HOWZAT

She claims that an article in Cosmopolitan about her private life contains quotes that were fabricated. Her complaint is being investigated as we go to press. The Lohan “story” is another good example, she feels. Lohan apparently scrawled “Scarlett is a c***” on the wall in the bathroom of a New York nightclub. Quite why is a mystery to Johansson. “The first I heard about it was when a journalist mentioned it to me,” she says. “I’ve only met Lindsay Lohan a couple of times. But you know, as soon as you mention her name, the media loves it. They like to be able to say, ‘Scarlett answers back!’ I just thought that it was a little tacky and it makes me seem like I’m holding some kind of grudge, which is just nonsense.”

She likes to keep her private life to herself. A few months ago, she married Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds in a “quiet ceremony” near Vancouver after dating him for 19 months. They pulled off the remarkable coup of keeping the event secret until it was all over. “Being married is lovely, thank you,” she says, clearly on guard. “I feel like I’m in a good place. I’ve grown up. Everything seems to be going in the right direction.” Does being married make her feel more secure? “Maybe. That’s something I think you need a little perspective on. But it’s nice when you go out in the world to know that you are married. It’s kind of liberating.”

The work, she stresses, is still a huge part of her life. She can pick and choose from the best scripts on offer for the young Hollywood A-list, on which she occupies, arguably, top spot. This year, she even found the time to record an album, Anywhere I Lay My Head, which features her take on ten Tom Waits songs. When an actor dabbles in music, the result is usually an embarrassment; not so with Johansson. “Sexy, intoxicating and haunting,” gushed one critic, while another suggested that if she were an unknown, we would all be hailing a major new talent. Her singing voice is a sexy, late-night rasp that suits Waits perfectly. “I grew up listening to Tom Waits. Yeah, I would do more music. I would always hope to be able to explore different things. I love film, but I also love music and fine art and fashion. You never know, I might be the next Philippe Starck…”

She has worked with Woody Allen three times: on Scoop, Match Point and, now, Vicky Cristina Barcelona. The latter is viewed as the director’s best film for years – it received glowing reviews and a standing ovation when it premiered at Cannes. It’s smart, funny and very sexy: Johansson plays a young American, Cristina, who, along with her friend Vicky (portrayed by the excellent Rebecca Hall, daughter of Sir Peter Hall), spends a summer in Barcelona, where they meet and are wooed by a bohemian artist, Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem). Allen is on familiar territory – exploring the complexities of relationships – but it feels fresh and contemporary.

She is, understandably, delighted with the finished film. “I’m always surprised when I see a movie I did with Woody because we never get to see anything when we are making it; the monitor, the dailies, nothing. So you have no idea what the movie looks like or whether it’s going to make any sense. You are working scene to scene, and everything is out of order and you have no real sense of the story as a whole. So yes, I was very pleasantly surprised.”

Allen is clearly besotted, at least professionally, with Johansson, and admits that he’s written several screenplays with her in mind. “Every now and then, I find an actress with the kind of gift that inspires me to create parts,” says Allen. “Scarlett’s very smart, sexy, very gifted and with a big range. And she’s lightning fast with her sense of humour.” Praise indeed. You do wonder, though, whether it’s just a little embarrassing being Woody’s muse? “Um, yeah,” she laughs. “We both kind of cringe when we hear that word used. It’s like I suddenly appeared in his life looking for a story and a plotline: ‘Scarlett! Here she is.’ I think I fit into the young-woman category in his mind, and I feel, of course, I’m replaceable. But I love working with Woody because we get along so well, it’s always fun and interesting and what actor wouldn’t want to have that dialogue?”

The Spirit couldn’t be more of a contrast to a Woody Allen movie. “But that’s the point, right? To try different things. And I really wanted to work with that man [Frank Miller]. He’s a genius.” Miller, the comic-book writer and artist who turned to directing with an acclaimed adaptation of his own Sin City, has now brought Will Eisner’s The Spirit to the screen. Starring alongside Samuel L. Jackson and Eva Mendes, Johansson is the gloriously named Silken Floss, which sounds like an upmarket dental treatment. “It’s a great name,” she agrees. “Silken Floss. It just rolls off the tongue.”

Doubtless, the teen boys will love it. “Oh, and the girls and the older guys and women, too,” she protests. Maybe so. But for Scarlett Johansson, it’s just one step nearer to the time when everyone stops referring to her as a sex symbol. “I feel like I’ve done a lot of different kinds of work, and it would be such a waste, I think, if I could only be a sexy sidekick or something. I would have to open up a store somewhere and quit the business,” she says.

This is followed by a low, throaty laugh. Ms Johansson is joking, of course. After all, you have to have a sense of humour about this sex symbol stuff.

The Spirit opens on January 1. Vicky Cristina Barcelona opens on February 6

Explore Film

• Film Reviews

• Trailers

• DVD

• London Film Festival

Editor's choice

• The 100 Best Films of the Decade
• 70 facts you didn't know about Marvel
• The 50 Biggest Movies Of 2010