Scarlett Johannson clarifies controversial casting comments: ‘I mishandled that’ – Page Six

Scarlett Johansson has responded to the backlash she received this summer after saying she believes any actor should be able to play any person, or any tree, or any animal.

The statement came after the star dropped out of a film based on the life of a transgender man due to criticism from the trans community. The 35-year-old was also accused of whitewashing popular Japanese manga Ghost in the Shell in 2017.

In hindsight, I mishandled that situation, Johansson recently told Vanity Fair of her previous comments. I was not sensitive, my initial reaction to it. I wasnt totally aware of how the trans community felt about those three actors playing and how they felt in general about cis actors playing transgender people. I wasnt aware of that conversation I was uneducated.

Johansson went on admit she misjudged the situation, adding, It was a hard time. It was like a whirlwind. I felt terribly about it. To feel like youre kind of tone-deaf to something is not a good feeling.

Scarlett also released a statement claiming her original comments were taken out of context

An interview that was recently published has been edited for clickbait and is widely taken out of context, she wrote. The question I was answering in my conversation with the contemporary artist, David Salle, was about the confrontation between political correctness and art. I personally feel that, in an ideal world, any actor should be able to play anybody and Art, in all forms, should be immune to political correctness. That is the point I was making, albeit didnt come across that way.

I recognize that in reality, there is a wide spread discrepancy amongst my industry that favors Caucasian, cis-gendered actors and that not every actor has been given the same opportunities that I have been privileged to, Johansson went on. I continue to support, and always have, diversity in every industry and will continue to fight for projects where everyone is included.

The controversial quotes stem from a July 2019 As If magazine interview where she discussed the intersection of political correctness and art.

Acting goes through trends, she said. You know, as an actor I should be allowed to play any person, or any tree, or any animal because that is my job and the requirements of my job. There are a lot of social lines being drawn now, and a lot of political correctness is being reflected in art.

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Scarlett Johannson clarifies controversial casting comments: 'I mishandled that' - Page Six