Scarlett Johansson Feared Being "Hypersexualized" And "Pigeonholed" As An Actor Earlier In Her Career

Scarlett Johansson, 37, said in a recent interview that despite having an acting career that started at age seven and has earned her two Oscar nominations, she was "pigeonholed" as a young actor and once felt it'd be impossible to diversify her onscreen roles. Johansson opened up about her career on Dax Shepard's Armchair Expert podcast.

"I kind of became objectified and pigeonholed in this way where I felt like I wasn't getting offers for work for things that I wanted to do," Johansson said (via Yahoo). "I remember thinking to myself, 'I think people think I'm 40 years old.' It somehow stopped being something that was desirable and something that I was fighting against."

Johansson continued, "I got kind of pigeonholed into this weird hypersexualized thing… I felt like [my career] was over. It was like: that's the kind of career you have, these are the roles you've played. And I was like, 'This is it?'" She added that she feels the industry has changed in a more positive direction, noticing that younger actors like Zendaya and Florence Pugh are not pigeonholed as easily as she feels she was.

Johansson's most recent on-screen role was Black Widow, the Marvel character's 2021 solo prequel film. The film also led to her filing a lawsuit against Disney, which has been subsequently settled, regarding a shift in salary and compensation after the film pivoted to a Disney+ rather than theatrical release. Her next expected role will be her first for a Wes Anderson project, Asteroid City--at some point after that, she will also appear in Kristin Scott Thomas's directorial debut My Mother's Wedding.