Scarlett Johansson by Stephen Mooallem

Interview, part 2. Scarlett Johansson is a fantastic young actress, even if her private life is a bit sketchy, and she's just recorded a bunch of Tom Waits songs. She also happens to have starred in 3 out of Woody Allen's past 4 films: Match Point, Scoop, and just out now, Vicky Cristina Barcelona with Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem. The interviewer is Stephen Mooallem, exec editor at Interview.

SM: So, you know, Tom Waits and Woody Allen are very different kinds of artists, but there are some similarities there. I mean, one is all whiskey and cigarettes and beatnik melancholy, and the other is about sort of nebbish, modernist neurosis . . . but still there's an existential-pain sort of thing happening in both of their work. Do you think you are attracted to that kind of material on some level?
SJ: Well, existential questioning and suffering--that's what makes art interesting, right? I mean, it's all about trying to figure out what the hell we're doing on this crazy spinning ball of water and sand. . . . I don't know . . . I think that anything that I do relates to that sort of cerebral questioning. Discomfort. As well as satisfaction. And, you know, I think both artists are sort of appreciative of small, satisfying things as well. . . . That sort of slice of life, in a way. You probably can't decipher an answer out of that. [laughs]
SM: No, I can.
SJ: You know, that's what I think attracts me to both of them--and every artist that I've worked with, in a way. Even if it's Frank Miller, whose mind is wandering everywhere. He knows what it's like to have your first cigarette of the day, and that's, like, what he can appreciate. Those little moments, he makes a big deal out of, even if it's in a noirish, bloody massacre.

Scarlett Johansson's body of work in film is fairly consistent and pretty impressive, especially for a 24-year-old. One of her first more notable movies was Ghost World, in 2001, with Thora Birch, who next did American Beauty, and Steve Buscemi. She did Lost in Translation with Bill Murray in 2003, which gained a lot of notice, then Girl With a Pearl Earring, A Love Song for Bobby Long, and In Good Company (one of my favorites), and The Prestige right after that. Then, she's done the three Woody Allen movies, and probably more soon. Yeah, she did Eight Legged Freaks, and The Other Boleyn Girl, and The Island and The Black Dahlia, none of which were supposed to be very good. But for the most part, she's got pretty discerning taste in roles, and she kind of does her own thing. Ghost World is a cult favorite, and just a great movie. As an actress, she commands respect, as far as I'm concerned, and that questioning nature that she comes out in her interview definitely surfaces in her work.

----------------
Now playing: The Fratellis - Whistle for the Choir