Chris Evans couldn’t believe that none of the scenes in Scarlett Johansson’s critically acclaimed movie were improvised. Johansson shared with Evans that Noah Baumbach, the director of Marriage Story, was very specific about every spoken word in his film. Evans, who compared the film to theater, was surprised and shared that Baumbach and Johansson deserved Oscars for the film.
Johansson accepted the role of Nicole Barber while she was still filming reshoots for Avengers: Endgame. Evans too was ready to move on from the superhero role right after the two-part Infinity Saga finale since he wanted to explore other types of roles. He landed the role in Rian Johnson’s Knives Out, while the Scoop actress had her second chance for a film with Baumbach.
Chris Evans Believed Scarlett Johansson Should’ve Won The Oscar For Marriage Story Role
Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson discussed their post-Marvel projects when they appeared on Variety’s Actors on Actors segment. Evans shared that he had seen her film and praised her acting, sharing that she deserved all the accolades for her role.
Johansson shared that Noah Baumbach only pitched the concept to her and she could instantly connect with it due to her divorce from Romain Dauriac at the time. Evans went on to share his experience with Rian Johnson, who was very lenient with how the actors interpreted his script. The Fantastic Four actor revealed that the director okayed shots after only two takes.
Johansson found Baumbach to be in stark contrast with Johnson. She shared that the director was relentless and went for as many takes as it took for the actors to capture what was in the script. The Under the Skin actress shared that he was specific about even the hesitations and unfinished sentences. Johansson shared on Variety’s Actors on Actors:
Noah is in stark contrast to Rian. He’s relentless, and you can do 50 takes. He only uses one camera, and he’s very specific about the words are the words. Every hesitation, every unfinished sentence, everyone talking over one another is all completely scripted.
A surprised Evans asked whether nothing was improvised in the film. He believed the film would have a lot of improvised scenes based on how theatrical it felt. When Johansson confirmed that it was all scripted, Evans shared, “You guys both need Oscars, because I was like, ‘Oh, this is improvised.’ It’s like theater.”
While Johansson was nominated for Best Actress Oscar at the 92nd Academy Awards, she lost the award to Renée Zellweger. Baumbach was also nominated for Best Original Screenplay but didn’t win. The only Oscar for the film went to Laura Dern for Best Supporting Actress.
Scarlett Johansson Also Reflected On Their Marvel Journey With Chris Evans
Scarlett Johansson also discussed their Marvel journey, recalling how uncomfortable they felt to team up for The Avengers. Evans too agreed when Johansson shared that the concept of their first superhero team-up film felt absurd initially. She shared, “I think everybody was feeling very uneasy about the concept. It seemed… it was just so absurd.”
However, the entire cast was blown away when The Avengers went on to gross $1.5 billion at the box office (via Box Office Mojo). Evans shared that the success eventually came down to the fact that they enjoyed working with each other. Johansson expressed her appreciation for the opportunity to work with such a great cast. The Lost in Translation actress shared with Variety:
It’s been just, I feel unbelievably lucky to have been a part of something like that. It will be one of my treasured memories of life, just forging the kind of family, friendships that we had, with everybody, and experiencing the success of something like that with a group of people that you love, and are rooting for is basically the best possible way that that could turn out.
Evans and Johansson also shared that they were initially unaware of filming a team film when they signed up for their respective Marvel roles. However, it went on to become the biggest success in both their careers.
Marriage Story is now available to watch on Netflix, while The Avengers is available on Disney+.
