Scarlett Johansson says it's 'unfair' to expect celebrities to 'have public role in society'

Fox News cited the 36-year-old star in a new interview to The Gentlewoman as saying that, "I don't think actors have obligations to have a public role in society." 

"You didn't choose to be a politician, you're an actor," added the star who believes it's "unfair" to expect that from celebs who would prefer not to offer it. "Your job as an actor is to mirror our experience to ourselves; your responsibility is to be a mirror for an audience, to have an empathetic experience through art. That is what your job is," Johansson clarified. 

"Whatever my political perspectives are, all that stuff, I feel best when people can sit in a theater or at home and disappear into a story or a presentation and see pieces of themselves, or are able to connect with themselves through this experience of watching this performance or story or interaction between actors or whatever it is," she proceeded. Johansson added, "They're affected by it and they're thinking about it, and they feel something. They have a passionate response to it - good, bad, uncomfortable, validating, whatever. That's my job. The other stuff is not my job." 

As reported by Fox News, Johansson spoke about her response to US President Joe Biden winning the 2020 election. She said, "You could hear people losing their psyches outside, and I just cried. It was a pretty crazy reaction. Oh my God, it's over. It felt like the end of a war, you know?" 

The 'Lucy' also reflected on defending director Woody Allen, who she has previously worked with. Allen was accused by his adoptive daughter Dylan Farrow of sexual abuse, which he has long denied. "I mean, everyone has a hard time admitting when they're wrong about stuff, and for all of that to come out publicly, it can be embarrassing," Johansson said. 

"To have the experience of, 'Wow, I was really off mark there,' or 'I wasn't looking at the big picture,' or 'I was inconsiderate' ... I'm also a person," she further said.