Scarlett Johansson, the actress known for her iconic roles in the MCU and several other movies once agreed to do a rom-com movie with Joseph Gordon-Levitt. The catch was, however, that it was a p*rn fuelled movie but according to the actor, she did not need much convincing.
The 2013 movie titled Don Jon saw Joseph Gorden-Levitt and Scarlett Johansson trying to work out a relationship with equally crazy sides on both ends. With the movie being Gordon-Levitt’s directorial debut, he was surprised with how quickly he had the Black Widow actress’s trust and things eventually did work out between them.
When Scarlett Johansson Agreed to do Don Jon
Jon Martello (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is obsessed with the world of p*rn. His girlfriend Barbara (Scarlett Johansson) changes everything as she finds the fascination weird but Martello’s obsession just might ruin their relationship and the love that they have. Yes, this is a rom-com movie set against the backdrop of p*rn obsession but it did well in the theaters.
Since it was Gordon-Levitt’s directorial debut, there wasn’t much hope for the success of the movie. The actor then approached Scarlett Johansson to take on the lead role. According to reports, Gordon-Levitt was quite shocked when the Jojo Rabbit actress agreed to the film and that is how he got the trust of the producers and the proper funding that he needed.
“I knew a little about his work as a director from seeing the shorts that he worked on, all the videos he’d done. And I’m such a fan of his as an actor. Plus, I’ve always been a fan of the actor-director combo. So he came down and we met and really got to know each other. We didn’t even talk about the project all that much, but he left the script with me,”
After acquiring the funding, Gordon-Levitt gave credit to Scarlett Johansson for being an open-minded actress and taking a chance with him.
“I owe a great deal of credit to Scarlett, who got on board before anybody, before we even had our financing. Her making that commitment was a huge part of us being able to do it.”
This was after she was rejected by veteran director David Fincher because she was deemed too hot to portray a character close to the heart of Fincher.
When David Fincher Rejected Scarlett Johansson
Veteran director David Fincher has been known to create slow-burners that hype up the magnitude at the end of his movies. Some of Fincher’s classics include Fight Club, Se7en, and, Gone Girl. Back in 2011, Fincher released his epic hit The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Although the film was a hit, reports indicated that Scarlett Johansson was also considered for the lead role of Lisbeth Salander. The role did not go to her as she was deemed a bit too hot to portray the said character.
“We flew in people from New Zealand and Swaziland and all over the place. Look, we saw some amazing people. Scarlett Johansson was great. It was a great audition, I’m telling you. But the thing with Scarlett is, you can’t wait for her to take her clothes off,” said David Fincher.
After the rejection, the role went on to Rooney Mara and Scarlett Johansson went on to star in Don Jon. With an average rating of 6.5/10 on IMDB and a strong 83% on Rotten Tomatoes, Don Jon is available to stream on Hulu.
Source: Entertainment Weekly
