Scarlett Johansson Reflects on Being 'Pigeonholed' and 'Pulled Apart' for Her Appearance Early in Her Career

Girl with a Pearl EarringIn Good CompanyIron Man 2Lost in TranslationThe IslandScarlett Johansson Reflects on Being 'Pigeonholed' and 'Pulled Apart' for Her Appearance Early in Her Career'It was just a really harsh time.'By Lex BriscusoUpdated: Apr 13, 2026 6:23pm UTC42 commentsScarlett Johansson is opening up about being “pigeonholed” and “pulled apart” for her appearance in the early days of her career, which she notes was a “socially acceptable” thing to do at that time.

“It was such another time too,” Johansson told CBS Sunday Morning during an interview that aired on April 12.

“I think growing up in the industry, and then being a woman, a 20-something-year-old woman in the early 2000s, in the spotlight in general, it was just a really harsh time.

Women were just pulled apart for how they looked in a way that was socially acceptable at the time.”The A-List actress, who is the second highest grossing performer in film history, reflected on how important beauty standards were for women in the industry when she broke in the early 2000s.

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“It was tough.

There was a lot placed on how women looked,” she explained.

“What was offered at that time for women my age, as far as acting roles or opportunities, was much slimmer than it is now.”In the early 2000s, Johansson starred in the likes of Lost in Translation, Girl with a Pearl Earring, and The Island.

Johansson put an emphasis on the fact that there are “much more empowering roles” available to women in the current landscape, whereas, when she was getting her start, there were “slim pickins” as far as the types of roles women could get.

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“You would get really pigeonholed and offered the same [roles],” the Oscar nominee noted.

“It would be like the other woman, or the side piece, the bombshell.

That was the archetype that was prevalent when I was that age.”Rosamund Pike recently recalled her experience working on the 2005 Doom movie, which she described as “an absolute bomb” that could have ended her career ## Editor's Note The gaming community will surely have mixed reactions to this news. Source: [IGN](https://www.ign.com/articles/it-was-just-a-really-harsh-time-scarlett-johansson-reflects-on-being-pigeonholed-and-pulled-apart-for-her-appearance-early-in-her-career)