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| ▲ This photo provided by Walt Disney Company Korea shows a scene from the upcoming Marvel movie "Black Widow." (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ This photo provided by Walt Disney Company Korea shows actress Scarlett Johansson. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ This photo provided by Walt Disney Company Korea shows actress Scarlett Johansson (top) and director Cate Shortland participating in the online press conference for "Black Widow." (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ This photo provided by Walt Disney Company shows the movie poster for "Black Widow." (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
SEOUL, June 24 (Yonhap) -- "It was
amazing. Everybody banded together to tell this story about a character that I
feel so much love and compassion for," actress Scarlett Johansson commented during a press conference for "Black Widow" on Thursday.
Scarlett Johansson has returned with her first solo Marvel movie "Black Widow" as Black Widow, who has strong combat capability and a clear
strategy within the Avengers Corps. The movie is expected to unravel the unknown story of Black Widow that happened between the movies "Captain America: Civil War" and "Avengers; Infinity War."
In the long-awaited Marvel movie, the Black Widow, also known as Natasha Romanoff
(Scarlett Johansson) is met with new characters Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh),
Melina Vostokoff (Rachel Weisz) and Red Guardian (David Harbour). The hero realizes the connection
of the "Red Room" with her past and begins a counterattack by risking
her life.
Having been part of the Avengers and acting
as the Black Widow for eleven years, Scarlett Johansson said Natasha is a
character who was able to find her strength after facing her own weaknesses,
unlike the other Avengers.
"It's been a very unique experience. I
would come back to play the same person every 18 to 24 months. It's interesting
that after working with four different directors, we have found out something
different about my character. I'm proud to say the character has evolved
through the process," Johansson said.
"[Black Widow] is just a caricature of
a person when we see her in 'Iron Man 2' and she's a reactionary character. She
was reacting to all the male characters for a long time; however, she has a dream
where she's standing on her own and we get to see that in 'Captain America: The
Winter Soldier,'" adding, "When you see [Black Widow] in 'Avengers:
Endgame,' she's a fully formed person."
"We put Natasha at the center of the story and the psychological journey she was going through," director Cate Shortland said. "Each action sequence would move the narrative forward, but also the character would discover something more about herself or her relationships."
In terms of the significance "Black Widow" brings to the contemporary audience, Shortland mentioned, "It's about people who have a lack of control of their lives and what they do to get that back as well as to feel loved and heard. I think women in the world have been going through that since the beginning of time."
"These people [women] are not victims,
but they're survivors, and so we often poke fun at the patriarchy (the Red
Room) that keeps them down within the film. I think that's really important.
I also think this movie wouldn't have been made without 'Black Panther' or
'Wonder Woman' in terms of [Marvel] Studios believing that there's an audience
outside of white men. So I hope we're opening the door for other filmmakers and
actors to step through," she added.
While playing the leading role for "Black Widow," Johansson also worked behind the scenes as a producer of the movie.
"It was really daunting but also liberating. I really felt like I was heard throughout the process and it was made transparent to me. The process was very fulfilling and rewarding," Johansson said.
"I think I work best in situations
where I'm able to collaborate with people that are at the top of their game and
we all challenge each other to think big and the best idea rises to the top. I
think a producer's job is to make a safe place for all of this to happen and
make sure everybody is heard. I function well in that position so that was a
revelation for me. We laughed a lot too."
Shortland also added, "Scarlett is a
great advocate. She would always try to make sure that we were getting what we
wanted and not what we felt we should be getting. She was always trying to make
it more truthful and fresh. We weren't interested in doing something derivative
and she pushed all the time for that [to happen]."
Going forward, the actress and director expressed their confidence in the
action sequences that appears in "Black Widow."
"It has all the exclusive action that
we come to expect from a Marvel movie and some of the best action sequences in
the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). It is all driven with a lot of heart and
emotion," said Johansson.
Director Shortland mentioned, "I think 'Black
Widow' is an action movie with a lot of heart. I hope it becomes an action
movie that is driven by the desire to make the audience feel uplifted,"
adding, "It's really epic, and a fairground ride. You get a big hug
afterwards and I think that's what we all want."
The film "Black Widow" will be released worldwide at 5 p.m. on July 7.
(END)
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