Scarlett Johansson has proven herself time and time again as one of the most hard-working, committed, and simply the best actresses in all of Hollywood. She has worked with some of her other A-listed stars from the entertainment industry, including the likes of Ewan McGregor and Joaquin Phoenix, among others.
Out of all of them, Johansson seems to hold immense respect for McGregor especially, with whom she worked on her 2005 sci-fi/action The Island. Turns out, the reason behind this is because of an ability that he has been sporting for decades now, ever since he joined the Star Wars saga—something that even she learned to endure years later as Black Widow: Blue screen acting.
Scarlett Johansson Respects Ewan McGregor Due to His Blue Screen Acting
Nearly two decades ago, MCU star Scarlett Johansson joined forces with Star Wars actor McGregor to work on the 2005 sci-fi/action The Island. This saw them playing each other’s love interests as they fight against their destiny to escape being sent to the island where they will be sacrificed as per the needs of each one’s wealthy sponsor, of whom they are clones.
During this, both of them had to work on quite a few blue/green screen scenes for things like planes flying and zinging around them, among other stuff. Since Ewan McGregor had already worked on the Star Wars projects before this, he was considerably well-used to that experience. But for his younger female co-star, it was more or less all new.
Thus, the experience of it all seemingly saw the Jack the Giant Slayer star earning Johansson’s respect. In an interview with BlackFilm, while filmmaker Michael Bay heaped praise on McGregor for the incredible acting chops he displayed while working on a blue/green screen for 2 days, Johansson backed him by pointing out just how hard this stuff actually was.
Talking about McGregor, Bay said, “Ewan is a very good blue screen actor, he really is.” He then went on to emphasize that acting with a blue screen is indeed “very tough” for actors, to which Johansson echoed his thoughts while saying (via BlackFilm):
It is so exhausting.
Bay continued to back up Johansson’s words, saying that working in such an environment “is exhausting and there is nothing to draw from. It is really, really tough.” To this, the Fly Me to the Moon actress added excerpts from her own experience, saying:
Yeah, it really is, especially when you are imagining that you are trying to escape to save your own life and you can hear the grip chewing a sandwich next to you. Really, it is hard.
Well, judging from just how tough Johansson agrees working on a blue screen is, it sounds like she found it commendation worthy that, while others struggled with it, the Trainspotting star managed to do it with much ease. But while that’s that, little did she know that she was soon going to plop down in the same space as McGregor after joining the MCU.
Years Later, Scarlett Johansson Got Candid About Working in a “CGI Environment”
While the fact that it’s “exhausting” was seemingly Scarlett Johansson’s initial reaction to working in virtually envisioned environments, she seems to have grown used to it over the years. This comes after her acknowledging the fact that she has gotten accustomed to the tech while working as Natasha Romanoff in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
If anything, her honest opinion on working in a CGI environment is that (via Innovation & Tech Today): “Acting in any kind of a CGI environment doesn’t really change the process of acting so much.” At the same time, she also admitted that this process pretty much tries to make “a kind of unbelievable experience seem believable.”
Additionally, she also mentioned how being “less self-conscious” of herself as an actor further helped her out with this, saying:
When you’re really in it and you’re emoting and you’re experiencing the character’s emotional journey, it doesn’t really matter what’s in front of you, I guess. You’d be surprised at how you can kind of surprise yourself. And I think, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve been able to suspend disbelief much more easily for some reason.
For what it’s worth, ScarJo most certainly seems to have grown rather comfortable with working in front of a green/blue screen or a CGI-helmed environment—so much so that it’s truly admirable to see just how much she has grown as an actress.
The Island is currently available to be watched on Netflix.
