Scarlett Johansson: ‘I’ve basically made a career out of being second choice’

Scarlett Johannson has been drawn to performing ever since she fell in love with the art of acting as a child when she used to watch films featuring Old Hollywood stars in their heydays as well as classic musicals and vintage Disney productions.

The “Black Widow” star said in watching these old-school films, like the 1961 “The Parent Trap,” she became the walking embodiment of the characters she saw on-screen – which Johannsson credits in pushing her into acting.

“I disappeared into those movies and took on those characters,” she told Parade magazine in a pre-coronavirus quarantine March interview published on Friday, Fox News reports.

The 34-year-old big-screen staple, who has generated a whopping $14 billion in worldwide box office draws, opened up to the outlet about her love of acting and hit on the origin of where her drive to be the best stems from – and Johannson praised her mother Melanie’s work ethic in addition to the fact that she’s been passed over so many times for roles.

It’s helped her develop a hardened exterior while keeping her grounded. “She was my mom first, and that makes a difference,” the "Marriage Story" actress and mother to 5-year-old daughter Rose said.