Scarlett Johansson says being 'hyper-sexualised' at young age made her believe career will end early

Hollywood star Scarlett Johansson has recently revealed that she used to feel that her career would end early on because of being "hyper-sexualised" by the industry at a young age, according to media.

During a recent episode of Dax Shepard's 'Armchair Expert' podcast, Johansson said that as a young actor she was so "objectified" and "pigeonholed" that she didn't think it was possible she'd be able to diversify her characters.

"I kind of became objectified and pigeonholed in this way where I felt like I wasn't getting offers of work for things that I wanted to do," Johansson said.

She added, "I remember thinking to myself, 'I think people think I'm 40 years old.' It somehow stopped being something that was desirable and something that I was fighting against."

Reportedly Johansson further said she thinks everybody thought I was older and that I'd been [acting] for a long time, I got kind of pigeonholed into this weird hyper-sexualised thing."

"I felt like [my career] was over. It was like, that's the kind of career you have; these are the roles you've played. And I was like, 'This is it?'" she continued.

Since then, times have changed for Johansson as young actors, from Zendaya to Florence Pugh, are no longer so easily forced into being pigeonholed.

"I see younger actors that are in their 20s, it feels like they're allowed to be all these different things. It's another time, too. We're not even allowed to really pigeonhole other actors anymore, thankfully, right? People are much more dynamic," Johansson said.

The actor has not been seen in theatres since the release of Marvel's 'Black Widow' in 2021, although she did lend her voice to 'Sing 2'.

As per sources, next up for Johansson is her first Wes Anderson project, the star-studded 'Asteroid City', followed by Kristin Scott Thomas' directorial 'My Mother's Wedding' opposite Sienna Miller and Emily Beecham.