On the character:
"I think that the character is sort of a shape shifter," Johansson said. "It was sort of like playing two different characters. One character is more kind of mysterious, I don’t want to say submissive, but she’s blending in with the crowd I suppose. The other part of this character is someone who is assertive and knows their sh*t. It was a challenge for me but Jon Favreau was incredible. He really supported me with this."
On getting the part and wearing the costume:
Johnasson brushed up on her comic books when she got the part. Originally, she just wanted to join the team. "It was all new to me. I mean, originally, I had met with Jon and Kevin Feige to just kind of talk to them about some of the super heroines of the Marvel universe. Black Widow was one of them, but I didn't really know anything about the character until I delved into it. Then I started looking at the suit and went, 'Oh my God, I have to get into that?' So it was a whole new world for me."
On doing her own stunts:
"It was really important to be able to do the stunt work and to be able to fight and feel the fight within me, I suppose. So it was a lot of training, stunt training and weight training, all that kind of stuff. Strength training to try to, like, kind of fit that mold. I wanted to be able to look at something and go, 'Okay. I'm going to knock the sh*t out of that person.' To believe that is a challenge in itself, especially when you're five foot three and fighting someone who's seemingly a giant, I suppose, to be able to have conviction in that. That was just as much of a challenge as the actual physical part of it."
What the role means to her:
"I think as an actor, I think certainly in this particular situation, and I know that Robert Downey Jr. has had this, you kind of become invested in these films as much as the studio is and you're able to develop your character with the studio and have a lot of input in that sense. For me to be able to build something and to think about this, especially a character that's had so many different kinds of histories and paths, to think about where she might go and where we kind of find out more about her, I feel like that's something that you invest yourself in and work for."