Scarlett Johansson talks about Natasha Romanoff, her character in 'Black Widow'
Marvel Studios' action-packed spy thriller is now available in theaters nationwide. The film is directed by Cate Shortland.
She is a Tony Award-winning and BAFTA-winning actress, twice Oscar nominee and five-time Golden Globe nominee. Recently, she was seen in the latest installment of the Avengers film series, Avengers: Endgame, performing again. the role of Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow; she starred in the Golden Globe-nominated film A Marriage Story, directed by Noah Baumbach; and in Jojo Rabbit, by Taika Waititi.
Scarlett Johansson made her debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2010 with Iron Man 2, and more than ten years later, in 2021, the public will be able to know the story of Natasha Romanoff outside of The Avengers this week.
Marvel Studios' Black Widow opens from July 9 simultaneously in theaters and on Disney + through Premier Access. In this installment, the actress - through her character - confronts the darkest parts of her story when a dangerous conspiracy related to her past arises.
Pursued by a force that won't stop to destroy her, Natasha must face her history as a spy and the damaged relationships she left behind long before she became an Avenger.
The actress talks about her character in the film which, in her opinion, culminates Natasha's evolution from early sexualization to the complex and human portrait of this film.
Since when was Black Widow a possibility?
This movie was always under consideration, but we didn't know how it was going to be done. It would have been very different if we had done it ten years ago. The truth is that I am very grateful that it was now because we were able to make a film about real issues. And the public wants that.
How did you feel about exploring Natasha's past and uncovering the mysteries that surrounded her?
I think from the beginning, when we started talking about making this stand-alone movie, there was no reason to make it unless we could really deeply explore the character and have the courage to do it. After playing this character for a decade, I wanted to make sure that she would be artistically and creatively rewarding for me and for the fans as well.
I know this character a lot, because she is inside me. But she had never had a chance to access all the ins and outs of her. Cate Shortland, our director, loves the idea of exploring her character. I was able to discover many things about her, find her strengths and her flaws. It was quite therapeutic. I can't imagine that there are many actors who have the opportunity to do that with a character that they have been playing for ten years.
Is it difficult to reinterpret the character considering her fate in Avengers: Endgame?
I feel like we have a healing opportunity and a chance to understand why Natasha decides to sacrifice herself in Endgame, and where that came from. Perhaps we can come to believe that she is now at peace with some of the unfinished business that she had to grapple with.
How did Black Widow end up being a Marvel Studios version of a family drama?
One of the themes of the film is family. What is a family? How do you define us? How does our past define us? How does our family - however we define it - determine us, for better or for worse?
But who would have imagined that it was going to be a family drama?
I think part of the genius of Kevin Feige is that he always thinks about what fans expect from these movies and then gives them something that they would never have imagined. The idea of Natasha Romanoff in a family drama is the least expected, and I had to find a way to understand how it was going to be because it is a very big tonal shift. Like Kevin said, it's like another movie collides sideways with the one you thought you were going to see. If not handled well, it can become very jarring.
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| This film, Marvel's second with a female protagonist after "Captain Marvel" (2019), focuses all its attention on the traumatic past of Natasha, a spy who grew up in the Soviet bloc and ended up fighting for the Avengers in the US. Photo courtesy of Marvel Photo: Marvel Studios |
Was it important to explore the history of Budapest?
When we started talking about locations - when everything was still possible - we all agreed that we had to find out what had happened in Budapest. It was funny how it all started. Joss Whedon wrote us that enigmatic moment between Hawkeye and Black Widow, that he hinted at an unknown story between Clint and Natasha, so that people would start theorizing. I think Natasha is upset. She has a strong sense of doom. There are unfinished business and a guilt that haunts her, and everything seems to have its origin in what happened in Budapest. The movie is not about what happened in Budapest, but that helps to understand the weight that Natasha carries and what is weighing her down.
“It was amazing how many stunt women we had on set all the time. The power of these women together in one room was something he had never experienced. It was an amazing feeling to be surrounded by all these tough and strong women and to get into action with them. It was great ”, Scarlett Johansson.
How did she prepare for the physical aspects of the role?
I did several different types of training for these films, but hadn't realized that we were going to shoot the skydiving scenes, which allowed us to more accurately capture movement, camera movements, and emotion interpretation. So it was very helpful to know what it felt like to skydive because I had to use all of that. And it was much more difficult than I had imagined. It was a challenge.
And as for general training, luckily I felt stronger than ever and felt that my body had a kind of physical and muscular memory. And I feel that during the ten years that I have been playing this character, I have been working to get to this moment. Now I am older, and the pains are a little stronger and last longer, but I feel that I am at a time in my life of much greater capacity than I was in 2009.
