The Best of Scarlett Johansson ｜ David Letterman

What is that? What is that, Paul? What is that song? Please Don't Bear Red. Which you're not. We appreciate it. Scarlett Johansson. It's a Beatles song called Yes It Is. Oh, that's right. That's all I wanted. Take it back. Tell me about this. How long has the play been running? People who have seen it tell me that it's wonderful. Congratulations on that. How long have you been in the play? Thank you very much. Thank you. We've been on January 24th and we're going until April 4th. I see. So you're only about a month into the run? I've lost all track of time. I have absolutely no idea. And again, take me through it. Is it eight shows a week? Eight shows a week. And we have two shows on Wednesday and two shows on Saturday. Oh my goodness. Yes, it's a workout. It's a real mental workout. And I sort of kind of I sort of feel like I really have lost all track of time. I'm sort of a shell of my former self. Wow. So you're all concentrated and that's all you can focus on and the rest of your life sort of melts away? Yes. Yes, actually. Did you hear about Jay and Conan? As a matter of fact, I did. Take me through this. When a person is starring in a Broadway play like this and you're doing eight shows a week and I know that from night to night, performance to performance the energy is different. Yes, that's true. And at some point, do you find yourself perhaps not so much acting as just reciting from memory or are you always acting? You know, that's an interesting question. Actually, you really do. I was concerned that it would be that way that I would start to kind of fall back on these habits and just sort of be reciting the lines. But I really you kind of discover new things all of the time. It's really incredible. It's very inspiring as an actor and also the cast is so unbelievably inspiring that it really kind of helps you to make it fresh. Exhausting? It's got to be exhausting, right? It is exhausting. I really am so I can't actually quite express how exhausting it really is. I know a little bit about what that is. Yes, I'm sure you do. Because you go in the preparation and the previews and then there's opening night and the reviews come in and everybody's happy and then, oh my God, we've got to do it again tomorrow. Right. And then two shows. Oh my God. It just goes on and on. Absolutely. It keeps on going. This is what separates the pros from the amateurs, by the way. What are you saying? You're obviously a pro. I thought you said because I was melting. No, no, no. Do you have any of those live theater mishaps that we hear about, cell phones, people eating candy, somebody dying in the front row, any of that? Nothing exciting like that yet. No, we've had a couple. Of course, people come in on a Friday and Saturday night and they're totally blasted. And that's always sort of exciting and strange for us. We had some woman faint yesterday. I guess she had her liquor before beer or whatever. We all know that old rule of getting fucked. It's posted right in the playbill. They should look at that before they get drunk. And who's the guy, the co-star in this? Liev Schreiber. You do scenes that are physically intimate, I mean in space. In terms of space, you're acting right on. Oh yeah, we're really close to one. In fact, actually, we have these scenes where he's really getting very upset and there's a lot of rage and all kinds of these emotions bubble up and a couple of weeks ago we were doing this scene and he really is right here and he starts screaming at me and I'm tensing up and all of a sudden I saw it, it was like, it happened in this kind of slow motion, these like pearls of spittle sort of flying out and then this one asteroid of a loogie just landed but it made that flicking sound right there and it was and any normal person would just wipe it away but I felt the show must go on and then suddenly both of us were just kind of doing our lines but we couldn't, it was this horrible, like he saw it and I saw it it was awful. Oh for God's sakes. Yes, yes, it was really unfortunate but you know, maybe it added to the heightened sense of, I don't know nausea. The heightened sense of nausea. Could the audience see this, do you think, when it took place? Oh yeah, I'm sure it was like, he hit it right out of the park, you know, it really plopped right there. But this is what I'm talking about you learn how to be a professional because you got to keep going for God's sakes, you can't stop, like you said, everybody else would go eww, eww eww. There's no stopping, no, it just keeps going. Now is this, am I right about this or wrong about this? This is your first big time live Broadway production, right? Well I did actually have one line in an off-Broadway