Scarlett Johansson Explained Why She Felt “Hypers*xualized” And “Pigeonholed” In Her Career And What Has Changed Since

“We’re not even allowed to really pigeonhole other actors anymore, thankfully, right? People are much more dynamic.”

Scarlett Johansson has already had an incredible, multi-decade career as an actor so far. It’s just facts.

Scarlett notched notable roles very early in her career, too — like her performance in the critically acclaimed 2001 comedy Ghost World.

During a recent appearance on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast, Scarlett opened up about how she was perceived and treated at the beginning of her acting career.

Scarlett said that she felt “objectified” and “pigeonholed” early in her career, “in this way where I felt like I wasn’t getting offers for work for things that I wanted to do.”

“I remember thinking to myself, ‘I think people think I’m 40 years old.’”

Scarlett went on to say that she thinks she was “kind of pigeonholed into this weird hypers*xualized thing” because people assumed she was older than she actually was, due to her early start in acting.

For Scarlett’s breakout role in 2001’s Lost in Translation, she played a character who was supposed to be in her 20s — even though she was 19 years old when the film was shot.

“The runway is not long on that. So, it was scary at that time. In a weird way, I was like, ‘Is this it?’”

Thankfully, it wasn’t — and Scarlett also thinks that the industry’s approach to casting younger actors has changed since she first started.

“Now, I see younger actors that are in their 20s,” she said. “It feels like they’re allowed to be all these different things.”

“It’s another time, too. We’re not even allowed to really pigeonhole other actors anymore, thankfully, right? People are much more dynamic.”

SOURCE: buzzfeed.com