Scarlett Johansson has a longtime policy about not taking photos with fans — and it’s not going to change any time soon.
In a brand-new interview with InStyle, Scarlett got seriously candid about fame and boundaries — making some rare comments about her life as a mom of two.
“I definitely overshare,” Scarlett began, speaking about her attitude towards the press. “I’m not a closed book, you know? I’m politically active and vocal about it. But I am a private person in the sense that I value my close friendships. My family is very precious to me, as is their privacy.”
In case you didn’t know, Scarlett has been married to Saturday Night Live star Colin Jost since 2020. She and Colin have a 3-year-old son named Cosmo, and Scarlett is also mom to a 10-year-old daughter named Rose, who she shares with her ex-husband, Romain Dauriac. Scarlett is known to carefully maintain her kids’ privacy and rarely mentions the two in interviews.
“The anonymity of my children is very precious to me,” Scarlett explained before giving some behind-the-scenes insight into her skincare brand, The Outset, which she launched in 2022. “I was talking to my daughter the other day, because she said, ‘Oh, I would love to make videos for The Outset.’ She was like, ‘Why can’t I?’ And I said, ‘Well other than the fact that you’re 10…’”
It’s worth noting that Scarlett has been in the spotlight since she was a child, making her film debut at age 9 in North, released in 1994. Telling InStyle about her relationship with fame today, she said, “The thing about being a public figure is that the idea of being recognizable and celebrated feels fun, but then you can never stuff it back in the bottle. The reality of it is, there’s a massive loss to that, you know? So I think preserving that for as long as possible until it’s someone’s choice, that’s the choice I make as far as my kids go.”
While it looks like her kids won’t be making any public ventures any time soon, it seems like Scarlett is also all about setting her own boundaries with the public. “I want to go and buy my own shit at Duane Reade,” she said.
Explaining her longstanding strict policy on taking photos with fans, Scarlett clarified that she refuses pictures unless she’s at an event. “It really offends a lot of people,” she admitted. “It doesn’t mean I’m not appreciative, of course, that people are fans, or happy to see me. But I always say to people, ‘I’m not working.’”
“I don’t want to be identified as being in this time and place with you,” she continued, defending her approach. “I’m doing my own thing. I like to be in my own thoughts that have nothing to do with what other people think of me. I don’t like being self-conscious.”
Scarlett then went on to say that her experiences with fame echo a certain pop star, and explained how she resonated with Chappell Roan’s perspective on fame — as shared by the “Good Luck Babe” singer last year. “Like everybody else, I fell in love with her over the summer. She’s very outspoken about how hard it’s been to adjust to fame,” she said. Scarlett explained that after reading a piece about the singer, she realized how much she related to her.
You can read the full interview with InStyle here. In the meantime, LMK your thoughts in the comments.