Entertainment

Scarlett Johansson: I was hyper-sexualised by film industry as a teenager

The actress had her image created by “a bunch of dudes”.
The actress had her image created by “a bunch of dudes”. The actress had her image created by “a bunch of dudes”.

Scarlett Johansson believes she was “hyper-sexualised” while still a teenager.

The actress said her image was created by “a bunch of dudes” working in the film industry.

Johansson, 34, add she was frustrated with roles which limited her to seductive women and plagued her in her late teens and early 20s.

The 89th Academy Awards – Arrivals – Los Angeles
The 89th Academy Awards – Arrivals – Los Angeles Scarlett Johansson said she was typecast early in her career. (Ian West/PA)

The actress said her sexualisation by those in the industry seemed “OK to everyone”, and it took time to break out of the limitations of being typecast.

She spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about her experiences as a female star in the film industry.

Johansson said: “When I was working in my early 20s, and even my late teens, I felt that I got somehow typecast as hyper-sexualised, which I guess at the time seemed OK to everyone.

“It was another time — even though it wasn’t part of my own narrative, it was kind of crafted for me by probably a bunch of dudes in the industry.”

Johansson recalls feeling limited by the image she was given, and feared there was little longevity in playing the “other woman” or the ingenue.

She said she needed something more fulfilling that the roles she was being offered.

Johansson believes culture has shifted, and women are no longer as limited in the movie industry as they once were.

She said: “The climate is so different now, there’s so many wonderful opportunities for women of every age to play all different types of people.”

The full interview with Johansson can be read in The Hollywood Reporter.