1994–2002: Early work and breakthrough At age nine, Johansson landed her first paid role as a sketch character on an episode of ''
Late Night with Conan O'Brien''. Later that year, she made her film debut as
John Ritter's daughter in the fantasy comedy
North (1994). Johansson's first leading role was as Amanda, the younger sister of a pregnant teenager who runs away from her
foster home in
Manny & Lo (1996) alongside
Aleksa Palladino and her brother, Hunter. Her performance received positive reviews: one written for the
San Francisco Chronicle noted, "[the film] grows on you, largely because of the charm of ... Scarlett Johansson," while critic
Mick LaSalle, writing for the same paper, commented on her "peaceful aura", and believed, "If she can get through puberty with that aura undisturbed, she could become an important actress." Johansson earned a nomination for the
Independent Spirit Award for Best Lead Female for the role. After appearing in minor roles in
Fall and
Home Alone 3 (both in 1997), Johansson attracted wider attention for her performance in the film
The Horse Whisperer (1998), co-starring director
Robert Redford.
Todd McCarthy of
Variety commented that Johansson "convincingly conveys the awkwardness of her age and the inner pain of a carefree girl suddenly laid low by horrible happenstance". For the film, she was nominated for the
Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promising Actress. She believed that the film changed many things in her life, realizing that acting is the ability to manipulate one's emotions. On finding good roles as a teenager, Johansson said it was hard for her as adults wrote the scripts and they "portray kids like mall rats and not seriously ... Kids and teenagers just aren't being portrayed with any real depth." Johansson later appeared in
My Brother the Pig (1999) and in the
Coen brothers'
neo-noir film ''
The Man Who Wasn't There'' (2001). Her breakthrough came playing a cynical
outcast in
Terry Zwigoff's black comedy
Ghost World (2001), an adaptation of
Daniel Clowes'
graphic novel of the same name. Johansson auditioned for the film via a tape from New York, and Zwigoff believed her to be a "unique, eccentric person, and right for that part". The film premiered at the 2001
Seattle International Film Festival; although a box office failure, it has since developed a
cult status. Johansson was credited with "sensitivity and talent [that] belie her age" by an
Austin Chronicle critic and won a
Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance. With
David Arquette, Johansson appeared in the horror comedy
Eight Legged Freaks (2002) about a collection of spiders exposed to toxic waste, causing them to grow gigantic and begin killing animals and people. After graduating from Professional Children's School that year, she applied to New York University's
Tisch School of the Arts, but was rejected, and decided to focus on her film career.
2003–2004: Transition to adult roles Johansson transitioned from teen to adult roles with two films in 2003: the romantic comedy-drama
Lost in Translation and the drama
Girl with a Pearl Earring. In the former, directed by
Sofia Coppola, she played Charlotte, a listless and lonely young wife, opposite
Bill Murray. Coppola had first noticed Johansson in
Manny & Lo, and compared her to a young
Lauren Bacall; Coppola based the film's story on the relationship between Bacall and
Humphrey Bogart in
The Big Sleep (1946). Johansson found the experience of working with a female director different because of Coppola's ability to empathize with her. Made on a budget of $4 million, the film grossed $119 million at the box office and received critical acclaim.
Roger Ebert was pleased with the film and described the lead actors' performances as "wonderful", and
Entertainment Weekly wrote of Johansson's "embracing, restful serenity".
The New York Times praised Johansson, aged seventeen at the time of filming, for playing an older character. '' at the
2003 Toronto International Film Festival|alt=A photograph of Scarlett Johansson wearing a black dress and a pearl necklace. In
Peter Webber's
Girl with a Pearl Earring, which is based on
the novel of the same name by
Tracy Chevalier, Johansson played Griet, a young seventeenth-century servant in the household of the Dutch painter
Johannes Vermeer (played by
Colin Firth). Webber interviewed 150 actors before casting Johansson. Johansson found the character moving, but did not read the novel, as she thought it was better to approach the story with a fresh start.
Girl with a Pearl Earring received positive reviews and was profitable. In his review for
The New Yorker,
Anthony Lane thought that her presence kept the film "alive", writing, "She is often wordless and close to plain onscreen, but wait for the ardor with which she can summon a closeup and bloom under its gaze; this is her film, not Vermeer's, all the way."
