Scarlett Johansson who plays lucy talks about her film, her experience of being an action star, challenges that came her way and about her fiance Romain Dauriac. Excerpts from an interview
You play the titular character in your upcoming movie lucy. Tell us about it.
lucy is in a transient phase in her life when we find her. She’s figuring out who she is, and she’s feeling like she should probably get her life on track. As the drug kicks in, lucy gradually loses the ability to empathise and to feel pain. Even though she can delve deeply into someone’s memory and eventually control him physically, she doesn’t have any opinion. She loses her preconceived ideas or judgement about the other person.
What were the factors that attracted you towards the movieIJ
The film poses some complex existential questions. It would have been hard to imagine how the script has evolved because so much of that is director luc’s vision. Anything I could imagine the film to look like, just from reading the descriptions in the script, pales in comparison to the actual life that the director breathed into this project. This is actually what drew me to this project. I had to trust his vision. I remember meeting him and he said, ‘You have to trust that I know what this is about because it can be vague at times. But if you see what I’m seeing, you’ll believe in it.’ So, I took a leap of faith. He’s a formidable guy who knows what he sees in his mind and wants that vision to be executed perfectly.
What was it like to shoot in two such diverse locations – Taiwan and ParisIJ
I just loved being able to explore the cities. It was so welcoming. In some ways, just the fact that we were all so tired and jet-lagged and out of our element added to the disorientation of my character and the place she’s coming out of when she starts being affected by this drug. The sets are massive and detailed. We could be in an apartment, or in a luxurious Taipei hotel suite, or anywhere else for that matter. I was travelling through different universes, all within the studio.
How do you feel about now being an action starIJ
I never thought of Mark Ruffalo as a big, green, giant, mutant thing! But he is. I liked all the action parts. You get into the mind-set and accept that for the next five or six months of your life you are going to be permanently bruised. Once you accept it then like many things in life it makes everything a lot easier. If you go in fighting against it then you can’t do it and it is miserable. I worked for months to prepare.
Tell us more about your engagement with Romain DuraicIJ
We do different things. He’s in the whole art-scene world. We don’t have a crazy conflicting schedule and all that other stuff to contend with.
What’s a typical weekend in ParisIJ
He loves art, so we might visit some of the galleries or go to a museum. That’s his true passion. I like to experience that with him. I guess part of the wonderful thing about living in Paris is how people take their time with things. And I like to feel no pressure on the weekends in Paris. Sunday, most things are closed in
Paris, and there’s something wonderful about that. So I’m much more comfortable just spending the weekend in my bed.
How has your outlook towards relationships changed since your marriage to Ryan ReynoldsIJ
I know now more of what I need and want in a relationship. And I know I have more tools to communicate, not just with my partner, but with myself.