Scarlett Johansson reveals details of failed Gravity audition: 'I was just sitting in a chair with a helmet on… pretending I was floating in space'

Scarlett Johansson reveals what her failed audition for the 2013 sci-fi thriller Gravity entailed.

“I did a screen test for the movie Gravity, that Sandra Bullock is fantastic in, but I had to be in like the full, whole space suit thing, and sort of pretend I was kind of like floating in space," Johansson told Entertainment Tonight at the New York premiere of her latest movie, Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City.

“Even though I was just sitting in a chair with a helmet on.”

In May, Johansson told Variety that she came this close to quitting acting after losing two roles: one in Gravity, and the other in 2010’s Iron Man 2.

“I got turned down for two roles — the first was Iron Man 2 and then the other one was Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity,’” said Johansson. “I had wanted that role so much. It was sort of the straw that broke the camel’s back. I felt really frustrated and hopeless. Like, ‘Am I doing the right job?’ The work I was being offered felt deeply unfulfilling. I think I was offered every Marilyn Monroe script ever. I was like, ‘Is this the end of the road creatively?’”

Marvel Studios originally picked Emily Blunt to play Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow. But when the Devil Wears Prada actress dropped out because of scheduling conflicts, Johansson took over.

Johansson appeared in eight Marvel movies, including her own spin-off, 2021’s Black Widow. Gravity was nominated for 11 Oscars and won seven, including Best Director.

In Asteroid City, Johansson plays an actress, one of several kooky characters attending a space convention in the titular town. The movie, which opens in Singapore cinemas on Aug 10, also stars Tom Hanks, Tilda Swinton, Edward Norton, Jason Schwartzman, Adrien Brody and Willem Dafoe.

Photos: TPG News/Click Photos

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