Scarlett Johansson is one of the richest actresses in Hollywood. As per Celebrity Net Worth, her estimated wealth is $165 million. She has starred in plenty of acclaimed indie films, like the recent Wes Anderson flick Asteroid City, and had a prominent role in the juggernaut that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
So her life must be easy? Comparatively, it is. However, she has faced her fair share of struggles in her profession. Once the actress admitted that her biggest hurdle to cross was one that stemmed from sexism and misogyny.
Scarlett Johansson Revealed That Sexism Is Still Rampant In The Industry
As per The Hollywood Reporter, Scarlett Johansson had bagged $15 million upfront for playing Black Widow in the solo film of the character. That’s apparently on par with what Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth earned for Captain America: Civil War and Thor: Ragnarok.
As such, one might think that Johansson at least had achieved pay parity. But in a 2017 interview with Marie Claire, Scarlett Johansson admitted that even though she had done well for herself, it was an uphill battle for her because of the industry she was in.
The actress had admitted that there’s rampant sexism in Hollywood. She said:
“I’ve had to fight for everything that I have. It’s such a fickle and political industry… Maybe I’m being presumptuous, but I assumed it was obvious that women in all positions struggle for equality. It’s always an uphill battle and fight. My experience with my close female friends and family is that the struggle is real for everybody. Everyone has been discriminated against or harassed—sexism is real.”
Even though the actress might have achieved some kind of pay parity, it wasn’t an easy battle even with Marvel. The Kevin Feige-led cinematic universe was heavily accused of sexualizing Black Widow. It was an issue that even Scarlett Johansson addressed.
Scarlett Johansson Spoke Out About The Gross Sexualization Of Black Widow
Scarlett Johansson once revealed that even though she loved working on Iron Man 2, she admitted that her character got treated like an object by Robert Downey Jr.‘s Tony Stark. The actress said:
“While [Iron Man 2] was really fun and had a lot of great moments in it, the character is so sexualized, you know? [She is] really talked about like she’s a piece of something, like a possession or a thing or whatever – like a piece of ass, really. And Tony even refers to her as something like that at one point … ‘I want some.’”
The Her actress further admitted that initially, she enjoyed such remarks as compliments. But later on, she understood that it was her low self-worth that was making her think that. Johansson said:
“Maybe at that time that actually felt like a compliment. You know what I mean? Because my thinking was different … My own self-worth was probably measured against that type of comment [but], like a lot of young women, you come into your own and you understand your own self-worth.”
While the Lucy star has bowed out of the MCU, fans think that there’s still a chance she might come back to reprise her role in Avengers: Secret Wars. Whether that happens or not will be interesting to witness.
Black Widow is on Disney+.
Source: THR and Marie Claire
