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Scarlett Johansson Reflects on Secret Pregnancies With Rose and Cosmo to Avoid Her Body Being ‘Scrutinized’
Actress Scarlett Johansson is notoriously private, but she opened up about why she chose to keep her pregnancies with daughter Rose and son Cosmo a secret during a rare interview.
“I’ve been so protective of both pregnancies, not wanting to feel scrutinized in the public eye,” the Black Widow actress, 37, explained to Vanity Fair on Tuesday, March 1. “I wanted to be able to have my own feelings about my changing body without other people also telling me how they saw me, whether it was positive or negative.”
ScarJo gave birth to daughter Rose Dorothy, whom she shares with ex-husband Romain Dauriac, in August 2014. She and husband Colin Jost welcomed their son, Cosmo, in August 2021 after getting married in October 2020.
The Avengers: Endgame star admitted during her most recent pregnancy “how much stuff” got projected on her while she was expecting, including people’s “judgment” or “desire.”
“I would have a lot of people saying things to me immediately, like, ‘How great, oh my God, that’s wonderful.’ And while I was definitely excited to be pregnant in some ways, I also had a lot of not-great feelings about it,” the New Yorker explained.
Her candidness about having some fears over baby No. 2 were “scrutinized” by her inner circle. “I’m talking about, like, women that were close to me,” she noted. “You expect it from men, but from women, it’s like, ‘Come on, girl, you’ve been through it.’”
The Don Jon actress reflected on telling a friend, who “knew I was trying to get pregnant,” about conceiving, which her pal responded, “Oh, s—t. Great but not great.”
“I feel like a lot of things have moved forward in the past five years in terms of women’s empowerment, but that thing remains sort of in the Dark Ages,” the Sing actress admitted. “So much judgment it’s crazy.”
That being said, ScarJo is far from a first-time mom and recalled it taking “a long time” to have a “new-beginning feeling” after welcoming daughter Rose.
“I was so in it in that primary, preoccupied phase, where you’re still connected to your baby,” she said, acknowledging that having kids was the “biggest life-changing thing” she’s done. “And then I went into work pretty quickly after that. I always felt like I was trying to keep up and create some sort of work-life balance, which I think is probably a lie.”
