The Marvel Cinematic Universe wouldn’t have been the same without Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow. And let’s be honest, Black Widow wouldn’t have been the same without Scarlett Johansson. We loved seeing the martial arts expert take down her enemies with incredible ease before she finally sacrificed her life for the universe. There wasn’t a dry eye in the theatre when Natasha jumped off the cliff in Vormir so that Barton could get the Soul Stone.
Thanks to Scarlett Johansson’s amazing portrayal of Black Widow, fans got super attached to the character over the years. But what if Scarlett Johansson was never a part of Marvel? Well, that almost happened, as the actress wasn’t the Studios’ first choice to play the spy. Johansson recalls getting a call for the role and adds that she made an entire career out of being the second choice.
Scarlett Johansson Talks About Being the Second Choice
Black Widow’s character first appeared in the MCU in Iron Man 2 and fans fell head over heels for Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff. However, the Studios’ first choice to play the spy was Jungle Cruise actress, Emily Blunt. And while Blunt could have made a pretty good Natasha, we simply cannot imagine someone else in Johansson’s shoes after seeing her portrayal.
Talking to Parade Magazine, Johansson stated that she has been “rejected constantly” from “a very young age.” And just like The Dark Knight trilogy actor Christian Bale, she too built a career out of being the second choice. She recalled the time when she had a “wonderful meeting” with Jon Favreau and told him to call her if anything ever came up. Johansson soon received the call, as Blunt had to check out due to scheduling conflicts.
“I was really excited to work with him, so I said, ‘If this doesn’t work out, I’m an actor for hire, so call me anytime…The best call you can receive is after you are rejected for something and then you get it. You appreciate it more. I’ve basically made a career out of being second choice.”
This is a bit surprising, given the fact that she has two Oscar nominations to her name (Marriage Story and Jojo Rabbit). As for those who are starting out in the entertainment industry, Johansson has the perfect advice – Stay open-minded because you never know what might happen! Thanks to her role in the MCU, Johansson became one of the highest-paid actresses in the world!
Christian Bale Can Relate to Scarlett Johansson
Bale once stated that he owes his career to Leonardo DiCaprio as the Titanic actor turned down roles that Bale ended up getting eventually. Talking to GQ, Bale stated that if anyone gets a role, it’s because DiCaprio passed on it first.
“It doesn’t matter how friendly you are with the directors. All those people that I’ve worked with multiple times, they all offered every one of those roles to him first. So thank you, Leo, because literally he gets to choose everything he does. And good for him, he’s phenomenal.”
One role which DiCaprio passed on was that of Patrick Bateman in American Psycho, which then went to Bale, who ended up getting a ton of success and recognition because of it. It looks like Bale is quite familiar with Johansson’s feelings!
You can stream Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow on Disney+.
Source: Parade Magazine