Owen Gleiberman of
Entertainment Weekly noted her "nearly silent performance", remarking, "The interplay on her face of fear, ignorance, curiosity and sex is intensely dramatic." She was nominated for the
BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role and Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress for both films in 2003, winning the former for
Lost in Translation.
Variety opined that Johansson's roles in
Lost in Translation and
Girl with a Pearl Earring established her as among the most versatile actresses of her generation. Johansson had five releases in 2004, three of which—the teen heist film
The Perfect Score, the drama
A Love Song for Bobby Long, and the drama
A Good Woman—were critical and commercial failures. Co-starring with
John Travolta, Johansson played a discontented teenager in
A Love Song for Bobby Long, which is based on the novel
Off Magazine Street by Ronald Everett Capps. David Rooney of
Variety wrote that Johansson's and Travolta's performances rescued the film. Johansson earned a
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Drama nomination for the film. The film was her most commercially successful release that year. She followed it with
In Good Company, a comedy-drama in which she plays a young woman who complicates her father's life when she dates his much younger boss. Reviews of the film were generally positive, describing it as "witty and charming". Ebert was impressed with Johansson's portrayal, writing that she "continues to employ the gravitational pull of quiet fascination".
2005–2009: Collaborations with Woody Allen during the filming of
The Nanny Diaries, 2006 Johansson played Nola, an aspiring actress who begins an affair with a married man (played by
Jonathan Rhys Meyers) in
Woody Allen's drama
Match Point in 2005. After replacing
Kate Winslet with Johansson for the role, Allen changed the character's nationality from British to American. An admirer of Allen's films, Johansson liked the idea of working with him, but felt nervous her first day on the set.
The New York Times was impressed with the performances of Johansson and Rhys Meyers, and LaSalle, writing for the
San Francisco Chronicle, stated that Johansson "is a powerhouse from the word go", with a performance that "borders on astonishing". The film, a box office success, earned Johansson nominations for the
Golden Globe and the
Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress. Also that year, Johansson starred with
Ewan McGregor in
Michael Bay's science fiction film
The Island, in dual roles as Sarah Jordan and her clone, Jordan Two Delta. Johansson found her filming schedule exhausting: she had to shoot for fourteen hours a day, and she hit her head and injured herself. The film received mixed reviews and grossed $163 million against a $126 million budget. Two of Johansson's films in 2006 explored the world of stage magicians, both opposite
Hugh Jackman. Allen cast her opposite Jackman and himself in the film
Scoop (2006), in which she played a journalism student. The film was a modest worldwide box office success, but polarized critics. Ebert was critical of the film, but found Johansson "lovely as always", and LaSalle noted the freshness she brought to her part. She also appeared in
Brian De Palma's
The Black Dahlia, a
film noir shot in Los Angeles and Bulgaria. Johansson later said she was a fan of DePalma and had wanted to work with him on the film but thought that she was unsuitable for the part.
Anne Billson of
The Daily Telegraph likewise found her miscast. '' in 2007|alt=Scarlett Johansson with tousled medium length blonde hair loosely around her shoulders and face, looking to her right. Also in 2006, Johansson starred in the short film
When the Deal Goes Down to accompany
Bob Dylan's song "When the Deal Goes Down..." from the album
Modern Times. Johansson had a supporting role of assistant and lover of Jackman's character, an
aristocratic magician, in
Christopher Nolan's mystery thriller
The Prestige (2006). Nolan thought Johansson possessed "ambiguity" and a "shielded quality". She was fascinated with Nolan's directing methods and liked working with him. The film was a critical and box office success, recommended by the
Los Angeles Times as "an adult, provocative piece of work". Some critics were skeptical of her performance: Billson again judged her miscast, and Dan Jolin of
Empire criticized her English accent. Johansson's sole release of 2007 was the critically panned comedy-drama
The Nanny Diaries alongside
Chris Evans and
Laura Linney, in which she played a college graduate working as a nanny. Reviews of her performance were mixed;
Variety wrote, "[She] essays an engaging heroine", and
The New Yorker criticized her for looking "merely confused" while "trying to give the material a plausible emotional center". In 2008, Johansson starred, with
Natalie Portman and
Eric Bana, in
The Other Boleyn Girl, which also earned mixed reviews. Promoting the film, Johansson and Portman appeared on the cover of
W, discussing with the magazine the public's reception of them. In
Rolling Stone,
Pete Travers criticized the film for "[moving] in frustrating herks and jerks", but thought that the duo were the only positive aspect of the production.
