Scarlett Johansson
BIRTHDAY
November 22, 1984
New York, NY
RECENT CREDITS
Iron Man 2 (FILM) May. 7, 2010
He's Just Not That Into You (FILM) Feb. 6, 2009
The Spirit (FILM) Dec. 25, 2008
Vicky Cristina Barcelona (FILM) Aug. 15, 2008
The Other Boleyn Girl (FILM) Feb. 29, 2008
Biography
Scarlett I. Johansson (born November 22, 1984) is an American actress and singer. Johansson made her film debut in the 1994 film North and was subsequently nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Lead Female for her performance in 1996’s Manny & Lo. Johansson rose to fame with her role in 1998’s The Horse Whisperer and subsequently gained critical acclaim for her breakout performance in Ghost World in 2001, for which she won the Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting
Actress.
She made the transition to adult roles with her critically acclaimed performance in Sofia Coppola’s film Lost in Translation opposite Bill Murray, for which she won a BAFTA Award, and Girl with a Pearl Earring, the latter two earning her Golden Globe Award nominations in 2003. A role in A Love Song for Bobby Long earned her a third nomination for Golden Globe for Best Actress. Following an appearance in The Island, Johansson again garnered critical acclaim and a fourth Golden Globe nomination, for Best Supporting Actress, for her role in Woody Allen’s Match Point. She followed that with another Allen film, Scoop, with Hugh Jackman. A role in Brian de Palma’s film noir The Black Dahlia was followed by a second role opposite Hugh Jackman in The Prestige, also starring Christian Bale.
Following a 2007 appearance in the critical flop The Nanny Diaries, Johansson’s career experienced a resurgence of critical reception with the 2008 films The Other Boleyn Girl opposite Natalie Portman and Eric Bana and the Woody Allen directed film, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, with Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz. She received positive reviews for her appearance in He’s Just Not That into You (2009) and will appear as anti-heroine Black Widow in Iron Man 2 with Robert Downey Jr. and Samuel L. Jackson.
On May 20, 2008, Johansson debuted as a vocalist on her first album, Anywhere I Lay My Head, which included cover versions of Tom Waits songs. Her second album, Break Up, with Pete Yorn was released in September 2009.
Acting Career
Early Roles
Johansson began acting during childhood, after her mother began taking her to auditions. She made her film debut at age nine as John Ritter’s daughter in the 1994 fantasy comedy North. Following minor roles in the 1995 film Just Cause, as the daughter of Sean Connery and Kate Capshaw, and If Lucy Fell in 1996, she landed the role of Amanda in the Lisa Krueger-helmed film Manny & Lo. Her performance garnered a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Lead Female, and positive reviews, one noting that the film “grows on you, largely because of the charm of … Scarlett Johansson”, while San Francisco Chronicle critic Mick LaSalle praised her “peaceful aura”, predicting that “if she can get through puberty with that aura undisturbed, she could become an important actress.”
After appearing in minor roles in Fall in 1997 and Home Alone 3, Johansson garnered widespread attention for her performance in the 1998 film The Horse Whisperer, directed by Robert Redford. She received a nomination for the Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promising Newcomer for the film. In 1999, she appeared in both My Brother the Pig and the neo-noir Coen brothers film The Man Who Wasn’t There, as well as a very brief appearance in the Mandy Moore video for her single “Candy”. Although the film was not a box office success, she received praise for her breakout role in the critically acclaimed 2001 film, Ghost World. Credited with “sensitivity and talent [that] belie her age”, Johansson went on to win the Chlotrudis and Toronto Film Critics Association Awards for Best Supporting Actress and was nominated for the Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress. In 2002 Johansson appeared in the comedy horror thriller Eight Legged Freaks, starring David Arquette.
Music Career
In 2005, Johansson was considered for the role of Maria in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s West End revival of The Sound of Music, though the role ultimately went to newcomer Connie Fisher after she won BBC’s talent show How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? Released on May 8, 2006, Johansson sang the track “Summertime” for Unexpected Dreams – Songs from the Stars, a non-profit collection of songs recorded by Hollywood actors. She performed with The Jesus And Mary Chain for a special Coachella Reunion Show in Indio, California in April 2007.
n 2007, she appeared as the leading lady in Justin Timberlake’s music video for “What Goes Around…/…Comes Around,” nominated in August 2007 for video of the year at the MTV Video Music Awards. The video sparked rumors of a romance between Johansson and Timberlake.
In the summer of 2007, Johansson spent about a month in Maurice, Louisiana recording an album at Dockside Studio, a rural 12-acre (49,000 m2) complex. The album, consisting of one original song and ten cover versions of Tom Waits songs, was produced by Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio and features David Bowie, members from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Celebration. Released on May 20, 2008, it was entitled Anywhere I Lay My Head. Reviews of the album were mixed to somewhat positive. Rolling Stone commented that her “voice is unremarkable and her pitch sometimes unsteady; she’s a faintly goth Marilyn Monroe lost in a sonic fog.” Conversely, some critics found it to be “surprisingly alluring”, “a bravely eccentric selection”, and “a brilliant album” with “ghostly magic”. The album was named the “23rd best album of 2008″ by NME and peaked at #1 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart and #126 on the Billboard 200 chart. Of her album, Johansson said, “I had this golden opportunity to record and thought I would do maybe an album of standards, because I’m not a songwriter. I’m a vocalist.” Johansson said for her recording she “wanted to have space and [she] wanted to be in a remote place where all of us could just be ourselves and not worry about anyone trying to listen in or get in on that.” Johansson said in an interview that she started listening to Tom Waits when she was 11 or 12. Of Tom Waits, Johansson said in an interview, “his melodies are so beautiful, his voice is so distinct and I had my own way of doing Tom Waits songs.” In December 2008, MTV reported Johansson plans to
follow-up Anywhere I Lay My Head with an album of all original music, saying, “I don’t think I’d do covers, so it’d be a project that I have to dedicate myself to. I feel like that’s something for the future.”
In 2009, Johansson covered Jeff Buckley’s “Last Goodbye” for the soundtrack of He’s Just Not That Into You. Due for release on September 8, 2009, she and singer/songwriter Pete Yorn recorded a collaborative album, Break Up, inspired by Serge Gainsbourg’s duets with Brigitte Bardot.
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