There’s been a lot of talk over the past few years about aging in Hollywood, with actresses like Michelle Yeoh being told she should retire, but it’s not like the entertainment industry has been all that kind to younger actresses either. Scarlett Johansson opened up about what it was like to start acting as a young woman and the “really harsh” conditions that she and other early 2000s-era women faced.

There’s no denying Scarlett Johansson’s talents, as she’s won a Tony Award and been nominated for multiple Oscars, Golden Globes and BAFTAs. She made her directorial debut last year with Eleanor the Great and has several projects coming on the 2026 movie calendar and beyond. However, even she had trouble getting people to look past her appearance to see her talents as she came of age in Hollywood, she said, telling CBS Sunday Morning:

You would get really pigeon-holed and offered the same [roles]. It would be like the other woman, or the side piece, the bombshell. That was an archetype that there was a lot of when I was that age.

Twenty years ago, the business looked a lot different than it does now, she said and practices that are no longer considered acceptable were the norm back then. She continued:

It was a really harsh time. I think women were just pulled apart for how they looked in a way that was socially acceptable at the time. And it was just, you know, it was tough. There was a lot placed on how women looked and what was offered at the time for women.

Scarlett Johansson said she struggled with being typecast as that other woman/side piece/bombshell, because there was more that she wanted to do, but those opportunities just weren’t there for women in their 20s.

She ended up turning to the theater, where she won a Tony in 2010 for her role in A View from the Bridge, and her experience on stage helped her become OK with waiting for the right role and not feeling pressured to take any role just to have the work. That was a tough lesson, as she said:

Once you start working, you really feel like every job is going to be your last and that if you get opportunities to work, you have to keep taking them. Even though they might not be as varied as the jobs that really give you pleasure, that you can learn from and challenge yourself with.

Luckily, the TV and movie business has evolved over the past couple of decades, and Scarlett Johansson thinks it’s a more friendly environment for young women, with richer opportunities available. She said:

I think there’s much more empowering roles available to young actors now than when I was in my 20s. It was like Slim Pickins, I would say.

Scarlett Johansson did a lot with those “Slim Pickins,” though, and up next we’re looking forward to seeing (or hearing, rather) her lend her voice to Ray Gunn, an adult animation neo-noir sci-fi flick that’s set to hit the Netflix schedule sometime this year. Next year we should see her in a new Exorcist movie, with Mike Flanagan assembling possibly his best cast yet.

If you want to celebrate a different aspect of ScarJo’s talent, Eleanor the Great can be streamed with a Netflix subscription.