At her cover shoot with Tom Munro in New York City, Scarlett Johansson steamed up the set. But Allure cleverly managed to keep her from overheating under the studio lights—by dressing her in lingerie. See exclusive pictures from the shoot here.
Photos: Xavier Muniz, Tom Munro, Xavier Muniz (3), Tom Munro, Xavier Muniz, Jarrod Lacks (2)
Allure creative director Paul Cavaco gave the actress an Agent Provocateur bustier to wear for the first part of the shoot. “At least I brought clothes for you this time,” he joked, remembering when he had the actress nearly topless for her November 2006 cover. “But you wanted me in my underwear—story of my life!” said Johansson, shown here with Cavaco and hairstylist Garren.
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“I always wanted to get married and have kids. I just never had any preconceived idea about what that would be like,” says Johansson, who married actor Ryan Reynolds, 32, this past September. “Some girls have envisioned their whole wedding forever. My life seems to be happening naturally.” But Johnansson is cooler when asked how she and Reynolds met. “Nobody knows. It’s private. It’s our story,” says the actress.
Garren created a “girlie, Brigitte Bardot” look for Johansson. He spritzed volumizing spray on her wet hair, blew it dry, and set it in hot rollers. After removing them, he brushed through the curls and teased the hair around the crown of her head. “I can’t believe this is all my own hair!” Johansson said. “It’s perfect for a holiday party.”
“Scarlett is a modern-day bombshell, so I gave her an updated ’50s-style look,” says makeup artist Stephane Marais. He warmed up her milky skin by blending peachy-pink blush and bronzer on the apples of her cheeks. For one shot, Marais used black liquid liner and shimmery bronze shadow. For another, he applied dark brown shadow in the crease and taupe across the entire lid. Black mascara and nude gloss finished both looks.
This month, Johansson stars in The Spirit, a stylized comic-book adaptation directed by Frank Miller. Originally, there wasn’t a role slated for her—Miller wrote one after a three-hour lunch with the actress. “You’re first struck by her beauty, but when you delve deeper and find out how much wit is there, you’d have to be an idiot not to write a part for her,” says Miller.
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Singer Katy Perry said Johansson’s bee-stung lips were the inspiration for her song “I Kissed a Girl.” “I had no idea,” said Johansson, “I should get a cut! It’s flattering, but my lips are kind of taken.”
Johansson is a kind of younger screen sister to other Woody Allen regulars such as Diane Keaton and Mia Farrow. “If I saw them, we’d have something to talk about,” says the actress. “I think that women in [Allen’s] life do inspire those roles: our neuroses, our passions, our good qualities, bad qualities. Woody writes women’s roles well.”
Although Woody Allen cast her in four of his most recent films, the role of “muse” is not one Johansson plans on adding to her resume. “I don’t inspire the work that Woody does,” she says. “I’m just lucky to fit into the ‘young woman’ category in his movies. But make no mistake: I know that if it wasn’t me, it would be somebody else.” Two new roles Johansson has taken on? Singer and director. (Her Tom Waits cover album, Anywhere I Lay My Head, was released this past summer, and in February, Johansson will make her directorial debut with a vignette that’s part of the New York, I Love You anthology.)
Since she was a little girl, Johansson has been a critic’s darling, bringing an emotional maturity to her roles. “I’m a very professional person: I never miss a day. I don’t storm off the set.”