Variety credited the cast as "almost flawless ... at the top of its game", citing "Johansson's quieter Mary ... as the [film's] emotional center". In her third collaboration with Woody Allen, the romantic comedy-drama
Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008), which was filmed in Spain, Johansson plays one of the love interests of
Javier Bardem's character alongside
Penélope Cruz. The film was one of Allen's most profitable and received favorable reviews. A reviewer in
Variety described Johansson as "open and malleable" compared to the other actors. She also played the
femme fatale Silken Floss in
The Spirit, based on the newspaper
comic strip of
the same name by
Will Eisner. It received poor reviews from critics, who deemed it melodramatic, unoriginal and sexist. Johansson's only role in 2009 was as Anna Marks, a yoga instructor, in the ensemble comedy-drama ''
He's Just Not That into You'' (2009). The film was released to tepid reviews but was a box office success.
2010–2013: Marvel Cinematic Universe and worldwide recognition Aspiring to appear on Broadway since childhood, Johansson made her debut in a 2010 revival of
Arthur Miller's drama
A View from the Bridge. Set in the 1950s in an Italian American neighborhood in New York, it tells the tragic tale of Eddie (
Liev Schreiber), who has an inappropriate love for his wife's orphaned niece, Catherine (Johansson). After initial reservations about playing a teenage character, Johansson was convinced by a friend to take on the part.
Ben Brantley of
The New York Times wrote Johansson "melts into her character so thoroughly that her nimbus of celebrity disappears".
Varietys David Rooney was impressed with the play and Johansson in particular, describing her as the chief performer. She won the 2010
Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play. Some critics and Broadway actors criticized the award committee's decision to reward the work of major Hollywood stars, including Johansson. In response, she said that she understood the frustration but had worked hard for her accomplishments. Johansson secured the part of
Black Widow in
Jon Favreau's
Iron Man 2 (2010), a part of the
Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), after
Emily Blunt was forced to opt out due to other obligations. Johansson said the character resonated with her, and she admired the superhero's human traits. The film earned $623.9 million against its $200 million budget, and received generally positive reviews from critics, although reviewers criticized how her character was written. Tim Robey of
The Daily Telegraph and Matt Goldberg thought that she had little to do but look attractive. In 2011, Johansson played the role of Kelly, a zookeeper in the family film
We Bought a Zoo alongside
Matt Damon. The film got mainly favorable reviews, and Anne Billson praised Johansson for bringing depth to a rather uninteresting character. Johansson learned some Russian from a former teacher on the phone for her role as Black Widow in
The Avengers (2012), another entry from the MCU. For her performance, she was nominated for two
Teen Choice Awards and three
People's Choice Awards. Later that year, Johansson portrayed actress
Janet Leigh in
Sacha Gervasi's
Hitchcock, a behind-the-scenes drama about the making of
Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 film
Psycho. Roger Ebert wrote that while Johansson did not look much like Leigh, she did convey her spunk, intelligence, and sense of humor. In January 2013, Johansson starred in a Broadway revival of
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, directed by
Rob Ashford. Set in the
Mississippi Delta, it examines the relationships within the family of Big Daddy (
Ciarán Hinds), primarily between his son Brick (
Benjamin Walker) and Maggie (Johansson). Her performance received mixed reviews.
Entertainment Weeklys Thom Geier wrote Johansson "brings a fierce fighting spirit" to her part, but Joe Dziemianowicz from
Daily News called her performance "alarmingly one-note". The
2013 Sundance Film Festival hosted the premiere of
Joseph Gordon-Levitt's directorial debut,
Don Jon. In this romantic comedy-drama, she played the girlfriend of the
pornography-addicted title character. Gordon-Levitt wrote the role for Johansson, who had previously admired his acting work. The film received positive reviews and Johansson's performance was highlighted by critics.
Claudia Puig of
USA Today considered it to be one of her best performances. In 2013, Johansson voiced the character Samantha, a self-aware
computer operating system, in
Spike Jonze's film
Her, replacing
Samantha Morton in the role. The film premiered at the 8th
Rome International Film Festival, where Johansson won Best Actress; she was also nominated for the
Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Supporting Actress. Johansson was intimidated by the role's complexity, and found her recording sessions for the role challenging but liberating. Peter Travers believed Johansson's voice in the film was "sweet, sexy, caring, manipulative, scary [and] award-worthy".
