Scarlett Johansson recently sat down with Playboy for a lengthy interview, and while there was sadly no mention of Avengers: Infinity War and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, she did address the whitewashing controversy surrounding Ghost in the Shell. The Major is typically portrayed as being Japanese, so the casting of a white actress in the role hasn't sat well with many fans.
That's despite the fact that Johansson is such a well-liked and big star, and when she was asked about her awareness of what people have been saying about this, the actress responded:
"I think the conversation about diversity in Hollywood is an important one and one that we should be having. My character has the unique experience of being a person whose human brain has been put into what was essentially a synthetic robotic body. I guess I always thought the character was a universal one, in the sense that she has no identity, and the heart of this story is her search for an identity. I hope that whatever questions people have about my casting in this film will be answered by actually seeing the movie. It’s hard to say, because you haven’t seen the movie yet, and there’s a part of it that I don’t want to talk about because it’s the turning point of the movie, but I think it answers the question for the audience as to who I am, who I was and what my true identity is, and it has nothing to do with how my character looks or how you see me."
That's a thoughtful and interesting answer, but one which still feels like an excuse because the studio decided to find a big name star rather than a Japanese actress who perhaps wouldn't have been as recognisable to paying moviegoers. Below are some photos and a video from Johansson's photoshoot, though these are a little different to past Playboy spreads!