play when I was 8 years old which is kind of unbelievable because I, you know, for me it wasn't like I had a, you know, it wasn't like I was missing my lunch dates or whatever to make this show, but my mom brought me there every, and surely she had a life, so I don't know, I can't imagine why for that one line I was there, I'm sure it's all part of why I'm here today sitting with you. Well good, it all came together, all worked out your family's proud of you. Did they come to the show? They seen the live performance? Yes they have, my mother's come, my father's come, they're both really, my grandmother came, and actually she said to me, when she came she said, she came backstage and she was like oh, she said Boobie, you were luminous it was incredible, you know revolutionary, you finally made it, and then a couple of weeks later I got this call from her and she said you know honey, I couldn't hear anything so could you get me I was like, grandma lied to me, you lied but what can you do? Sit up front, we'll spit on you now just a because you could have spent the rest of your career as a film actress and a movie star without having done a live Broadway production, and nobody would have ever said anything and it's a huge risk I mean, what if the play just sucked what if it was just awful You think I didn't think of that before I saw it? I was terrified. What encouraged you to try this? I guess it was you know, the really it was a challenge for me and it was really just working with Liev and I think doing Arthur Miller and getting to work with Greg Mosher our director who's unbelievable and that kind of, I felt like, well if ever there was a time to take a risk, this was the opportunity And it's paid off, good for you. Thank you. Nice going. Now how long ago did you get married? You are married, right? I am, yes, currently. Yes. You're married to Burt Reynolds? Right. Is it Burt Reynolds? Something like that, yes. Ryan, Ryan. Ryan Reynolds, right. Yes, yes. Close enough. Yes it is, it's close enough. And where did you get married? I got married in a very remote part of Canada. Well, that's probably most of Canada Just to keep it vague. British Columbia, right? Yes, I did. I got married in British Columbia and Is your husband Canadian? Yes, he's from Vancouver. Well, there you go. That's beautiful up there. Not only is it beautiful, it's uncommonly beautiful. It's like the kind of natural beauty you just don't see. Maybe New Zealand, perhaps, but not I mean, it's stunning stuff up there. That's true, it's absolutely it's unbelievable. I mean, where we got married, there were bears and whales and eagles. It was just But get no invitation for Dave. I know. It's like he would have made the time. Now listen, were you able to do it without people bothering you? Yeah, well I never thought that I'd be planning my wedding in like a dark alley somewhere, but it turned out that way. It was really quite secretive and I felt like I was doing a drug deal without all the without all the fun. Have you ever Now Scarlett, your grandmother might be watching. But she can't hear it anyway, so it doesn't matter. Yeah, that's right. She doesn't know what you're talking about. No, we tried to be very private about it and we actually kind of, it seemed to pay off, although there was a moment where even though we were in, I mean, it was the edge of the earth. You couldn't, absolutely middle of nowhere, and we did have helicopters, but then eventually that was terrifying. Who was in the helicopters? I don't know. Who was in the helicopters? You tell me. I had nothing to do with it, sister. That was me, playing a prank. So everything was lovely? It was lovely. It was lovely. There were lots of outdoorsy things to do. I actually learned to horseback ride when I was... Isn't that great, riding a horse? It's the gift that keeps on giving. It really is. So you learned as a child, then. For the horse whisperer, I learned how to horseback ride, yes, and I got to ride and it was lovely. Ever had a horse take exception to you being on its back and do something about it? What exactly are you asking? Oh, I understand, I understand. I... I did have... These theater people! I did have a kind of crazy experience one time where I was shooting the other Berlin girl and I had to ride on it and I had this... And you got to ride side-saddle? Side-saddle. And I had this 400-pound costume on. And I always carried along with me this Bulgarian bodyguard who travels... Now, I don't carry him everywhere. Only when I'm doing films and he kind of mans the set and whatever. And everybody's always said to me like, what, do you have a price tag on your head? This guy looks, you know, what he calls him, Frankenstein. He's a really scary guy. He's