Scarlett Johansson inBlack Widow(2021).Photo: Film Frame/Marvel Studios 2020
Scarlett Johanssondidn’t immediately book her now-iconic role as Black Widow.
The actress was up for the part before 2010’sIron Man 2, but missed out on the role before a twist of fate landed her just where she wanted to be.
“I was a big fan of the firstIron Man. And I wanted to work with Jon [Favreau] and Robert [Downey Jr.] and then I did not get the role and I was pretty bummed about that, happens all the time,” she said ina new interview with BBC Radio 1, via Screenrant. “Then, I fatefully — several weeks later, the actor who was cast in the role originally was not able to do it because of a scheduling conflict. So, Jon called me and we met again and I said, ‘Yes, I’m extremely available still.’ "
The actress was none other than Emily Blunt, who has since spoken about the “heartbreak” of having to ultimately turn down the role since she was contracted to star inGulliver’s Travelsthe same year.
In the interview, Johansson talked about the lesson she learned from the casting ordeal.
“If anybody ever asks me about what advice I have to other actors who are trying to make it I say, ‘Every opportunity is an opportunity to work, and you’ll never get a better call than when you thought you lost a job then got it.’ I was so excited to have a second chance at it,” she said.
Emily Blunt, Scarlett Johansson.Getty; Marvel
In a recent interview onThe Howard Stern Show, Blunt addressed how she was initially in talks to play the Marvel heroine inIron Man 2.
“I actually do want to clean up the story,” said Blunt. “I was contracted to doGulliver’s Travels. I didn’t want to doGulliver’s Travels.
“It was a bit of a heartbreaker for me because I take such pride in the decisions that I make and they mean so much to me, the films that I do,” theA Quiet Placestar added to Howard Stern. “So that was tough.”
Also during the interview, Bluntshot down rumorsthat she would be playing the Invisible Woman in the Marvel reboot ofFantastic Four. She also said the superhero film genre has become “exhausted.”
“It’s not that it’s beneath me. It’s not. I lovedIron Man, and I wanted to work with Robert Downey Jr.,” said Blunt.
source: people.com
