Few movie stars today win over critics and convey Old Hollywood glamour as effortlessly as Scarlett Johansson does, all while seemingly impervious to the industry’s convulsions.
Now 40, she has been famous most of her life. She turned 10 the year her first movie, “North,” opened in 1994; four years later, she was upstaging Robert Redford in “The Horse Whisperer.” In the decades since, she starred in cult films and blockbusters, made a record with Pete Yorn and earned a couple of Oscar nominations. In between hits and misses, she also married three times (most recently to Colin Jost) and had two children.
The kind of diverse professional portfolio that Johansson has cultivated can make life more interesting, of course, but it’s also evidence of shrewd, career-sustaining choices. In 2010, she made her critically celebrated Broadway debut in a revival of Arthur Miller’s tragedy “A View From the Bridge.” (She went on to win a Tony.) That same year, she slipped on a bodysuit to play the lethal Russian superspy Black Widow in Marvel’s “Iron Man 2,” a role that propelled her into global celebrity.
On Tuesday, Johansson publicly took on another role when she presented her feature directing debut, “Eleanor the Great,” at the Cannes Film Festival. Playing outside the main lineup, it is the kind of intimately scaled, performance-driven movie that’s ideal for a novice director.
June Squibb stars as the 94-year-old Eleanor, who, soon after the story opens, moves into her daughter’s New York apartment. Life gets complicated when Eleanor inadvertently ends up in a support group for Holocaust survivors. It gets even trickier when a journalism student insists on writing about Eleanor. A friendship is born, salted with laughter and tears.
I met with Johansson the day after the premiere of “Eleanor the Great.” She first walked the festival red carpet in 2005 for “Match Point,” returning last year with “Asteroid City.” (She’s also in “The Phoenician Scheme,” which is here, too.) It had rained hard the day of her premiere, but the sky was blue when she stepped onto a hotel terrace overlooking the Mediterranean. Seated in a quiet corner shaded by a large umbrella, Johansson was friendly, pleasant and a touch reserved. Wearing the largest diamond that I’ve seen outside of a Tiffany window, she kept her sunglasses on as we talked, the consummate picture of movie stardom.
Here are edited excerpts from our conversation.
Tell me about the genesis of the project.
I have a production company called These Pictures, and we get all kinds of submissions. I wasn’t looking for something to direct at that moment. I read it because I was fascinated to see what June Squibb was starring in because I love her, and I was so surprised by the story. It had a lot of elements of films that I love, independent films from the ’90s and early aughts. It was New York-based, very character driven. And the plot device was so surprising. It made me cry. I immediately called my producing partner and was, like, I can direct this. I know how to make it.
Not everyone just thinks they can direct.
When I was much younger, I thought I would end up doing that eventually. In my early 20s, I became focused on understanding my job as an actor better. I was creatively engaged with the directors I was working with, taking on different roles that were challenging, and I veered off that path. The timing was right when the script found me. It felt like an extension of the work that I’ve been doing as opposed to this big unknown. And June was ready to make the film. She had energy and was committed to doing it.
Did this story speak specifically to you because of your family experience?
I could identify with the character’s story and, of course, I identify as Jewish. I had a very formidable grandmother who I was incredibly close with. She lives inside me and I think of her very often. She was, you know, a character and not unlike Eleanor. She could be kind of impossible. [Laughs]
How did it start to come together for you as a movie?
I look at New York in a cinematic way. I’ve spent so much time strolling around as one does and just spending time observing. I’m a people watcher, it’s one of my great pleasures. And when I read a script, I can see it as a film in my mind. I already had ideas, so it was more about having a dialogue with the cinematographer where we could have a conversation and get to the same conclusion. I knew I wanted beautiful portraits of June, to show her in this very pure way. The actors were so committed and had such dramatic stamina. I just needed to photograph them in a way that was uncomplicated.
When you were younger, at one point did you realize, ‘Oh, women make movies too’?
It was fortunately a given because I worked with so many female directors when I was a kid. So, I guess I just never really thought about it as this gendered thing. Maybe I’m spoiled in a way or I take it for granted because I did work with so many female directors and continue to. Actually, the other day I was reading an interview with Natalie Portman and she grew up in film working with female directors. It was kind of the same thing for her. Maybe we both got lucky that when we started working there was more opportunity for female directors. It’s kind of balanced out in that way, um, I don’t know if it’s totally balanced. [Laughs]
Do you want to keep directing?
I do. It felt very fulfilling. We had such an amazing shooting experience. The feeling on set was so familial and creative and positive. It was really, really joyful. You don’t always have a joyful experience on every movie that you make, but as I’ve gotten older, I have a lesser tolerance for the unpleasant experience. [Laughs]
Your mom was your manager. Did talk about the kinds of things that you wanted to do?
She became my manager out of necessity and, I think, at first it was on a protective level. As I grew up and became more of a person, I had my own desire and ideas. I was fortunate that my mom was very supportive of my artistic desire, integrity, all of that. She loves filmmakers and actors and performance, and she respected me as an actor.
Did your mother talk to you about how to avoid being exploited?
My mom and I are very close. Because I was born and raised in New York, I already had a sense of my own street smarts, in a way, and I don’t think she was so worried that I was going to be taken advantage of by people in the industry.
I read a profile of you from 10 years ago by a female journalist in which she describes you as a sexy child —
Ew!
I know! It made me think about how media representations can be complicit in that exploitation.
That’s hard to control because you’re giving an interview and sitting with somebody for an hour or two, and whatever the takeaway is, it’s out of your control. I did an interview with Barbara Walters and she asked me what the sexiest part of my body was or my favorite part or something like that. You can see that I was mortified, but still feel obligated to answer it.
As an industry veteran, do you feel optimistic about American movies?
I think it’ll balance itself out, and some of the players will change. It’s just going to take a lot of time. The strike was really damaging, I think, more damaging than Covid; that has proved very, very challenging. There’ll be a lot of big movies this summer and I think even smaller movies like this film, when you see it in the theater, it’s amazing because everybody’s crying and together. When you can see something moving with an audience, you’re kind of buzzing afterward. I think it’s about offering variety, and studios that are committed to the theatrical experience. I think that we can climb our way back up — I think so.
Manohla Dargis is the chief film critic for The Times.
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