Scarlett Johansson hit back at the idea actors need to share their political views and said quite simply it’s “not” her “job.”
“I don’t think actors have obligations to have a public role in society,” the 36-year-old actress told The Gentlewoman in their spring/summer 2021 issue. The comments were noted by Page Six in a piece published Friday. (RELATED: Watch The Latest Electric Trailer For ‘Captain Marvel’)
Scarlett Johansson tells The Gentlewoman that actors shouldn’t have to carry larger political and social responsibilities:
“I don’t think actors have obligations to have a public role in society… the idea that you’re obligated to because you’re in the public eye is unfair.” pic.twitter.com/YwtNYj6X2j
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) March 26, 2021
“Some people want to, but the idea that you’re obligated to because you’re in the public eye is unfair,” she added. “You didn’t choose to be a politician, you’re an actor.” (RELATED: Take A Look Back At Scarlett Johansson’s Best Red Carpet Moments [SLIDESHOW])
“Your job is to reflect our experience to ourselves; your job is to be a mirror for an audience, to be able to have an empathetic experience through art,” Johansson continued. “That is what your job is.” (RELATED: Scarlett Johansson Under Fire For Plans To Play Trans Man In Upcoming Movie)
“The Avengers” star said that “whatever” her “political views are” she feels “most successful when people can sit in a theatre or at home and disappear into a story or a performance and see pieces of themselves,” or they are able to “connect with themselves through this experience of watching this performance” or story or the interaction “between actors or whatever it is.”
“And they’re affected by it and they’re thinking about it, and they feel something,” she added. You know? They have an emotional reaction to it – good, bad, uncomfortable, validating, whatever. That’s my job. The other stuff is not my job.”