in the industry, Scarlett still has a long way to go and we are also sure she is not going to disappoint us.