Scarlett Johansson wanted her ‘Jurassic World Rebirth’ character to be “a little bit sparkly”.
Scarlett Johansson plays Zora Bennett in Jurassic World Rebirth
The 40-year-old star leads the cast of the new movie in the dinosaur franchise and was keen for her covert operations expert Zora Bennett to possess the sense of “warmth” that she has seen in others in similar fields.
Scarlett told Empire magazine: “I’ve met with many members of the armed forces and worked with the USO (United Services Organizations), and the people I’ve met who are at the highest level of security clearance all really share a certain kind of sense of humour, a warmth. So I wanted Zora to have that.”
The ‘Black Widow’ star explained that her alter ego is world-weary before the events of ‘Jurassic World Rebirth’, which is released in cinemas in July and centres on a crack team’s attempts to create a life-saving drug.
Scarlett said: “I like to think of her as an operator. She’s ex-military, who works for independent contractors. She’s hired to do extractions.
“She’s kind of burnt out when we find her. So when this opportunity comes along, it’s very hard to pass up, because it means a chance for her to have a shot at another kind of life.”
Johansson has long been a fan of the sci-fi action series and explained that a meeting with original ‘Jurassic Park’ director Steven Spielberg convinced her that she was the right person to take centre stage in a new era for the franchise.
She recalled: “It was a very long, wonderful meeting that we had to begrudgingly leave because we both have families.
“He really confirmed my huge fandom for the franchise and the opportunity (this film provided) for newness.”
Scarlett enjoyed collaborating with screenwriter David Koepp and filmmaker Gareth Edwards as she sought to make her character “complex” in the flick – which also features Mahershala Ali and Jonathan Bailey.
She explained: “(They were) open to discussing the part with me, about when I felt she could be coloured in and made even more authentic and complex.”
Johansson added of the scribe: “He’d answer questions or help reword things. I like to be able to have an open dialogue with the writer and try to make things even deeper. It was a dream to be able to do that.”
Koepp penned ‘Jurassic Park’ back in 1993 and promised that the new instalment would evoke the “spirit” of the original film.
He told TheWrap: “(We are trying to capture) the spirit of the first movie, which is the tone that we would like to get closest to.”
The 61-year-old writer added that it was “the idea of starting afresh” that persuaded him to pick up his pen once again for the franchise.
Koepp said: “You don’t often get that chance, where they give you very few guidelines, except there must be dinosaurs in it.”