In such a short period of time, the cinematic achievements of Scarlett Johansson have already spread far and wide. Not only is the New York-born actor the highest-grossing box office star of all time, but her performances have also been critically appraised in movies like Lost in Translation, Match Point, Her and Marriage Story.
One of Johansson’s most intriguing roles, though, came in Jonathan Glazer’s 2013 science fiction movie Under the Skin, in which she plays a seemingly otherworldly woman who preys on men throughout Scotland, using a British accent that so many were unaware she was capable of.
Interestingly, before the acclaim Under the Skin eventually received, the crowd at the Venice Film Festival premiere met it with a mixed reaction, to say the least. There were several cheers from the audience, but equally, there were a fair few boos, and Johansson had to take it in her stride.
In an interview with The Guardian, the actor admitted that she felt “super-exposed” at Venice because of the varied reception of the film. “It was very strange,” she said. “It was the first time I had seen the film with an audience and the first time I saw the film finished. And I was on this huge mezzanine.” 
She continued: “When the lights came up… there was this sound of people cheering and booing at the same time but with equal gusto. I didn’t know how to react to it. I think I was just… I wouldn’t say disturbed, but I was sort of shocked.”
Johansson expected Glazer to experience the same sort of shock, but he looked to be in a state of absolute joy, telling Johansson after, “That was the best reaction! That was the most amazing sound I’ve ever heard in my life.” Evidently, the director understood that mixed reviews often occur for great films.
That line of reasoning got Johansson thinking about the time she saw Stanley Kubrick’s Eye Wide Shut. She noted, “I saw it like three times in the theatre, and the first time I saw it, I hated it. I had a visceral reaction to it; I hated it so much. And then I was like, I have to see that movie again; I hated it so much.”
There was certainly a draw to the fact that Johansson kept wanting to see Kubrick’s final movie – which stars Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman in an adaptation of Arthur Schniztler’s novella Dream Story – despite seeming to “hate” it every time. It just seemed to take a while for the actor to understand it, and that related to her experience at the Under the Skin premiere.
“And then I loved it,” Johansson signed off. “I think in some ways I hated the emotional experience; it’s like a visceral reaction. There’s passion behind it. I can’t ever totally fault a film that I absolutely hate.” Check out the trailer for Eyes Wide Shut below.
