Scarlett Johansson revealed that Joaquin Phoenix was so uncomfortable with a “bizarre” on-set orgasm scene that he left the studio.
Johansson, 40, is one of the most famous stars and in 2018 and 2019, she was the world’s highest-paid actress.
She’s recognized for movies such as Lucy, Jojo Rabbit, and Black Widow, among others.
In recent years, Johansson has spoken candidly of being ‘hypers**ualised’ and ‘objectified’ by Hollywood.
During an appearance on Dax Shepherd’s Armchair Expert podcast, the Marvel actress said (per Variety): “I kind of became objectified and pigeonholed in this way where I felt like I wasn’t getting offers for work for things that I wanted to do.
“But I remember thinking to myself, I was like, ‘I think people think I’m, like, 40 years old.’ It somehow stopped being something that was desirable and something that I was fighting against.”
Johansson made her screen debut in the 1994 film North at just nine years old. At 17, she was cast opposite Bill Murray in Sofia Coppola’s 2003 movie Lost in Translation, playing a character five years older than herself.
“I think everybody thought I was older and then I’ve been doing it for a long time, and I got kind of pigeonholed into this weird, hypers**ualized thing, I felt like it was over, kind of,” the actress continued.
“It was like, that’s the kind of career you have. These are the roles you’ve played, and I was like, ‘This is it?’”
On the podcast, the actress also recounted filming the 2013 title Her, which follows Theodore Twombly (Phoenix) as he develops a relationship with Samantha (Johansson), an artificially intelligent virtual assistant personified through a female voice.
Johansson spoke of one scene in the film where her character was required to record herself having an org**m.
The actress said her co-star left the film set when she was recording this particular scene.
“We tried to get through one take, and he was, like, losing it,” Johansson recalled. |I was fine. Joaquin was not – he was so upset about it. He left the studio, and now I’m in this box by myself, and I’m like, ‘I can’t do it alone. I need him to come back.’ He needed a break; he took a break, and he came back in.”
She continued: “You don’t want to hear your voice ever. You definitely don’t want to hear what you sound like having an org**m.
“Ew. It’s so gross. It was so bizarre.”
While Johansson didn’t say this particular role contributed to the feeling of being ‘objectified,’ she added that times have changed, with actresses such as Zendaya and Florence Pugh not so easily be pigeonholed.
“I see younger actors that are in their 20s, it feels like they’re allowed to be all these different things,” the Asteroid City star said.
“It’s another time, too. We’re not even allowed to really pigeonhole other actors anymore, thankfully, right? People are much more dynamic.”
