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Scarlett Johansson: ‘People make antisemitic comments and just assume you feel the same way’
The actor discussed the ‘dilemma’ she faces between speaking up or staying quiet for fear of putting herself in danger
November 7, 2025 15:55
The actor discussed the ‘dilemma’ she faces between speaking up or staying quiet for fear of putting herself in danger
November 7, 2025 15:55Scarlett Johansson has spoken up about the “dilemma” she faces as a Jew between
speaking up to “defend” her family and herself when she encounters antisemitism or keeping quiet for fear of being subject to physical violence as a result.
The Hollywood star – who this year was named the highest-grossing actor of all time by Forbes magazine following the box-office success of science-fiction film Jurassic World: Rebirth – spoke of the “very scary times” Jewish people are experiencing, in an apparent reference to the explosion of anti-Israel and antisemitic sentiment that has erupted in some quarters since the Hamas-led terror attacks on October 7, and Israel’s military response in Gaza.
The actor, known for films including Lost in Translation, Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Girl with a Pearl Earring, as well as starring as the Black Widow in the Avengers franchise, made the remarks as she discussed her Holocaust-centred directorial debut, Eleanor the Great, which tells the story of a 94-year-old Shoah survivor, ahead of its release in Israel this weekend.
“I don’t know if I would have felt comfortable telling this story, if I could have known the story or the characters well, if I weren’t Jewish,” the Tony awardwinner told Israel’s Channel 12 News.
The film, starring veteran actor June Squibb and written by newcomer Tory Kamen, tracks Jewish memory and grief through its ageing protagonist and her unexpected friendship with a young student at New York University.
Johansson said she felt an instant connection to the story thanks to her Jewish background, adding: “This is the part of the story that I definitely know and am comfortable telling.”
The director, who discovered her own family’s Holocaust history during a 2017 episode of the US genealogy programme Finding Your Roots, said creating a film about the impact of the Shoah had led to painful reflections on the “very scary times” Jews are currently living through.
Addressing the current rising tide of antisemitism in the US, Johansson said: “People make antisemitic comments and just assume you feel the same way they do, and I think in those moments I always feel like it’s such a tightrope walk.
“Whenever people are spewing any kind of hate, I’m always concerned that they're going to be physically violent as well,” she added.
It’s a scary dilemma to find yourself in those moments; should I speak up and defend my family and myself, or am I actually inviting someone to be physically violent towards me?”
Johansson, who starred in Taika Waititi’s 2019 Holocaust drama Jojo Rabbit – which left audiences divided over its depiction of Adolf Hitler as a comedic character as imagined by the film’s misguided young protagonist – also noted that the title character in Eleanor the Great, which will be released in the UK on December 12, reminded her of her own grandmother.
“My grandmother, who I was very, very close to, was Eleanor-complex, and people loved her,” she said.
“Sometimes people had a hard time dealing with her, but she was remarkable. Her spirit is really present in this film. I think everyone who came to work on the film did so because they connected deeply to the story. Everything is really charged with that.”
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