'IT WAS TOUGH'

A-Lister Reveals Reason She Was ‘Pigeon-Holed’ in Career

Tony Award winner Scarlett Johansson detailed women being “pulled apart” in Hollywood.

Two-time Academy Award nominee Scarlett Johansson has described the “harsh” looks-based culture of the 2000s film industry. The 41-year-old appeared on CBS Sunday Morning, and remembered of her 20s: “Women were just pulled apart for how they looked in a way that was socially acceptable at the time.” The star—who is one of the highest-grossing actors of all time—added: “It was tough. There was a lot placed on how women looked. What was offered at that time for women my age, as far as acting roles or opportunities, was much slimmer than it is now.” Johansson began her career as a child star, but celebrated the “much more empowering roles” available to women today. Considering the focus on her looks from a young age, the actress admitted: “You would get really pigeon-holed...” She described: “It would be like the other woman, or the side piece, the bombshell. That was the archetype that was prevalent when I was that age.”