Academy of Cinema and Television to Collaboration With Scarlett Johansson

USA (SANEPR.com) May 12, 2008 -- The series, in a Q & A format, enables performing arts students and their parents to instantly gain personal insight online about the celebrities featured in the series. Together with the aid of the Internet, the series will give parents, students, and the Internet community insight into the industry from an actress who began her career as an eight year old and is now one of Hollywood’s fastest rising stars.

Jack White, Director of the Academy of Cinema and Television, is thrilled that a brilliant, but often controversial, former child actor like Johansson will be sharing her childhood experiences as well as offer some industry insider tips.

Born in New York City on November 22, 1984, Scarlett Johansson is the youngest of four siblings; she has an older brother and sister, as well as a twin brother. She's the only actor in the family, something she's wanted to be since a child. Her father lives in New York, her mother lives in Los Angeles and manages her fast-track career.

Johansson was acting professionally when she was only 8 years old. After taking classes at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute for Young People, she made her stage debut in the early 1990s in the off-Broadway production of Sophistry.

At age 10, Johansson's first film role came in 1994's North. The following year she played Sean Connery's daughter in the thriller Just Cause, and then in 1996 she appeared in If Lucy Fell and Manny & Lo. For the latter film, Johansson was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Actress in 1997. That year she added Fall and Home Alone 3 to her credits.

Her real worldwide recognition came for her performance as Grace MacLean, a teen traumatized in a riding accident in Robert Redford's 1998 hit feature The Horse Whisperer, a role for which she won a YoungStar award and was nominated for a Blockbuster Entertainment Award.

“Johansson is a talent performer, not just an accomplished actress,” says White. “The 23-year-old has recently recorded an album of Tom Waits covers which includes Anywhere I Lay My Head, and a lead single 'Falling Down', featuring backing vocals from David Bowie. White believes she is an A-list performer that can share some valuable insights with the Academy of Cinema and Television’s student body as well as to the school’s Web site visitors.