“There was a lot placed on how women looked and what was offered at that time for women my age as far as acting roles or opportunities,” the actress said.

Scarlett Johansson recalls being ‘pulled apart’ over her looks in the early 2000s: ‘A really harsh time’

"There was a lot placed on how women looked and what was offered at that time for women my age as far as acting roles or opportunities," the actress said.

By Marina Watts

Marina Watts

Marina Watts is a news writer for with seven years experience covering entertainment, pop culture and celebrity news. Her previous work appears in PEOPLE, Bustle and Newsweek.

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April 13, 2026 5:46 p.m. ET

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Scarlett Johansson in Newport Beach, California in October 2025. Credit:

JC Olivera/Variety via Getty

- Scarlett Johansson said that she was "pulled apart" for how she looked in her 20s after growing up in the entertainment industry.

- The *Lost in Translation *actress thinks that young actresses now have better opportunities than she did and are typecast less.

- Johansson recently launched her new skincare line, The Outset.

Scarlett Johansson is reflecting on how actresses were treated in Hollywood 20 years ago.

During an interview on *CBS Sunday Morning*, the Oscar-nominated actress was asked if she felt to much emphasis was placed on her physical appearance early in her career. Johansson, who recently launched her new skincare line, The Outset, said that it was "such another time."

"Growing up in the entertainment industry and then...being a 20-year-old woman in the early 2000s, in the spotlight, I think in general, it was a really harsh time. I think women were just pulled apart for how they looked in a way that was socially acceptable at the time and it was tough."

"There was a lot placed on how women looked and what was offered at that time for women my age as far as acting roles or opportunities. It was much slimmer than it is now," she continued.

Scarlett Johansson in New York in September 2025.

Adela Loconte/Variety via Getty

Johansson's roles in the early 2000s include *Lost In Translation*, *Ghost World*, *Girl with a Pearl Earring*, and *In Good Company*. She added that there are "much more empowering" roles available there for actresses now than there were for her in her 20s.

As for whether she found herself pigeonholed being offered only certain roles, Johansson said that there were "archetypes," such as the "other woman," "the bombshell" or the "side piece."

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"That was an archetype that there was just a lot of when I was that age," she added of being offered these specific roles. "It was kind of tricky to navigate around that because there was a lot more that I wanted to do, and I found that doing theater in New York was a great way to work different muscles and get out of that pattern."

Johansson said that waiting for the "right roles" to come her way and not feeling the "pressure to work constantly" also helped her carve her career path.****

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The *Avengers *alum previously addressed the sexualized roles of her early career during a 2022 appearance on *Armchair Expert* with Dax Shepard. Since she appeared more grown-up for her age, she "got labeled 15 going on 30"

Scarlett Johansson in September 2001.

Jeff Vespa/WireImage

"Because I think everybody thought I was older and I'd been [acting] for a long time and then I got kind of pigeonholed into this weird hyper-sexualized thing," she said. "It was like, that's the kind of career you have. These are the roles you've played and I was like, 'This is it I guess.'"

See Scarlett Johansson's full conversation on *CBS Sunday Morning* below.

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