lovely, though. Very sweet guy. Sorry about that. But anyway, he... You know, he was there and it was a day where it was very muddy. It had been raining and we rode up this muddy embankment and suddenly the horse, who'd been a little bit temperamental, sort of reared up and I felt kind of majestic on top until his whole ass slid underneath him and he started to roll over on one side and I thought for sure this was going to crush my legs. And out of nowhere, this you know, Zdravko, my Bulgarian bodyguard, not my Bulgarian but the bodyguard, flew and leapt and kind of dropped me, rolled and he carried me sailing through the air and I knew he would save my life one day and he did. Yeah, there you go. Saved my life. Lovely man. He was a lovely man. That was my one bad experience with that. You're quite a trooper. And are you racing to the theater now for a show? Yes, I'll be treading the boards. Oh my gosh. Now, did you expend too much energy here for the performance or do you have plenty of energy left for the performance? I would be nervous about that. Of course, I'm twice your age. I'm spent, actually. It's going to be awful. Well, that's good news for ticket holders, isn't it? Alright, let's look at a clip. Alright, I'm being told there is no clip. Okay, there we go. Scarlett Johansson, ladies and gentlemen, through April, is that right? April 4th. Arthur Miller's play, A View from the Bridge. God, it's nice to see you again. Good to have you here. I appreciate this. You look fantastic. You always look fantastic and this is for young people just starting out in movies and television. This is the way you dress when you're a guest on a talk show. Well, thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Beautiful and beautiful and beautiful. We have so many things to talk with you about. First of all, let's talk about the movie Hitchcock. I love this film so much because I love the Alfred Hitchcock movies. You've probably seen most of them, haven't you? Yes, I've seen plenty of them. My mom was always a big Hitchcock fan and so I think the first time I saw Psycho I was probably seven or eight. Really nice family film. Thanks, Mom. But, you know, I always appreciated his work and when the script came around it's fun to be able to see the making of a film, especially in this period and to have all that Paramount lot stuff, back lot stuff. It's great. It was great to look at and Alfred Hitchcock, as we all know, was more than just a psycho. I mean, his body of work Well, he was. His body of work leading up to that film was enormous and many, many greatly successful films. And I was stunned to know that the guy never really received an Academy Award for a single effort as a director. Yes, he got a Lifetime Achievement Award but I guess it's best that way. You just kind of do all the work and you don't have to have that kind of looming over you and then you just get the big bang at the end. Big bang at the end. Here she goes. But not everybody, he was not beloved by everybody was he when he was directing films? Well, I think that he was hideous at times. Hideous? Well, he was. I mean, he was. You hear those stories about him throwing live birds at Tippi Hedren and that sort of jolly thing. That's just not funny. But what other experiences? Did you have any livestock thrown at you? There's two sides to the guy where he's a troubled artistic genius and then also can be a monster. Now, you met with your character's daughter Jamie Lee Curris. I know her, yes. I was in contact with her because I imagine it must be very strange to have somebody play your mother. I mean, I can't imagine somebody playing my mother. Except for me, probably in like ten years. I think it's more than just imitating somebody or mimicking somebody. It's about finding the essence of the character. When you're playing somebody that's a real person who existed and she was beloved and by all accounts, just a real movie star. Well, I enjoyed the film and nice job and people should look forward to going to see this. We're going to show a little bit of a clip later. I'm told that what is that right there? It's a tattoo, Dave. This right here? Yes. Let me see that. What is it? Oh, that's a rising or a setting sun. Well, it depends on which way you look at it, I suppose. What did you ask for? Because I want to know. There's a star. So it could be either because that would be Venus, the morning star or the evening star, right? You just put through that in. How charming. You knew that it was Venus. That's just a nice little piece of information. So good for you. You really do have a rising or a setting sun. That's fantastic. Where did you get that? I actually got it in the middle of nowhere at this tattoo parlor in the middle of nowhere. It