Scarlett in Parade Magazine

In this coming Sunday’s PARADE, Contributing Editor James Kaplan talks in depth with gifted young actress Scarlett Johansson. Below, you can read our Web exclusive interview with Johansson, and see what she has to say about dodging paparazzi and why she’ll never be late to a movie set. Then, photographer Andrew Eccles reveals what went on behind the scenes at PARADE’s photo shoot with Johansson.

On avoiding the paparazzi…
“There’s plenty of restaurants and neighborhoods that I just try to avoid. It sucks—especially in New York, because you want to feel like you can walk around anywhere. But it’s okay. I think it’s an adjustment. It’s horrible that you have to make the adjustment, but being as I can’t change the state of where we are now, and I’m sure it will never change, you just have to make the adjustment. What’s the alternative? I don’t want to move to the middle of nowhere. I’m a city kid.”

On being a highly responsible person…
“I’m very responsible when I’m working. I’ve just been doing it for a long time, and I’m not the kind of person who is going to show up to work three hours late, or maybe not come at all. That’s just not who I am. That just has to do with the fact that I understand that everybody else comes to work, and we would all like to get an extra four hours of sleep, but what can you do?”...“But [outside of work] I don’t really have any responsibility right now. It’s not like I have kids. I’m not raising a younger sibling. I’m not supporting anybody financially. But at the same time, I can take care of myself. My mother may disagree. Of course, moms always do: [imitates her mother] “My baby, you’re just a child....”

On looking like a boy...
“I don’t think my features are entirely feminine. Yes, I have full lips and obviously I have no facial hair. But...take somebody like Penelope Cruz. She’s so feminine. Think about it. She has, like, long eyelashes, and to me she just looks very feminine. When I wake up in the morning and I have no makeup on, like right now, I think I look like a young boy.”

And she’s funny, too…
To try to get all the details right, James Kaplan asked Johansson to tell him the provenance of everything she was wearing. And she did—shoes, Alaia; T-shirt, Balenciaga; wristwatch, Chanel.... Then she looked at Kaplan very cheekily and said, “And what are you wearing?”

Even better, she eats when she's hungry!
At the PARADE photo shoot, there was a table full of goodies to eat. According to Kaplan, Johansson was not at all neurotic about the food. “She was hungry, so she ate some coffee cake. And then complained that it didn't have enough butter in it!”