Though dealing with negative reviews is part and parcel of an actor’s job, that doesn’t mean they aren’t entitled to react to it in any way they see fit.
Such was the case for actress Scarlett Johansson at the first screening of her film Under the Skin at the 2013 Venice International Film Festival, which nearly brought her to tears, according to film critic Alberto Barbera.
In a recent interview with The Guardian, he revealed the audience reaction to the film was not expected by Johansson.
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“It was one of the worst screenings I’ve attended. It was the only time the audience booed a film. Scarlett was almost in tears,” Barbera shared.
“I tried to say to her, ‘Don’t worry, in time the film will be recognised.’ And that’s exactly what happened. It’s now a cult movie.”
Johansson also described the unusual audience reaction in an interview with The Guardian in 2014.
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“It was the first time I had seen the film with an audience and the first time I saw the film finished. And I was on this huge mezzanine so I felt super-exposed,” she recalled.
“Then at the end, when the lights came up … there was this sound of people cheering and booing at the same time, but with equal gusto. I didn’t know how to react to it. I think I was just … I wouldn’t say disturbed but I was sort of shocked.”
What shocked her even more was the reaction of the film’s director, Jonathan Glazer, who loved the audience’s reaction.
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Johansson said she recalled looking over at Glazer during the screening, with him saying that audience’s combined booing and cheering was “the most amazing sound” he had ever heard in his life.
The film, which was released 10 years ago, was voted by critics as the best British film of the 21st Century in April 2022. It beat out Paddington 2, Fish Tank and The Souvenir for the top spot.