was sort of a spur of the moment thing. I think at the time I was really killing it. Drunk? Oh, she wasn't. No, no. No, I may have been, actually. And the guy who did it was terrified. What do you mean terrified? I don't know. I think he was just freaked out. It was like the middle of nowhere and I rolled up there and just said, you know, well, you might be... He's nervous because a big star comes in for a tattoo. Yeah, I think it was that and also he... I don't know. It was a strange... He was a really nice guy. He had done a lot of really big religious pieces and stuff and I think it was just a different thing for him. I don't know. Let me ask you a question. Strictly speaking, in the world of tattoos, do you want to go to the middle of nowhere to get a tattoo? To me, that wouldn't ring high quality. Oops! Oh, dear. Yes, I mean, I probably wouldn't advise somebody to do it, but at the time, it seemed, you know... Well, whatever. I have no regrets stated. I just don't believe in them. I think that turned out great. And you have others, I know. You have one on your wrist over there. I have one on my wrist. I have a little one on my ankle. What is the one on the ankle? The one on my... The ankle is a little symbol that I kind of have. It's a little personal symbol I have with a family member. That's beautiful. Thank you. Thank you. The A is... The ankle or the... The A is... Oh, the A. The tattoo. I'm fishing for compliments. Really? Well, you look lovely. Thank you. Beautiful dress. You're great in the movie. We think the world of you. Oh, thank you. I always love coming here. It's great. Now, where's the other tattoo? I have a... The new one. You have a new one. I do have a new one, yes. It's on my rib cage. And what is... I can't show it to you now. No. We have a picture of it here. Oh, great. This looks like it's fresh. Is this right after it was put on? Yes. Do you mind if I show it? No, go ahead and show it. Well, it didn't... I didn't expect... Her earlier this month, so that is brand new. Oh, God. You didn't tell us, France. Well, it's not a tattoo that I really expected everybody to see, obviously. God, stop going so close to it like that. But I... You know, I got it. Stop holding it up. Now, wait a minute. We have a contradiction here. You got the tattoo. You didn't expect people to see it. But yet, here you are. So, really? No. Listen, Dave, I'm telling you, that was a personal photograph, and the very lovely tattoo artist who did the work, bless his sweet old heart, he decided to share it with a few people, and now you have it on your desk. So you're a... You're a Colts fan, huh? Oh, that's cute. It says, Lucky You. Oh, God. That's great. I like that. I like that. Thank you. Likewise, you can see I wasn't meant for everybody, just the lucky one. This is... You're coming back to Broadway. I'm coming back to Broadway. Yes, I'm coming back to Broadway. We're doing Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and... That's a lot of work, isn't it? Yes, it is a lot of work. It's just... It's like a regular nine-to-five job, but with a lot of emotional abuse. Like a regular nine-to-five job. Is this your second time on Broadway? It is, yes. The first time turned out pretty well for you. It did. The community opened its arms and just cuddled me. You received a Tony Award? I received a Tony Award, and thank you very much. It was a wonderful surprise and a wonderful honor, and I loved being on Broadway, and I'm so excited to go back. Film and theater are obviously two different kinds of acting. Yes, they are. It's a very different experience. The whole animal is different. That sounds like an actor term, doesn't it? I know what you're talking about. Look at these folks. And we get to have all of them every single night. As I've mentioned before, and as you know well, every night, it's supposed to be the same. It's never the same. It's never the same, because people come in with their own stuff that they're going through, and you're reacting in real time. And there's the audiences there, and the audience's energy is different, as I'm sure, obviously, you know how that can be, and also unexpected things happen, and you just never know. Now, one is sounds more terrifying than the other, although I think a person would be perhaps more self-conscious of performing before a camera, because that's a permanent record. But is performing for live people more terrifying than performing for a camera? No, I mean, I think that the thing about doing this, the play, is that eventually you realize that there's nothing that you can do anyway, so you just kind of barrel through it, and you use whatever nerves you have, and it's alive, and you're just putting it out there. Doing work for film, of