The pouty lips, alabaster complexion, va-voom voluptuousness and that whiskey-voiced whisper—when Hollywood went looking for an actress with the right retro sex appeal to play the world-weary ‘40s glamour girl of James Ellroy’s The Black Dahlia, could the choice be any more black-and-white than Scarlett? Miss Johansson talks neo-noir, fragile Hollywood dreams and dodging the casting couch with Hollywood.com:
Hollywood.com: Where did you start when developing your performance as Kay? Did you rely primarily on the script, or did you consult the James Ellroy novel as well?
Scarlett Johansson: Luckily, I had what a lot of actors don’t have, which is the source: the book. You read a script and you interpret character’s emotions through their actions and their words, but I had the perspective of Bucky’s character looking in on Kay. So I really used that as the beginning source to find the character…Brian [De Palma] has a real respect for the time and space that an actor needs to prepare for something. He was never overly personal about where I was getting my inspiration from or anything like that and always very supportive if I felt that I needed something more. We could be wrapping up the whole set, and I would say, “Brian, I think that I need to do that take again.” He’d be like, “All right, boys, bring everything back in.” He was really good about that.
HW: Going into the film, what were your expectations about director Brian De Palma, and did they change once you dove in?
SJ: I was originally excited just hearing that Brian had a film that he was directing with two female roles. I’ve always wanted to work with him and have been a huge fan of his. So I met with him and I tried to convince him that I could play this character that I’m completely physically wrong for, and he bought it, so that was good. I never have any preconceived notion of people, because I find that they always prove you wrong or are surprising. I expected a certain kind of darkness about him, a certain kind of roughness about him, and I was surprised to find out that he’s a very funny guy. One thing that didn’t surprise me about Brian is that he’s really cut and dry. He’s never wishy-washy about anything, which is such a relief.
HW: Were you a fan of the film noir genre going in?
SJ: I have a pretty good film history for someone my age. I’ve seen a lot of those noir films. It’s fun to watch them, too. Films like The Maltese Falcon or The Third Man. I always liked film noir, but some of those films are too kind of cops-and-robbers for me. I like the more melodramatic Bette Davis films of that period, and stuff like that. But there wasn’t anyone that I really based the character off of. I wasn’t trying to copy someone’s performance or something like that. And of course as a modern actor we have this movement that sort of started in the ’70’s of realism and the gritty kind of natural, whatever you can bring to the table kind of technique. So it was interesting to pair that with the dialogue. The dialogue is so stylized and impossible [Laughs], impossibly unrealistic. It was interesting and it was a challenge to try and keep the integrity of that with ease and the realness of it while also saying things like, “How could you, Dwight? How could you?” I mean, you never say those things.
HW: Your character has such a specific vintage look and style. Did you have any input into that?
SJ: As far as the physical appearance of the character, I really wanted her to look nothing like Hilary’s [Swank] character, or the Dahlia. So we thought that we would dress her in cream and beige and things that were soft, because Hilary’s character is so kind of hard and really a glam vixen… Getting to play a woman during that period and the makeup and the hair and the costumes and the cars and the sets was all very glamorous and fun and I’ve always kind of had an affinity for that period. I got to wear a lot of beautiful vintage pieces and they built a beautiful wardrobe for me.
HW: Did the period recreated in this film make you long for a Hollywood era that no longer exists?
SJ: I feel very sentimental about it. I read a lot about the industry at that time and watched several documentaries about Hollywood at that time. It’s so very different now than it was then. I think that there is a certain sort of decency and class that’s somehow been eliminated over time. I think that it makes you sentimental when you read different autobiographies of actors at that time, and how exciting it was that actors came together and they talked about the Method and they talked about the work that they were doing, and just the amount of available and incredible actors at that time it just doesn’t seem to be the same now. That’s not to say that I don’t like L.A—I do. But look, even being in [the Biltmore Hotel], that’s such a beautiful hotel, it’s just rare to find these gems that have been preserved. It seems like people are always bulldozing over beautiful storefronts and restaurants and houses and things like that to make way for whatever is popular now, things that are bigger and better and more modern.
HW: In the film, the real-life Black Dahlia, Elizabeth Short [played by Mia Kirshner] is depicted as a struggling actress doing whatever she could to get by and keep her dream alive. Could you relate to that struggle?
SJ: I have a lot of friends who are very talented actors and musicians who struggle. You have a one and a million chance here. All you have to do is come to L.A. and everyone is trying to get involved in the industry somehow. Any time that you are involved in a field that’s revolving around vanity of some sort with a high rate of failure it can breed a desperation in people that doesn’t always have a happy ending. I think that kind of ambition with no end can really make for a lot of nastiness. And of course, I’ve been constantly surprised at my luck. It’s really unbelievable, especially being surrounded by a lot of artists who struggle and watching them struggle. I feel very, very lucky.
HW: She’s also the apparent victim of various casting couch schemes. Any personal horror stories there?
SJ: I’ve been lucky. I mean, of course every actor has had a casting that has gone awry and you leave and you go, “Oh my God, that was the absolute worst.” Luckily I’ve never been approached in that way, because when I was auditioning, mostly, I was so young. I was like 12 and 13. So luckily I never had anything like that to deal with, but I do love to audition still. I find it to be incredibly challenging and I’m always up for a challenge in that way, but no casting couch stories for me, no.
HW: And at this point in your career are you still sometimes asked to audition?
SJ: This project I didn’t audition for, actually, [but] occasionally, yeah. It’s rare, but it does happen and I like it. I always like cold readings and all of that stuff. I think that it keeps you on your toes. After all, I’m an actor for hire, and so I will never turn down the opportunity to audition for something. Not if it’s something that I feel that I want. If I want a role and they say, “Well, we’re only auditioning people.” I will say, “All right. I’m going to get this part.” That’s the mentality that you have to have. It’s like, “All right, fine. Test me. I got it.” Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. It’s still fun to do that.