Times
Richard Corliss called her performance "seductive and winning", and
Her was rated as one of the best films of 2013. She also won the
Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress at the
40th Saturn Awards in 2014 for her performance. Johansson was cast in
Jonathan Glazer's science fiction film
Under the Skin (2013) as an
extraterrestrial creature disguised as a human femme fatale who preys on men in Scotland. The project, an adaptation of
Michel Faber's
novel of the same name, took nine years to complete. For the role, she learned to drive a van and speak in an English accent. Johansson improvised conversations with non-professional actors on the street, who did not know they were being filmed. It was released to generally positive reviews, with particular praise for Johansson. Erin Whitney, writing for
The Huffington Post, considered it to be her finest performance to that point, and noted that it was her first fully nude role. Author Maureen Foster wrote, "How much depth, breadth, and range Johansson mines from her character's very limited allowance of emotional response is a testament to her acting prowess that is, as the film goes on, increasingly stunning." It earned Johansson a
BIFA for Best Performance by an Actress in a British Independent Film nomination.
2014–2020: Blockbuster films and critical acclaim |alt=Scarlett Johansson, wearing a dark blue coat, smiles to her left. Continuing her work in the MCU, Johansson reprised her role as Black Widow in
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014). In the film, she joins forces with
Captain America (
Chris Evans) and
Falcon (
Anthony Mackie) to uncover a conspiracy within
S.H.I.E.L.D., while facing a mysterious assassin known as the
Winter Soldier. Johansson and Evans wrote their own dialogue for several scenes they had together. Johansson was attracted to her character's way of doing her job, employing her feminine wiles and not her physical appeal. The film was a critical and commercial success, grossing over $714 million worldwide. Critic Odie Henderson saw a "genuine emotional shorthand at work, especially from Johansson, who is excellent here". The role earned her a Saturn Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Johansson played a supporting role in the film
Chef (2014), alongside
Robert Downey Jr.,
Sofía Vergara, and director Jon Favreau. It grossed over $45 million at the box office and was well received by critics. The
Chicago Sun-Times writer
Richard Roeper found the film "funny, quirky and insightful, with a bounty of interesting supporting characters". In
Luc Besson's science fiction action film
Lucy (2014), Johansson starred as the title character, who gains psychokinetic abilities when a nootropic drug is absorbed into her bloodstream. Besson discussed the role with several actresses, and cast Johansson based on her strong reaction to the script and her discipline. Critics generally praised the film's themes, visuals, and Johansson's performance; some found the plot nonsensical.
IGN's Jim Vejvoda attributed the film's success to her acting and Besson's style. The film grossed $458 million on a budget of $40 million to become
the 18th highest-grossing film of 2014. In 2015 and 2016, Johansson again played Black Widow in the MCU films
Avengers: Age of Ultron and
Captain America: Civil War. During filming of the former, a mixture of close-ups, concealing costumes, stunt doubles and visual effects were used to hide her pregnancy. Both films earned more than $1.1 billion, ranking among the
highest-grossing films of all time. For
Civil War, Johansson earned her second nomination for
Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actress in an Action Movie and her fourth for Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress. Earlier in 2016, Johansson had featured in the Coen brothers' well-received comedy film
Hail, Caesar! about a "fixer" working in the classical Hollywood cinema, trying to discover what happened to a cast member who vanished during the filming of a biblical epic; Johansson plays an actress who becomes pregnant while her film is in production. She also voiced
Kaa in
Jon Favreau's
The Jungle Book, a live-action adaptation of
Disney's
1967 animated film, and voiced Ash in the animated
jukebox musical comedy film
Sing (both released in 2016). That year she also narrated an audiobook of
Lewis Carroll's children's novel ''
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''. '' in 2017 Johansson played
Motoko Kusanagi in
Rupert Sanders's 2017
film adaptation of the
Ghost in the Shell franchise. The film was praised for its visual style, acting, and cinematography, but was the subject of controversy for
whitewashing the cast, particularly Johansson's character, a cyborg who was meant to hold the memories of a Japanese woman. Responding to the backlash, the actress asserted she would never play a non-white character, but wanted to take the rare opportunity to star in a female-led franchise.
