Scarlett Johansson has spoken about the appeal of her role in the upcoming live-action re-make of Japanese anime classic Ghost In The Shell that’s due out in 2017.
The 32 year old spoke at a fan event in Japan about her lead role as ‘The Major’, a cyborg counter-cyberterrorism field commander tasked with thwarting an outfit that aims to bring down a new artificial intelligence program.
Scarlett Johansson stars in the live-action re-make of ‘Ghost In The Shell’
“I didn’t actually know the material. When the script came to me it came with a copy of the anime, and when I first saw it seemed quite daunting, I think, because the anime is so philosophical and I didn’t know how it would translate to a live-action film or how I could contribute to it. But it was alluring, definitely!”
About her complex role as The Major, she said she was interested in playing “three sides… the ego, the super-ego and the id” all at the same time in a cyborg character “who has an idea of who she thinks she was and who she now isn’t in the life she’s living now, and then the person she feels she is, this sort of gnawing and clawing feeling, in her ‘ghost’.”
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The anime version of Ghost In The Shell came out back in 1995, which in turn had been adapted from a manga series, and is generally regarded as one of the finest movies of its genre.
Watch the trailer for ‘Ghost In The Shell’ here:
When the news was announced way back at the start of 2015 that Johansson would be playing the lead, many accused the film’s producers of ‘whitewashing’ – the practice of casting white or Western actors in historically non-white character roles.
There was a great deal of controversy for several months that has consistently hung over the production, but this question did not come up in the discussion.
She was also asked about how she wanted fans of the original to feel when watching the new movie.
“For me, I have such a soft spot for The Major because of her journey of self-discovery. Although it’s set in this explosive world that’s so visually stunning and action-packed, to me it’s a coming of age story, about the loss of innocence and the re-birth you can have from that. I hope the fans connect with The Major the way I did.”
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