Following the debut of the first official Iron Man 2 teaser footage, I had the opportunity to sit down with actress Scarlett Johansson to discuss the role of Natasha Romanoff, AKA the Black Widow and some of the rumors surrounding this much-anticipated sequel.
Johansson said that she was nervous when she first contemplated wearing a skin-tight superhero costume:
"I had a bit of a freak-out moment. Well, it was more seeing the--'cause the costume took a while to build it, obviously, but I saw some of the sketches and I knew what to expect because I had obviously seen the kind of later incarnation of the character. I knew that it was going to be some kind of cat suit of some kind. So, I had a freak-out moment, but that only lasted about, you know, half-a-day and I was like, 'Suck it up, you gotta just do it,' so I never turned back after that. I just went, like, full force." In addition to fears over how she would look in the costume, Johansson admitted that she was afraid the costume would impede her ability to perform:
"But, as far as the action sequences go, and how the costume relates to that--one thing that's obviously important to my character is that the costume moves, the character is, you know, an expert of hand-to-hand combat, she's a mixed martial artist, she comes from a dance background, there's some gymnastics thrown in--it's kind of like everything all thrown into one big, sort of, fighting machine. So, a big part of me was like, "Can I move in this, can I run in it?" Johansson was hesitant to reveal too much about the Black Widow and her relationships with the other characters in the movie, but she said:
"There are sort of two sides to my character, she's a bit of a shape-shifter, I suppose. There's a side of the character that's kind of demur and sort of covert, and, um, kind of…I wouldn't say that she's submissive, but she's kind of blending into sort of Stark Industries of some kind. And, then the other part of the character, which is a really aggressive and badass character that is sure of herself and is going to kick the shit out of you if you get in her way. That's about as much as I can tell you." I asked Scarlett about the recent rumors that there was tension between her and actress
Gwyneth Paltrow--who reprised the role of Tony's assistant, Pepper Potts—over the attention that Johansson was receiving and she said:
"No, nothing could be further from the truth. I have nothing but wonderful things to say about working with Gwyneth. She's totally out of the loop. She's very much out of the loop. You know, she's got a wonderful family she spends a lot of time with, so for her, she's like, 'What's going on? What?' And, of course, (director Jon Favreau) who's like on his Twittering thing--he's so crazy about any kind of news about anything--is like, 'You haven't heard? You haven't heard?' He comes on set and I'm like, 'Oh, God,' you know. Every time I would say—I would say to Gwyneth--you know she would say, 'Oh, yeah, that was on the seventh,' and I would say, 'Are you sure that wasn't on the sixth?' And, (Jon) would go, 'Another cat fight! It's breaking out!'" Johansson also said that there was no truth to the rumor that Paltrow snubbed Comic-Con:
"Believe me, she's worthy of plenty of attention and I know that the fans love her. And, they're going to love to see her in this movie because her character really is able to, kind of, comes into her own. And, I know that she would love to be here, as well, but she's with her family." Johansson deflected questions about the Black Widow's origins in the film and how connected the character might be to her comic book origins as a Communist spy:
"Well, I mean, like I said, the character remains quite mysterious in this film. All we kind of—you know, she's definitely—I mean, this movie is not about, like, revealing the Black Widow identity. Hopefully, if the character continues on, whether that be through Avengers or something like that we'll be able to explore more of her past. Obviously, you know, the film is present day, so to bring in that whole Communist aspect of the character might be a little bit dated." Johansson said that signing a multi-picture deal was not daunting and was actually enticing to her, as an actor:
"We have a vested interest in our characters, as well. I mean, I didn't go into this going, 'Oh, this is the last I ever want to see of this character.' I want—I would love to see the character come back and, sort of, as I was saying, kind of reveal more about herself. I loved making the film. I loved working with Jon (Favreau). I loved working with Robert (Downey Jr.). And, so, you know, for me, as an actor, we kind of have a beginning, middle and end, and a one-and-a-half or two-hour segment or whatever, and we're done with it. So, for me to be able to bring something like this back and kind of develop the character is exciting and something we don't normally get to do as actors." Iron Man 2 opens May 7, 2010.
Click HERE for an interview with Robert "Iron Man" Downey Jr.! Click HERE for an interview with Sam "Justin Hammer" Rockwell! Click HERE for an interview with Iron Man 2 director Jon Favreau And, in Astro Boy news: Click HERE for an interview with Freddie "Astro Boy" Highmore! Click HERE for an interview with Kristen "Cora" Bell!
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