Ghost in the Shell grossed $169.8 million worldwide against a production budget of $110 million. In March 2017, Johansson hosted
Saturday Night Live for the fifth time, making her the seventeenth person and the fourth woman to enter the
NBC sketch comedy's prestigious
Five-Timers Club. In 2018, Johansson voiced show dog Nutmeg in
Wes Anderson's stop-motion animated film
Isle of Dogs, released in March, and reprised her MCU role as Black Widow in
Avengers: Infinity War, which followed the next month. Johansson was due to star in
Rub & Tug, a biographical film in which she would have played
Dante "Tex" Gill, a
transgender man who operated a massage parlor and prostitution ring in the 1970s and 1980s. She dropped out of the project following backlash to the casting of a
cisgender woman to play a transgender man. In 2019, Johansson once again reprised her role as Black Widow in
Avengers: Endgame, which is the highest-grossing film of all time.
Peter Bradshaw of
The Guardian commended her "brilliantly textured" performance in it. She also took on the supporting role of a young boy's mother who shelters a Jewish girl in
Nazi Germany in
Taika Waititi's satire
Jojo Rabbit. Waititi modeled the character on his own mother and cast Johansson to provide her a rare opportunity to perform comedy. Johansson received her first two
Academy Award nominations, for
Best Actress and
Best Supporting Actress for her performances in
Marriage Story and
Jojo Rabbit, respectively, becoming the twelfth performer to be
nominated for two Oscars in the same year. She also received two BAFTA nominations for these films and a Golden Globe nomination for the former.
2021–present: Black Widow lawsuit and professional expansion After a one-year screen absence, Johansson reprised her role as Black Widow in her own
solo prequel film in 2021, on which she also served as an executive producer. Also starring
Florence Pugh, the film is set after
Captain America: Civil War, with Johansson's character on the run, confronting her past. Johansson felt her role was complete, viewing it as a chance to showcase her character's independence and vulnerability, which she thought set her apart from other
Avengers. Critics were generally favorable in their reviews of the film, mainly praising Johansson and Pugh's performances.
The Hollywood Reporter David Rooney thought the film was a "stellar vehicle" for Johansson, and Pete Hammond of
Deadline Hollywood found her "again a great presence in the role, showing expert action and acting chops throughout". For the film, Johansson won The Female Movie Star of 2021 at the
47th People's Choice Awards. Also that year, she reprised her voice role as Ash in the sequel
Sing 2. at the premiere of
Asteroid City at the
2023 Cannes Film Festival In July 2021, Johansson sued
Disney, claiming the simultaneous release of
Black Widow on their streaming service
Disney+ breached a contract clause for exclusive theatrical release, denying her additional box-office bonuses. In response, Disney said her lawsuit showed an indifference to the "horrific and prolonged" effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The company also stated that Johansson already received $20 million for the film and that the
Disney+ Premier Access release would only earn her additional compensation.
The Hollywood Reporter called Disney's response "aggressive," and
Creative Artists Agency co-chairman
Bryan Lourd criticized Disney for attacking Johansson's character and disclosing her salary. In September, the dispute was resolved with undisclosed terms, though
Variety later reported Johansson received over $40million and would continue working with Disney. Johansson returned to the screen with Wes Anderson's comedy
Asteroid City (2023), in which she led an ensemble cast. It was her second film to premiere at the
Cannes Film Festival after
Match Point (2005). In
Kristin Scott Thomas's directorial debut ''
My Mother's Wedding'', Johansson played one of three sisters reuniting for their mother's wedding.
The Guardian Benjamin Lee was displeased by the film and Johansson's "awkward British accent". Founding the production company These Pictures, Johansson produced and starred in
Fly Me to the Moon (2024), a romantic comedy set against the backdrop of the
Space Race, opposite
Channing Tatum. Critics considered the
screwball chemistry between Johansson and Tatum to be film's highlight. She voiced
Elita-1 in
Transformers One, an animated prequel to the
Transformers film series. Both films had poor box-office returns. Keen to join the
Jurassic Park franchise for a decade, she starred in the instalment
Jurassic World Rebirth, which was released on July 2, 2025, to mixed to positive reviews and box office success. In addition, she reunited with Anderson in the ensemble adventure film
The Phoenician Scheme, released on May 30, 2025. She made her directorial debut with the drama
Eleanor the Great, starring
June Squibb in the title role.
Eleanor premiered at the
2025 Cannes Film Festival and released on September 26, 2025. By December 2025, she joined the cast for
Mike Flanagan's
The Exorcist and
Matt Reeves'
The Batman: Part II (2027), after dropping out of talks for
Disney's
live-action remake of
Tangled (2010). == Music career ==