Jojo Rabbit star Scarlett Johansson tells Michele Manelis about her fears for the future - and why life under the Trump regime is scary
How did your role in Jojo Rabbit come about?
Chris Hemsworth told
me about it. He said that Taika [Waititi] wrote this incredible script and said, "You have to read it. It's like nothing I've ever read." Obviously, I've read enough scripts in my life to know when something is good and Jojo Rabbit was this perfect gem; it was so beautifully written. Then I met with Taika for a drink. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to convince him to cast me or he was supposed to convince me to be a part of it but the next time I saw him, it was on set. It was a seamless process.
Taika said that Chris Hemsworth was too good looking for him to be a part of the movie.
No comment. Hemsworth doesn't need any more compliments.
The movie is set in World War II and looks at Nazis and Hitler in a way we're not used to seeing on screen. Taika talked about both of you coming from a Jewish heritage. Have you experienced anti-Semitism in your life?
I have, yeah. I think every Jewish person has experienced anti-Semitism. It's alive, probably now more than ever, I feel. There's a lot of fear out there.
It doesn't help with President Trump's rhetoric, many are of the view that it's behind escalating hate crimes.
It's unprecedented, in my lifetime anyway, the idea of a president as a bully. A person who's actually mean and has seemingly no sense of empathy. It's almost like psychosis, it's very disturbing and I think people are scared - and when you're scared I think you go one way or the other. You either join in on the bandwagon because you're terrified and feel it's your way of surviving or you go the other direction and you fight that hatred with love and unity and compassion. But I feel, as an American and living here, even globally when I travel, I think a lot of people are just really, really scared because the repercussions are huge and affect everyone so strongly, environmentally, politically, socially, financially, emotionally - everything. He has such a humungous impact globally and it's scary.