Scarlett Johansson has made her career with her ability to perform versatile roles blended with cheer and emotional depth. She made her debut in the 1994 comedy-drama North. Two years later, she played a lead in Manny & Lo for which she received a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead.
Later she appeared in many successful movies which led her to be the world’s highest-paid actress in 2018 and 2019. Johansson is best known for her role as Natasha Romanoff aka, Black Widow in several movies including her stand-alone 2021 movie Black Widow in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Despite being an Avenger, Johansson has proved to be versatile. She has appeared in many action movies outside MCU that include, Jonathan Glazer’s sci-fi Under the Skin, Luc Besson’s Lucy, and Rupert Sanders’ Ghost in the Shell. But being featured in Woody Allen’s Match Point, Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation, and later, Don Jon, Spike Jonze’s sci-fi classic Her, war drama Jojo Rabbit and recent romance drama Marriage Story proved her versatile genius as an actor.
However, the actor also had dream roles she failed to appear.
Scarlett Johansson Was Upset Losing Sandra Bullock’s $723M Role
As per reports, Scarlett Johansson wanted to play space engineer Ryan Stone in Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity. However, the maker of the movie chose Sandra Bullock for the role. The Black Widow star Johansson was really upset losing the role.
“I got turned down for two roles — the first was ‘Iron Man 2’ and then the other one was Alfonso Cuarón’s ‘Gravity.’ I had wanted that role so much. It was sort of the straw that broke the camel’s back. I felt really frustrated and hopeless. Like, ‘Am I doing the right job?’ The work I was being offered felt deeply unfulfilling. I think I was offered every Marilyn Monroe script ever. I was like, ‘Is this the end of the road creatively?’,” Johansson said.
Cuarón’s 2013 sci-fi, Gravity was a huge commercial and critical success. The movie grossed over $723.2 million at the global box office. Also, the movie received ten Oscar nominations and won seven including Best Director, Best Original Score, Best Cinematography, and Best Visual Effects. Certainly, playing the lead in the movie was the dream of many. The movie also stars George Clooney and Ed Harris.
Talking to Variety, the actor also revealed that she wanted to be in Iron Man 2 and fortunately, she got the role of Black Widow which extended to many movies and the character died in Avengers: Endgame.
Angelina Jolie Fired Her Controlling Manager For The Same Role
Originally, Cuarón had planned Angelina Jolie and Robert Downey Jr. as the lead actors for his, Gravity. Jolie was also very much interested in the role. Talking about the initial process of the movie Cuarón said, “I thought I had written a small movie … just one character floating in space.”
“We started developing stuff to figure out the technology. And the luxury [was] that we could try many things,” the director added.
According to many reports in 2013, Jolie fired her manager over losing the movie. Jolie had to opt for her directorial venture Unbroken, which was another important project for the actor. The project’s schedule was in conflict with Cuarón’s Gravity and for that, she cut ties with her manager. Like Johansson, Jolie was also pretty upset over losing the role knowing that the movie could be another great project to their resume. According to a report:
“For years, Jolie has relied on her controlling manager, Geyer Kosinski, who blocked her from the Hollywood community and demanded producing credits and fees for himself on most of her projects.
But Kosinski’s stock tumbled with “Gravity,” when the monster hit moved from Universal to Warner Bros. over money and Jolie was replaced by Sandra Bullock, who will reap a fortune and probably get a Best Actress Oscar nomination.”
The tussle over the role ended after Cuarón brought in Sandra Bullock. She received an Oscar nomination for the role of a lone survivor in space.
Gravity is available for streaming on HBO Max. It can also be rented or purchased on Google Play and Amazon Instant Video.
Source: Movieweb.
