Avengers star Scarlett Johansson has revealed she felt "hypersexualised" when working in Hollywood as a teenager.
In her teenage years Scarlett, who is now 36, made her breakthrough movie, Lost in Translation, and also starred in other hits including Girl with a Peal Earring and Ghost World.
“When I was working in my early twenties, and even my late teens, I felt that I got somehow typecast as hypersexualised, which I guess at the time seemed OK to everyone," she said.
Speaking to the Sun newspaper, Scarlett, who turned 20 in 2004, described the era as "another time" for female representation.
Commenting on the way she was cast she said: "Even though it wasn’t part of my own narrative, it was kind of crafted for me by probably a bunch of dudes in the industry."
She added in the interview that she believes "the climate is so different now" and that there are "so many wonderful opportunities for women" these days when compared to back then.
The actor has spoken before about the value of playing meaningful and relatable female characters.
“I meet so many young girls who are huge fans of the MCU [Marvel Cinematic Universe] and the female characters are so meaningful to them," she told Access Hollywood this July.
“I think it’s such a wonderful progression that we’ve seen really in the last five or 10 years.”
Scarlett, who in 2020 was nominated for two Oscars for Marriage Story and Jojo Rabbit, said in the same interview that playing Natasha aka the Black Window over the years has been a relatable experience for her too.
“I had this very unique opportunity to have a character’s journey partly reflective of my own," she told Access Hollywood.
“I think this film is the culmination of all that growth. I honestly am so proud of it.”
Reflecting on the earlier Iron Man films with Collider, Scarlett gave an example of how female representation has changed for the better.
“I mean, you look back at Iron Man 2," she said earlier this year. "While it was really fun and had a lot of great moments in it, the character is so sexualised, you know?"
