Scarlett Johansson Jokes She's 'Made A Career' Out Of Past Controversies

Can’t y’all just let Scarlett Johansson headline blockbuster movies in peace?

The A-list actress opened up about her history of controversies in a new interview with The Gentlewoman, stressing that being on the receiving end of all the criticism is “too much” for her because she’s simply “a person.”

As we’ve reported, the Black Widow star sparked backlash over two movie roles in recent years — she portrayed the lead character in Japanese manga series Ghost in the Shell, and was cast as a transgender man in the film Rub & Tug — as well as comments she made defending disgraced filmmaker Woody Allen.

Through these messes, Scarlett became the poster child for whitewashing, cis-washing, and celebrity privilege — and the 36-year-old isn’t exactly thrilled about it. Speaking on her apparent attraction to controversy, the star dryly told the UK glossy:

“Yeah. I’ve made a career out of it.”

No kidding!

To her credit, the Oscar nominee did admit that she was “really off mark” with those situations, telling the mag:

“I’m going to have opinions about things, because that’s just who I am. I mean, everyone has a hard time admitting when they’re wrong about stuff, and for all of that to come out publicly, it can be embarrassing. To have the experience of, Wow, I was really off mark there, or I wasn’t looking at the big picture, or I was inconsiderate…I’m also a person.”

And people make mistakes, no doubt! But Scarlett thinks it’s “unfair” that the people have judged her so harshly for her mistakes just because she’s on billboards. The Jojo Rabbit actress noted that she doesn’t think that “actors have obligations to have a public role in society,” adding:

“The idea that you’re obligated to because you’re in the public eye is unfair. You didn’t choose to be a politician, you’re an actor.”

Um… yeah. But she chose to be an actor: and not a theater actor who isn’t in the public eye. Scarlett chose to headline billion dollar movies — in many of which she played an actual superhero. Sorry, gurl, but at this level, having a public role in society comes with the job these days!

ScarJo went on to claim that critics will “take issue” with any statement celebrities make, “whether it’s politically correct or not,” telling the publication:

“Of course, whatever you say, whether it’s politically correct or not, any statement you make, or how you live your life, people are obviously going to take issue with it. We judge each other all the time. We judge ourselves constantly. I think people equate that connectivity to being self-aware. To me, it’s different from being self-aware. And reacting to everything that’s coming at them through this f**king thing—[holds up her iPhone]—your sense of reality is completely skewed. It’s not normal to be that exposed. You can be exposed whenever you’re in the public eye, but to then be on the receiving end, like a raw nerve, of all this stuff back? It’s too much!”

Did Scarlett get unlucky with some of these controversies? Sure. We mean, she’s far from the first white, cis actor to play a non-white or transgender role, and just so happened to be cast in those roles when fans weren’t willing to put up with it anymore.

But she’s making it sound like her critics are hyper-reactive snowflakes, when in reality, they just want better representation on screen and for stars not to enable problematic directors.

We don’t really think we’re asking too much of Scarlett. Do U?

[Image via Avalon/WENN]