Scarlett Johansson “I miss being alone”

Scarlett Johansson does not try to please anyone, does not try to look, to impress. She feels great in her body, and therefore – naturally in any environment. So nothing to look at. And I come out of hiding. A well-bred girl, she stands up and holds out her hand, soft, round, unmanicured. Warm baby hand. My daughter has the exact same feel. And my daughter is only ten… 15 years younger than Scarlett. But Scarlett twitches her shoulder in a gray jacket without any designer details and rubs her knee in wide black trousers. Absolutely girly gesture. She closes her architecture magazine, explaining in the voice of a good student that her interest in architecture came from her father, an architect and builder, and raises her face to the waiter, who has come up in response to her smile. And orders cocoa. Children’s drink. Childish and girly. She does not wait for my questions, but, as if trying to arrange me in reality as comfortably as she feels, she continues to explain.

Another Scarlett

Johansson says that her mother did not agree with her husband’s desire to name her daughter after the heroine of the novel, which became the “manifesto of the American worldview.” But her father insisted, and later it turned out that the girl’s personality is in no way inferior to her literary namesake, Miss O’Hara. And he confirms this, courageously mastering virgin fields of activity for himself. She’s already earned the title of Waits’ Female Tom for her vocal album Wherever I Lay My Head, because her deep, sensual voice sounds as innovatively fresh as Waits’s hoarse-hooligan baritone once sounded. And her short story, filmed for the film almanac New York, I Love You, is marked not by the debutant angularity of directing, but by a certain sharpness. That is why the producers preferred to “leave it on the floor in the editing room” and did not include it in the rental version of the film.

Scarlett Johansson: I made an appointment for you here, at the Chateau, not because photographers are not allowed here and everything is so glossy and pompous. I just feel at home here. I lived here the first time I tried to move from New York to Los Angeles. Some years ago. Bought a house. And when I moved, I felt so lonely … Alone in the house … I’m not used to it – I grew up in a small apartment, where, in addition to mom and dad, there was also a brother, sister, my twin brother … Well, I moved to the Chateau Mormon”. Although it’s chic, but still there are people around.

Psychologies: Do you have a hard time being alone?

S. Y.: No… Now I miss being alone. Now is when they recognize me. You become famous, gain fame, but you pay by losing moments of intimacy alone with yourself, you are never only in your own company … You are sitting quietly in a cafe, you decide to clear your nose, and then someone suddenly comes up with compliments, with the best intentions . And you, with your snotty handkerchief, freeze like that. Suddenly you realize that you are not alone and you are unlikely to be alone … I was happy to live alone in New York when I broke up with Josh. (Josh Hartnett, actor, boyfriend of Johansson for two years. – Approx. ed.). The fact is that I had a long-term relationship with two men, and this is a serious experience at that age of mine. And when you are left alone, without a partner, you get a chance to learn a lot about yourself. Life as a duet is great, because it teaches you to find compromises, make decisions together. But then I realized that I want to make my own decisions. And she finally moved to Los Angeles … I had a strange state – I could well be alone, but I didn’t want to! And in order not to be alone even in a hotel room, she started a fish in a small aquarium, but then she left for shooting, and the maid forgot to change the water, and the fish died. This is how Maggie, my dog, a Chihuahua by nationality, was born. Egoist and voluntarist. She was silent for a month, and then she began to bark for no reason. Even the head waiter says to me: “Miss Johansson, you are our distinguished guest, but your dog does not let other equally respected guests sleep.” As a result, I started the ironing spray and, as soon as Maggie has an attack of unmotivated barking, I – zilch! – I spray it. Not painful and effective. I like to influence both Maggie and people in such a way – so that they don’t hurt, but they still went to meet me! I water, however, only Maggie.

“GET FAMOUS, GAIN FAME, BUT YOU PAY BY LOST MOMENTS WHEN YOU CAN BE ALONE WITH YOURSELF.”

In the profession, colleagues consider your mother to be very tough …

S. Y.: You know, when I was first given to understand that my mother is a monster, I just cried. This is horrendously unfair. Because she is not tough and does not go to the goal, stepping over people. She’s just direct and exceptionally disciplined. And what about without self-discipline with four children? In a small apartment where everything could be upside down, but still sometimes it wasn’t? I have self-discipline from her. For example, I get tested for HIV every six months. Not because I practice promiscuity, but because I think that a modern person should feel this kind of responsibility. Thanks to discipline, I have achieved what I have achieved. Mom, of course, is a strong and businesslike woman, but above all, she is a strong mother. Which, in my opinion, is rare.

Did it stop you from growing up?

S. Y.: Mom thinks just the opposite. She says that trusting a seven-year-old child to choose a profession is like giving him the keys to the car and opening the door. However, I got through! And one of my friends jokes that I choose partners based on whether they call their mom every day. And there is some truth here: my mother and I are attached to each other, and men who are attached to mothers have a special chance to inspire confidence in me. Laugh if you like.

“MY MOTHER IS UNDOUBTEDLY A VERY STRONG AND VERY BUSINESS WOMAN. BUT FIRST OF ALL, SHE IS A STRONG MOTHER. WHICH I FIND IS RARE.

Do your views prevent you from being a sex symbol?

S. Y.: One does not interfere with the other! By nature, I am a passionate person and definitely prone to experiencing feelings. But after all, sex symbols exist for this, so that people experience feelings caused, for example, with the help of a screen. And I don’t see anything offensive in being a sexual object – I’m quite comfortable in my female body, so I can also convey the idea of ​​some kind of femininity. But here it is important not to confuse. There are actors who appear in any scene with a sort of sexy facial expression. Like: notice how sexy I am. But true sexuality is something you can’t hide. And not what annoyingly demonstrate! Brian de Palma explained to me the part I played in his Black Orchid: “You see, she’s a beautiful little thing wrapped in a lot of wrappers. It should be fun to unfold.” For me, this is the best definition of genuine sex appeal.

Do you ever think about what you will be like as an adult?

S. Y.: Oh, I once said something in an interview for which I was accused of the arrogance of youth. I said that old women carry death in them – after all, some of them have already died with the onset of menopause. But this partial death is a kind of liberation. I still think so. Someday I will lose my image of a sex object. But somehow it will set me free. We women are lucky: we do not die immediately, but gradually. In my opinion, such a view of things allows you to feel attachment, love, responsibility for another more sharply.

“I THINK GENUINE SEXUALITY IS THAT YOU CAN’T HIDE. AND NOT WHAT THEY SHOW YOU INTERESTINGLY!”