course, you have your performance, and you have this whole idea of what your character arc is going to be, and then you never know what the end result is going to be. It's more just kind of hoping that the director is going to edit it the way that you saw it in your mind. A lot of it is out of your hands. It's totally out of your hands. But in terms of a live theatrical production, and this is a monumental piece of work, you will be compared to earlier, dozens and dozens of early great productions of Cat on the Hot Tin Roof. It's an iconic piece of literature. but once you've done it for as long as you've done it, you know tricks and shortcuts to help if there are rough edges, you can just incorporate them into the performance. What are those tricks and shortcuts? You know what I'm talking about. After a while, nothing throws you. You've seen it all. You've done it all in a live theater. Yes. Well, I think there's always something crazy that can happen. I mean, we've had, when we were doing View from the Ridge, we had several strange things happen in the audience, but this was no Paul Rudd situation. Yeah, with a guy in the balcony barfed. Right. Yeah. Lucky Paul. You know, what I would do if you sense things aren't going your way one night, just get one of these. There you go. There you go. Put it down. And then, hello, Tony. Yes, sorry, Bob. I'll just slash the audience. I don't always get a good reaction. And your family, you got a sister living in town? I have my family's in town. Actually, I'm going to be going to my sister's for Thanksgiving. Well, you'll be here for a while, won't you? Yes, I'll be. I'm here. Yes, I'll be coming. You want me to come back? I would like you to come back. Paul and I will come to the show. Please do. All come to the show. Yes. Tickets on sale now. Right. Yes, I'll be here. And that's another nice thing, because I was born and raised in New York, and I live in New York, and I love New York just so very, very much. It's my favorite place ever. New York loves you. Thank you. I love New York. I love New York. Thank you. There she is, everybody. Welcome back. Thank you. That's a beautiful dress, by the way. Thank you. Steve. It's like an old-fashioned linen tablecloth. No, don't say that. It's beautiful. It looks like a tablecloth? Well, like an old-fashioned lace linen tablecloth. Thank you so much. It's beautiful. Don't take a close-up of it like that. I'm trying to pay you a compliment. Nobody wants to hear their dress looks like a tablecloth. Really? No. I'm sorry. Well, then, how would you describe the dress? You just did. It looks like maybe a shawl. Maybe a lovely shawl. That's even better. Is it even better? Okay, I'll just stop. Steve, I have to say, I am so incredibly honored to be on one of your very last shows. Well, God bless you. Thank you for being here. I was on the show. I was 13 years old. It was 1998. I was so, so nervous, because for me, and still for me, coming on the show is like you've made it when you're on Dave Letterman, right? Thank you very much. That's really the truth. 13 years old. You were here. We were talking about a movie you were in called The Horse Whisperer. That's right. It was The Horse Whisperer. You actually gave me a canned ham, and my dad kept it in the fridge until I was like 25, and it walked out on its own, practically. Those things, they will explode if they're not kept refrigerated. I've heard about that. 13 years old, but how about that? What a lovely career you've had. Yes, it's been wonderful. I'm actually, coming on the show, it's kind of been like the milestone of my career. Well, thank you for everything. Thank you for everything, Dave. Oh my goodness. There's never going to be anybody like you. No, no. I love watching you on the big screen. Thank you. It's a fantastic experience. And many great films, by the way, in your filmography. Now, let's talk about since the last time you were here, the little baby. I did. I had a baby. Nice going. Thanks. Seven-month-old. I have a seven-month-old, yes, baby Rose. Rose, and her middle name is Dorothy. Yes, that's my grandmother's name. My mother's name is Dorothy. Oh, really? Yeah, that's very nice. You don't hear that name much anymore. It's nice to hear it. I thought so. It was to pay homage to my lovely, lovely grandmother. Good for you. Thank you, and actually, I was pregnant while making this movie. Somebody said that to us the other night, but still doing stunts and whirling around and dodging lasers and stuff. It must have been an encumbrance, eh? To say the least, yeah, it was a little bit. Yeah, I mean, of course, I can probably be one of the few to say that my daughter is familiar with the sound of a 9mm, but that sounds terrible. No, I mean, it was wonderful. Everybody