Scarlett Johansson
Scarlett Johansson, born 22 November 1984 in New York, is an American actress, model, and singer. She made her film debut in North (1994). In 1996, she was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead for her performance in Manny & Lo, garnering further acclaim and prominence with roles in The Horse Whisperer (1998) and Ghost World (2001). She shifted to adult roles with her performances in Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003) and Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation (2003), for which she won a BAFTA award for Best Actress in a Leading Role; both films earned her Golden Globe Award nominations as well. Roles in A Love Song for Bobby Long (2004) and Woody Allen's Match Point (2005) earned Johansson two more Golden Globe Award nominations. Her subsequent films included The Island (2005), The Black Dahlia (2006), The Prestige (2006), The Other Boleyn Girl (2008), Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) and He's Just Not That Into You (2009). She has played the Marvel comic book character Black Widow / Natasha Romanoff in Iron Man 2 (2010), The Avengers (2012) and Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) and is set to reprise the role in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015). As a singer, Johansson has released two albums, Anywhere I Lay My Head and Break Up.
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Engagement in Cultural Diplomacy
Humanitarian Causes
In 2005, Johansson became a Global Ambassador for the aid and development agency Oxfam (until January 2014). In 2007 she skipped the Oscars because she was on tour in India and Sri Lanka as part of Oxfam projects. During her 10-day trip she visited an Oxfam-funded school in Uttar Pradesh and got involved in domestic violence project focusing on Indian women. In Sri Lanka she was observing how the charity was helping in reconstruction projects after the 2004 tsunami. Johansson spent some time by helping Hurricane Katrina victims by dishing out food in New Orleans. She also visited Rwanda in 2008 with a goal to increase awareness of AIDS in African nations.
Philanthropic Donations
Scarlett Johansson is also supportive of many charities and foundations, such as Cancer Research UK, Clothes Off Our Back, Feeding America, Keep a Child Alive, Make Poverty History, Soles4Souls, and many others.
Further Information
Scarlett Johansson and Oxfam Appeal to Aid Typhoon Survivors
Article written by Scarlett Johansson about her trip to East Africa (including video)
