Scarlett Johansson
Biography
One of
the more promising teen actors to grace the multiplex, Scarlett
Johansson has been acting professionally since the age of eight.
A native of New York City, where she was born on November 22, 1984,
Johansson was raised -- along with her twin brother -- as the youngest
of four children, and she developed an interest in acting at the
age of three. After enrolling in classes at the Lee Strasberg Theatre
Institute for Young People, she made her stage debut opposite Ethan
Hawke in the off-Broadway production of Sophistry. Her film debut
followed in 1994, when she had a supporting role in North, and she
subsequently appeared in the little-seen Just Cause (1995) and If
Lucy Fell (1996).
Johansson
had her first significant screen breakthrough with her role as one
of two orphaned teenaged sisters in Manny & Lo (1996), a coming-of-age
drama directed by Lisa Krueger. Johansson, who shared the screen
with Aleksa Palladino and Mary Kay Place, earned an Independent
Spirit Award Best Actress nomination for her work in the film, and
she soon found herself being tapped by Robert Redford to star as
Kristin Scott Thomas' daughter in The Horse Whisperer (1998). Although
the film met with a very mixed reception, Johansson was widely praised
for her portrayal of a girl who loses her leg and her best friend
in a horrific accident.
In 2000,
the actress signed on to play one of the heroines (alongside Thora
Birch) of Terry Zwigoff's screen adaptation of Ghost World, Daniel
Clowes' celebrated comic about the adventures of two teen girls
grappling with post-high school life. That same year, she starred
in American Rhapsody, in which she portrayed a young girl who escapes
communist Hungary in the 1950s and travels to the U.S.
Though
she would take a brief detour into camp with the 2002 giant spider
fiasco Eight Legged Freaks, the respect Johansson had gained in
the film industry as a result of her previous dramatic roles found
the young actress in high demand among indie directors while quickly
catching the eye of the Hollywood elite. With Sofia Coppola's Lost
in Translation, Johansson's touching performance as a young girl
who strikes a tentative friendship with a washed up American actor
(memorably portrayed by Bill Murray). While staying in Japan left
no doubts regarding her dramatic skills in the eyes of many, and
the rising starlet was soon cast in the lead of such subsequent
films as The Girl with the Pearl Earring (2003) and The Perfect
Score (2004). Johansson also appeared in A Love Song for Bobby Long
alonside John Travolta and In Good Company opposite Topher Grace
and Dennis Quaid.
Scarlett Johansson Filmography
A View From the Bridge
(2006) .... Catherine
The Black Dahlia (2005) .... Kay Lake
The Island (2005) .... Jordan Two-Delta
Match Point (2005) .... Holly
In Good Company (2004) .... Alex Foreman
The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie (2004) (VG) (voice) .... Mindy
The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004) (voice) .... Mindy
A Good Woman (2004) .... Lady Windermere
A Love Song for Bobby Long (2004) .... Pursy Will
The Perfect Score (2004) .... Francesca Curtis
... aka Voll gepunktet (Germany)
Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003) .... Griet
Lost in Translation (2003) .... Charlotte
Eight Legged Freaks (2002) .... Ashley Parker
An American Rhapsody (2001) .... Suzanne Sandor (at 15)
... aka Amerikai rapszódia (Hungary)
The Man Who Wasn't There (2001) .... Rachel 'Birdy' Abundas
Ghost World (2000) .... Rebecca
My Brother the Pig (1999) .... Kathy Caldwell
The Horse Whisperer (1998) .... Grace MacLean
Home Alone 3 (1997) .... Molly Pruitt
Fall (1997) .... Little girl
Manny & Lo (1996) .... Amanda
If Lucy Fell (1996) .... Emily
Just Cause (1995) .... Kate Armstrong
North (1994) .... Laura Nelson |