had to be nice to me. People are nice to you anyway, for heaven's sake. You've been, is it the Black Widow four different times now? Is that about right? I think so, yes. As far as I can remember. How many times do you think you will be the Black Widow? As long as I look good in a catsuit, I guess. So, yeah, about probably seven months. Tell us, this is an unfair question, but what do I care? I'm leaving. Non-Black Widow movies, tell us a handful that you are favorite about, that are your favorite. That I've worked on? Yeah. No, that you've seen. No, in your career. Who was in Home Alone 3? Horse Whisperer. Did you like that movie? I thought it was good. Yeah, people liked it. Was Robert Redford in there? Robert Redford. Tremendous soundtrack. It did. It had a beautiful soundtrack. And it's definitely, you know, a classic. It's kind of strange to see it, though, because all I see is my puberty, which is unfortunate. But nobody likes the word puberty. Sorry. But beautiful landscape. I shot it in Montana. I didn't trust. We all shot it in Montana. Worked with Woody Allen, many films? Yeah, we've done three films together. I loved making, Match Point was a wonderful experience. And I think that was the first one that he made in a foreign country. He'd always made films here in New York City. Wasn't that the first one? Yeah, it was. I mean, it was great. I got to spend the summer in London. I was 19 years old. It was, you know, I was working with my dream director, and it was a wonderful experience. Yeah. What were the other two Woody Allen films? I made a movie called Scoop, and I made a movie called Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Oh, yes. That one was delightful. Yeah. It was fun, too. Actually, we shot both of those movies overseas, and we shot that film, obviously, in Barcelona, and then we shot Scoop in London, also, which was great. You've done all right for yourself. Not bad. Yeah. What do you like doing? If you could, rather than be here right now, what would you be doing with your little daughter, Rose Dorothy? Right now? I don't know. I guess we'd probably... It's probably dinner time. Take her to Steak and Shake for a cheeseburger. I want to see two things again, because this, ladies and gentlemen, is a movie star. I want to see that again. Let me just see this again. This is a movie star. Look at that. That wouldn't happen at my funeral, even if I got up out of the casket and went out for a corned beef sandwich. Now, the other thing I want to see is the guy who won the Daytime Emmy for Best Actor. Let's just take... I never said I was Bill Eckert! Okay, that's fine. Thank you very much, Bill. It's a classic. It is a classic. So, this movie, tell us, what do we need to know about this? Age of Ultron. I don't know what that means. I didn't know what it meant until the premiere night, actually. Yeah, it's James Spader. Yeah, that's Ultron. He's good. Awesome. Yeah, he's awesome. He's so good in it. And it's the age of Ultron. And, yeah, that's all I have to say about that. And how are things different? I'm sorry, Marvel, that was such a bad spell. How are things different in the age of Ultron? Are things okay? Is that a trick question? No, I don't... Oh my gosh, flop sweat. No, they're good, right? Things are good? No, things are not good in the age of Ultron. No, they aren't. They are obviously not good. Because, well, for one thing, we have to keep fighting the forces of evil, so things can't be that good. Well, I mean, for God's sakes, that's exactly what we're doing in 2015. So it's very apt, yes. It's too bad. I mean, it's sad to think that all the way up until Ultron, it still continues. Now, let me ask you this. Do you worry about your... I have an 11-year-old that I've said insufferably long, but don't you worry about a 7-year-old? You take a look around at the world and you think, ooh, I've brought this perfect human being into this world. Will she be alright? Will the world treat her well? Oh my God, that's so heavy. I mean, you're never free of that thought, are you? Wow, gosh, really? I haven't slept in so long, Dave. I'm just a new mom. Cut me some slack. Yeah, I mean, of course, I look at her and I see a little environmental lawyer, so she's going to fix everything. Oh, really? That's great. You look at this as a positive. Opportunity. That your daughter may, in fact, be part of the solution. Absolutely, yes. And I look at my son and I know better. Oh my God. How's your husband? Is he alright? I think so. Last time I spoke to him, he was fine. You guys are busy probably traveling a lot with the movie? Yeah, we travel a lot. And also, we live in Paris, too, which is absolutely wonderful. We just got back from there. So he's probably jet-lagged.