Scarlett Johansson thought film dreams were over after talent agent rejection
Scarlett Johansson was convinced her movie career was over before it had even begun after a talent agent refused to take her on as a child.
The Avengers beauty was introduced to the agent through one of her brother's classmates, but the representative failed to recognize the extent of Johansson's talents and quickly dismissed her, leaving her crushed.
Speaking to director Darren Aronofsky for Interview magazine, she
says, "My brother did Little League (baseball), and I took acting
and singing and tap and all that. There was someone in my older
brother's class who was doing some commercials and theater, so my
mom took me to that kid's agent because I loved musicals. They
didn't want me, though. I was devastated. I thought it was the end
of my career."
She eventually made her film debut at the age of nine, as John
Ritter's daughter in 1994 fantasy comedy North, and went on to land
a series of minor roles, drawing critical acclaim for her
performances in 1996's Manny & Lo and The Horse Whisperer in
1998.
However, despite her small successes, she was unable to pursue her
love of the movie industry academically after failing to make the
grade to attend New York University's film school.
She continues, "I got a 1080 (on her SAT college admissions test),
which was pretty low. But that was probably because I didn't answer
half of the math questions. I didn't get into NYU's film school. I
still have the rejection letter."