Scarlett Johansson is herself a force to reckon with but even she felt a little nervous while working with the renowned director, Woody Allen. Known for films like Annie Hall, Manhattan, Midnight in Paris, and so on, Woody Allen has won four Academy Awards, 10 BAFTAs, 2 Golden Globes and so much more. All in all, he is a well-decorated filmmaker and it’s no surprise that actors would feel a little intimated in front of him.
Despite the fact that Scarlett Johansson had been in plenty of projects before starring in Woody Allen’s Match Point, she was still a tad bit nervous. Due to her nerves, the actress had a hard time filming on her first day but eventually decided to put her head in the game.
Scarlett Johansson was Nervous to Film with Woody Allen
Scarlett Johansson has worked with Woody Allen on multiple occasions but the 2005 film Match Point was their very first collaboration. In the film, she had a few intimate scenes with co-star Jonathan Rhys Meyers but she even pulled through that with utmost grace. The problem came up when it was her first day on the set and she was a little too nervous to perform in front of Allen, given his incredible reputation.
Then there was also the fact that she was cast just one week before the filming for Match Point began.
In an interview with IGN, Johansson said,
Yeah, I have been a big fan of Woody’s before I was supposed to be watching his movies. And I was nervous. I was definitely nervous; I don’t know if I was intimidated, but I was certainly, I was really cast the week before we started shooting.
Johansson also recalled how horrible the camera tests went:
I got there. We did these camera tests which were horrible, long and Woody was just kind of there and he said, ‘Hey, I’m Woody Allen.’ And he stepped behind the camera and you start coming out in all these outfits. It’s like, my worst nightmare.
Shooting began the very next day and an anxious Johansson got the short end of the stick as she had five pages worth of dialogue on her first day itself. She admitted that while the first take was horrible, she soon realized that she had no choice but to suck it up and deliver a good performance.
The next day we started shooting. We shot a scene where my character, to my misfortune, has to explain her entire history to Johnny’s character and you don’t expect on your first day of working with Woody Allen that you’re going to have five pages of dialogue. So, yeah, I was nervous. My first take was horrible. But, then I realized that I better suck it up, because I was going to have seven weeks of this.
Match Point revolves around the story of Chris, a former tennis player who marries into a rich family. However, everything is threatened when he gets into an affair with his brother-in-law’s girlfriend, Nola, played by Johansson.
Match Point was a success at the box office making $87.9 million on a budget of $15 million as per The Numbers.
Scarlett Johansson Went on to Star in a Comedy with Woody Allen
The very next film Allen directed was another collaboration with Johansson – Scoop (2006). Scoop is a crime romcom where Allen not only acts but also serves as the writer and director. He clearly saw something special in Johansson.
Speaking about working with Allen as an actor, the Black Widow actress told IGN,
It’s different working with Woody as an actor, because I get to spend more time with him – which is great. It’s a little bit different doing a comedy with him, because he’s a comic master and that’s his gift.
In a different interview with girl.com, Johannson said that she and Allen wanted to act together, particularly in a comedy, as they both had too much fun on the set of Match Point. And of course, it didn’t take long for Allen to make their wish come true.
The actress stated,
We wanted to act together and we wanted to do a comedy together because we had a lot of fun on set, and there was a kind of funny banter between us, so when we were making it I said, that I would love to act with you some time which would be so much fun, and he agreed.
Their second movie together was met with mixed reviews but showed outstanding box office results, grossing over $40 million versus a budget of just $4 million. The duo’s next collab came in the form of the 2008 film, Vicky Cristina Barcelona.
You can stream Match Point on Peacock Premium while Scoop is available to rent/buy on Prime Video.
