Scarlett Johansson recently shared a story about an awkward moment she had with Joaquin Phoenix while filming a scene for their movie. But don’t worry, it’s not what you might think.
Before you get any ideas, this wasn’t an X-rated Scarlett Johansson movie. This happened while they were working on Spike Jonze’s film, Her. If you haven’t seen the movie, it’s a sci-fi rom-com from 2013. The story is about Theodore, played by Joaquin Phoenix, who falls in love with an operating system named Samantha, voiced by Scarlett Johansson.
Here’s the catch: Johansson never physically appears in the film. Instead, her voice plays the role of Samantha, communicating with Phoenix’s character throughout the movie.
In 2022, during an interview on the Armchair Expert podcast with Dax Shepard and Monica Padman, Johansson talked about an uncomfortable scene she had to film for Her. Yes, the movie does feature a phone sex scene, but filming it wasn’t as steamy as you might think.
Johansson explained that Phoenix had already done his part of the scene. Since she was only voicing the character, she had to record her part in a studio while Phoenix was there. She said, “He was angry… He had already done the scene, and now he was with me, in this weird theater, I’m in this box, and Joaquin is staring at me, the lights are low, and Spike is there. It was so bizarre.”
At one point, Phoenix got so upset that he left the studio to take a break. Johansson admitted she understood his discomfort and said thinking about it now still gives her “panic.”
She continued, “You don’t want to hear your voice, ever. You definitely don’t want to hear what you sound like having an orgasm… it’s so gross.”
So, if you plan to watch Her, just know the awkwardness behind the scenes made it much more challenging for both actors. Despite that, the film received great reviews, with an 8/10 IMDb rating and a 95% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Leave a Reply