Scarlett Johansson speaks about her longtime friendship with film director Woody Allen.
In fact, she has had roles in three of his films and told the Telegraph that she doesn’t know whether her association with Allen has influenced her relationships or status in Hollywood.
“I guess it’s hard to know,” Johansson concluded. “You never know what the domino effect is, exactly. But my mom always encouraged me to be myself, [to see] that it’s important to have integrity, and stand up for what you believe in.”
In contrast to this, the Marvel actress added, “I think it’s also important to know when it’s not your turn. I don’t mean that you should silence yourself. I mean sometimes it’s just not your time. And that’s something I’ve understood more as I’ve matured.”
Johansson had earlier stood up for Allen in 2019, when she told The Hollywood Reporter, “I love Woody. I believe him, and I would work with him anytime.”
Allen has for several years been accused of sexual assault by his daughter Dylan Farrow when she was just 7 years of age. In 2021, this issue was raised for the first time in the documentary Allen v. Farrow. The director has never been charged or convicted of any crime in relation to this issue.
Johansson has acted in three films alongside Allen, including Match Point in 2005, Scoop in 2006, and Vicky Cristina Barcelona in 2008.
Allen responded to the backlash and “calls for me to be canceled” in an episode of Bill Maher’s Club Random podcast in September. He asserted that he “wasn’t hurt” by the accusations.
“I was in my 80s, and I had made so many movies, and it didn’t matter, it didn’t hurt me,” he said.
But during that period when he was being investigated, Allen felt that the judicial system didn’t live up to his expectations.
“You’re shocked because most people don’t find themselves in a situation in a courtroom… and people are perjuring themselves one after the other, and you think, ‘Well, isn’t this against the law?’” He explained. “But you find out that it isn’t exactly what you think — that yes, it’s against the law technically, but nobody does anything about it.”
“Very interesting and amusing… in many ways,” he said of it. “And only because, as I said, I had done so many movies and had accumulated enough personal financial resources, so that I wasn’t hurt by it. But if I was 40 or 50 or 30 or something, it would have been very, very painful.”
