Trailer: Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Writing and Directorial Debut, ‘Don Jon’, also starring Scarlett Johansson

Here’s the trailer for Joseph Gordon-Levitt‘s writing and directing debut, Don Jon. I saw this at SXSW and it was pretty great.

Synopsis: Jon Martello (Gordon-Levitt) is a strong, handsome, good old fashioned guy. His buddies call him Don Jon due to his ability to “pull” a different woman every weekend, but even the finest fling doesn’t compare to the bliss he finds alone in front of the computer watching pornography. Barbara Sugarman (Scarlett Johansson) is a bright, beautiful, good old fashioned girl. Raised on romantic Hollywood movies, she’s determined to find her Prince Charming and ride off into the sunset. Wrestling with good old fashioned expectations of the opposite sex, Jon and Barbara struggle against a media culture full of false fantasies to try and find true intimacy in this unexpected comedy written and directed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Also staring Julianne Moore, Tony Danza, Glenne Headly and Brie Larson.

In Theaters: October 18th Read more

Scarlett Johansson on Playing Maggie in Broadway’s ‘Cat’ Revival: “Whatever my take is on it is certainly my take on it”

Just because you’ve won a Tony doesn’t mean you can rest on your laurels—at least according to Scarlett Johansson.  The actress, who won her award for 2010’s A View from the Bridge, is currently starring in Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.  But she isn’t taking the role lightly.

“I think [winning the Tony] encouraged me to find Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and to know that I had a welcome invitation to come back,” she said in an interview with Broadway.com.  “The most important thing is to not let that honor inform your choices, to recognize that it was for that performance, and that it doesn’t let you off the hook or put the pressure on you in any way.  You just have to take it for what it represents.” Read more

Scarlett Johansson Talks Broadway, Rejected Roles and Hating Her Nickname (video)

Scarlett Johansson, currently in previews for the new Broadway revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, was profiled on this past weekend’s CBS Sunday Morning.

In the interview, she talks about Broadway, Bill Murray and how she hates people calling her ‘ScarJo’. They also talk about her career and what recent role she was rejected for.

Check it out! Read more

Scarlett Johansson: “I wanted to start playing adults — tough women who knew what it took to survive”

Scarlett Johansson has made her return to Broadway — her first time since her 2010 debut in Arthur Miller‘s A View From the Bridge — as Maggie in Tennessee Williams‘ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.  In an interview with The New York Times, Johansson explains that the role comes after what she calls a three-year “growing up” period.

Johansson reveals that one of the reasons why she was interested in taking the role was to move away from some of the lighter roles she had in the past.  She explains, “I felt extreme vulnerability over the last few years, more than I ever had, and no longer wanted to keep rushing into movie jobs or a play just to escape how I was feeling.  Once I wanted to work again, I wanted to start playing adults — tough women who knew what it took to survive.” 

Part of her decision had to do with choosing roles that would be a major challenge for her.  She says, “After my first time on Broadway I decided I wanted to keep doing projects that I didn’t know how to do.  I’m finally at a place in my life where I feel comfortable not anticipating the result. I’m comfortable with being uncomfortable.” Read more

Scarlett Johansson on Filming the Famous Shower Scene in ‘Hitchcock’: “You have got to be brave, get into the shower, and face Anthony Hopkins… jabbing you in the face with a 12-inch kitchen knife”

Famously, Janet Leigh, star of Psycho, is killed off much earlier in the landmark film than audiences ever expected in a gruesome shower scene, which has since become one of the most famous murder scenes in film history. 

For Scarlett Johansson, who appears as Leigh in the “making of” film Hitchcock, the filming of the shower murder was just as unpleasant for her as it likely was for Leigh. 

In a conversation with V magazine, she points out that the scene was filmed on a tight schedule.  She reveals, “We only had the luxury to shoot the scene for a day, and everybody was feeling very nervous because it involved water and nobody wants the actor to get wet.  They were concerned with modesty and all these things – but I don’t care about any of that stuff and Janet Leigh never did either.” Read more

Trailer: ‘Hitchcock’ starring Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren, Scarlett Johansson & Jessica Biel

This looks pretty damn good! And Anthony Hopkins is virtually unrecognizable as Hitchcock. Check it our below.

Synopsis: Hitchcock is a love story about one of the most influential filmmakers of the last century, Alfred Hitchcock, and his wife and partner Alma Reville. The film takes place during the making of Hitchcock’s seminal movie Psycho.

Director: Sacha Gervasi

Writers: John J. McLaughlin

Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren, Scarlett Johansson, Danny Huston, Toni Collette, Jessica Biel, Michael Stuhlbarg, James D’Arcy, Michael Wincott, Richard Portnow, Kurtwood Smith 

In theaters: November 23rd Read more

Scarlett Johansson, Benjamin Walker & Ciarán Hinds to star in ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’ on Broadway

Add another show to your ‘must see’ list of upcoming Broadway shows.

Tony Award-winner Scarlett Johansson will return to Broadway to star as Maggie, with Ciarán Hinds as Big Daddy, Benjamin Walker as Brick and Tony and Emmy Award-winner Debra Monk as Big Mama in Tennessee Williams’ Pulitzer Prize-winning classic Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. 

Read more

Scarlett Johansson and Chris Pine (or Possibly Jeremy Renner) to Star in Broadway Revival of ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’?

With the most successful show on Broadway right now being the classic Death of a Salesman starring movie stars Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Andrew Garfield, it’s no surprise that Broadway is again looking for Hollywood stars to headline a revival of another classic, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, set to premiere in spring 2013. 

It’s being reported that Scarlett Johansson is in talks to star as Maggie the Cat, with Chris Pine or Jeremy Renner in talks to play her husband, Brick.

Read more

Paul Brannigan, an Actor with No Training, is a Star at Cannes… and Did a Nude Scene with Scarlett Johansson

Before this year’s Cannes Film Festival, nobody had ever heard of the actor Paul Brannigan.  That’s because he didn’t exist: though Brannigan was cast in the lead role of Ken Loach‘s whiskey-soaked comedy  The Angels’ Share, he isn’t a trained actor.  Appropriately for a film about unemployment, Brannigan was unemployed when he was cast in the film and, upon his return to Glasgow after Cannes, he still will be looking for a job. 

Brannigan was cast in the role of Robbie after writer/director Loach’s co-writer, Paul Laverty, discovered him working at a community center.  After Cannes, Brannigan admits he will remain unemployed and will still be volunteering at the center.  He explains, “I do four hours a week football (soccer) coaching, and that’s just the way it is.  There’s thousands and thousands of kids like Robbie in Glasgow.” Read more

Scarlett Johansson Talks ‘The Avengers’ Training and Taking a Crash Course in Russian

As we already covered, Scarlett Johansson found the Black Widow costume in The Avengers to be rather uncomfortable.  I almost feel bad for Johansson, since in this follow-up interview with Reuters she continues to elaborate on some of the more annoying aspects of the production.

Since the Black Widow is a kick-ass S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Johansson had to learn particular fighting skills — which were easier to learn than to implement on set.  She explains, “We incorporated this Wushu style (of fighting) when the Widow wields a huge alien gun. That was new and really challenging. I had to learn how to spin it and move it. It was hard because I’d hit myself with it all the time. And it’s heavy. You learn (by using) a broom handle so you’re like, ‘Ah, I got it down, I’ve mastered it.’ Then all of a sudden they’re like, ‘Here’s the prop’ and you’re like, ‘What? This thing is 20 lbs!’ I was so terribly battered. I’d wake up every day in agony but it was a continuous thing, so it became normal (laughs).” Read more

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