The Street Of Dreams
There was a time when starring in a telly ad meant being on the end of a telephone asking for a book about fly-fishing, or begging a French polisher to save your life, but not now.
Now, you have mini epic films starring huge talent and directed by the keen eyes of Mr Martin Scorsese.
To promote Dolce & Gabbana’s latest fragrance, Scarlett Johansson finds herself driving around in a flash car with a handsome Matthew McConaughey, all in sultry black and white with Scorsese evoking a timeless, classic feel.
None of it gives us a clue as to what Dolce & Gabbana’s perfume actually smells like, but until they invent sniffable adverts, what else can they do?
On fame
It must be weird to suddenly find yourself an international superstar, but what actually happens when that moment comes? Well, here’s what happened to Johansson:
“I was driving through Los Angeles and I look up and see the biggest photo of me I have ever seen in my life on a massive ad space. I screamed and slammed on the brakes. I couldn't believe it. It's very strange to see my cleavage the size of a brontosaurus.”
Hands down the best comparison to anything we have ever heard.
Break Up
Following on from her first foray into music, Scarlett Johansson teamed up with Pete Yorn to release a second album, supposedly inspired by Serge Gainsbourg’s collaborative albums with Brigitte Bardot.
The album received mixed-to-positive reviews, but it also led to Johansson – who recorded her vocal tracks in just two afternoons – making her first live television performance on French show Le Grand Journal .
More than Happy - Iron Man 2 (2010)
Agent Romanoff’s first real moment to shine taking down a legion of henchmen, even if it is at the expense of poor old Happy slugging it out with just one of them.
Between throwing dangerous gadgets and employing physics-defying acrobatics, Black Widow takes down everyone in her path – establishing a character-defining pose in the process – without even breaking a sweat.
And finishing it all off by spraying one last guy with an eyeful of mace without even looking at him is priceless.
A Love Song For Bobby Long (2004)
This pulpy, sultry Southern story hasn’t ever had a release here in the UK, but it earned Johansson a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama.
She plays Pursy Will, an 18-year-old girl who finds herself in an unusual living arrangement with Literature Professor Bobby Long (John Travolta) and struggling writer Lawson Pines (Gabriel Macht).
The film divided critics but seems to be looked back on favourably now with many praising Johansson’s performance in what is an eccentric, poetic drama.
Robot Chicken
There’s never a better way to show that you are still a cool, grounded celebrity than to provide voice work for an animated TV show making fun of yourself, and – in 2005 – Scarlett Johansson did exactly that, joining Seth Green, Matthew Senreich & co for stop-motion sketches on Robot Chicken .
In fact, Johansson returned over the years and lent her voice for six episodes in total of the geeky anarchic show, with characters ranging from ‘Tooth Fairy’ and ‘Cheerleader’ to ‘Crack-Ho’. Awww.
2006 Golden Globe Awards
Johansson’s last Golden Globe nomination was for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture for her turn in Match Point , and she showed up suitably dressed to impress.
Her outfit for the occasion adorned the front cover of many magazines that week and topped the bill in the usual Best and Worst Dressed lists meaning that, even if she didn’t pick up her award on the night, she still won in the style stakes.
The bold opening Lost In Translation (2003)
It may seem like mild titillation, but the opening shot of Sofia Coppola’s Lost In Translation , in which we see ScarJo’s behind framed in slightly see-through pink panties, is almost as iconic as the movie’s closing secret whisper.
It’s a mysterious, tantalising shot that suggests restrained sexuality and is entirely enigmatic, in perfect keeping with the rest of the film.
Eternity Moment for Calvin Klein
In 2004, following her critically acclaimed performances in Lost In Translation and Girl With A Pearl Earring , Scarlett Johansson was snapped up by Calvin Klein to be the face of their latest fragrance, Eternity Moment.
It was her biggest endorsement to date and helped to put her on the celebrity stratosphere as she starred in a classy, sophisticated black-and-white advert in which she rolled around in a bed with some guy.
Olivias double-cross The Prestige (2006)
In a movie filled with bluffs, double bluffs and extra-secret, twisty triple-double bluffs, Scarlett Johansson’s Olivia Wenscombe adds further momentum to the movie’s chief rivalry by switching sides halfway through.
In love with the resentment-filled Angier but sent by him to infiltrate Borden’s show, Olivia takes this as one step too far and takes revenge by deliberately giving him a falsified diary that makes up much of the film’s narrative.
And, in an even bigger betrayal, she proceeds to help Borden with his act, giving him advice to improve his showmanship and proving that she is more than just the pretty-faced, distracting magician’s assistant she was hired to be.
