Scarlett Johansson to Receive American Cinematheque Award
Variety.com: Scarlett Johansson will receive the 35th annual American Cinematheque Award gala and tribute at the Beverly Hilton on Nov. 18.
American Cinematheque chair Rick Nicita said Johansson’s career embodies the essence of the prestigious award.
“Her immense talent has shone brightly from her movie debut as a child through her emergence as a megastar of blockbusters,” Nicita said in a statement Tuesday morning. “She has acted in adventurous independent films with cutting-edge directors. She has starred in the most commercial of franchises. She has taken leading roles and supporting roles in movies budgeted big and small. Whenever she graces the screen with her luminous presence, the audience knows that they will see a dedicated artist at the height of her powers. We can’t wait to share in the next phase of Scarlett Johansson’s marvelous career.”
A New York native, Johansson made her professional acting debut at the age of eight in the off-Broadway production of “Sophistry” alongside Ethan Hawke. She has since appeared in an array of successful blockbuster franchises, most notably in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Natasha Romanoff, a.k.a. Black Widow. First appearing in “Iron Man 2” alongside Robert Downey Jr. and Don Cheadle in 2010, Johansson went on to star in the two “Captain America” sequels and all four “Avengers” films. She will make her eighth and presumably final appearance as the titular superhero in her long-awaited solo film “Black Widow.”
Johansson received critical acclaim for her role as Nicole Barber in “Marriage Story” and her supporting role as Rozie Betzler in “Jojo Rabbit.” She received nominations for an Oscar, Screen Actors Guild Award and a BAFTA Award for her roles in both 2019 films. Other notable credits include “Lucy,” “Under the Skin,” “Ghost in the Shell,” “Isle of Dogs,” “Her,” “The Horse Whisperer,” “Manny & Lo,” “Hail, Caesar!,” “The Jungle Book,” “Chef,” “Don Jon” and “Hitchcock.”
Previous American Cinematheque Award honorees include: Eddie Murphy (1986); Bette Midler (1987); Robin Williams (1988); Steven Spielberg (1989); Ron Howard (1990); Martin Scorsese (1991); Sean Connery (1992); Michael Douglas (1993); Rob Reiner (1994); Mel Gibson (1995); Tom Cruise (1996); John Travolta (1997); Arnold Schwarzenegger (1998); Jodie Foster (1999); Bruce Willis (2000); Nicolas Cage (2001); Denzel Washington (2002); Nicole Kidman (2003); Steve Martin (2004); Al Pacino (2005); George Clooney (2006); Julia Roberts (2007); Samuel L. Jackson (2008); Matt Damon (2010); Robert Downey Jr. (2011); Ben Stiller (2012); Jerry Bruckheimer (2013); Matthew McConaughey (2014); Reese Witherspoon (2015); Ridley Scott (2016); Amy Adams (2017); Bradley Cooper (2018); Charlize Theron (2019) and Spike Lee (2020).