Scarlett Johansson Lists Movie Roles She Lost out on and Tells Howard Her Surprising Celebrity Crush

Kirsten Dunst, Anne Hathaway, and Lindsay Lohan all ended up playing parts Scarlett tried out for

March 27, 2017

Even an actress as successful as Scarlett Johansson has to deal with rejection every once in a while. On Monday’s Stern Show, she revealed a few of the roles she’s auditioned for that ended up being played by other Hollywood actresses. Howard started out by asking if it was true she was up for the part in “Jumanji” that eventually went to Kirsten Dunst.

“That is true, yeah,” Scarlett said. She was only a kid at the time and told Howard she didn’t dwell upon losing out on the role, even after seeing the movie once it came out in theaters. “I wasn’t bitter enough then. Now, I’m bitter,” Scarlett joked.

Another role that got away while she was still young was the lead in “The Parent Trap.” Lindsay Lohan went on to play the long-lost twin sisters in the Disney flick and Scarlett admitted she still hasn’t seen that movie.

“I was too old for that movie when I auditioned for it,” she explained, saying she was a teenager by that point. “Maybe when it came out I was also too old to watch it.”

Scarlett also shed some light on that rumor of her being deemed “too beautiful” to play the lead role in “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.”

“That’s not exactly how it went,” she told Howard. Scarlett explained how she met with director David Fincher who told her she would need to be “totally uncaring” of herself in order to play Lisbeth Salander in the film. “I said, ‘I will. I can be that person’ and he was like, ‘No you can’t,'” Scarlett recalled.

“I really, really wanted that film because I felt I had something to contribute to it and I think Fincher just had a different vision for that character and Rooney Mara is, honestly, so perfect in it,” Scarlett continued.

Rooney Mara’s performance in “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” scored her an Academy Award nomination. But it was another role Scarlett auditioned for that ended up being an Oscar-winning role for Anne Hathaway. A capable singer herself, Scarlett auditioned for the part of Fantine in 2012’s “Les Misérables,” but a bout with laryngitis prevented her from giving it her all.

“I don’t know if that’s why I didn’t get it,” Scarlett said of her sickness. “I probably didn’t get it because I wasn’t right for it.”

As for whether she wants to win an Oscar someday, Scarlett’s Academy Award goals are definitely more longterm.

“I wouldn’t turn down a Lifetime Achievement Award,” she told Howard. She’s been nominated for four Golden Globes in her career but admitted she never once wrote an acceptance speech. However, she is a Tony Award winner and very proud of that accolade.

“I remind as many people as possible,” Scarlett joked of winning the award for her Broadway debut in “A View from the Bridge.”

The rejections of her past have not soured her on auditioning for roles even to this day. “I love to audition,” she told Howard, adding that she auditioned for director Danny Boyle not too long ago.

But what about being rejected by men? Howard was shocked to learn Scarlett has indeed been turned down by a guy before.

“Who wouldn’t want to be with you?” Howard wondered.

“I mean, there’s an ass for every seat,” Scarlett replied. Howard then asked who her celebrity crush was.

“Honestly, I’m like somebody who likes Gordon Ramsay,” she said to Howard’s surprise. “Or Anthony Bourdain. There’s a running theme.”