Scarlett Johansson (born November 22, 1984) is an American actress. Scarlett Johansson rose to fame with her role in 1998's The Horse Whisperer and subsequently gained critical acclaim for her roles in Ghost World, Lost in Translation and Girl with a Pearl Earring, the latter two earning her Golden Globe Award nominations in 2003. Scarlett Johansson has been named the "sexiest" or "most beautiful" woman alive by several publications. Johansson was born in New York City. Scarlett Johansson's father, Karsten Johansson, is a Danish architect, and Scarlett Johansson's paternal grandfather, Ejner Johansson, was a screenwriter and director. Scarlett Johansson's mother, Melanie Sloan, comes from a Bronx-bred Jewish American family, and met Karsten Johansson while living in Denmark with Scarlett Johansson's maternal grandmother, Dorothy, a former bookkeeper and schoolteacher. Johansson has an older sister, Vanessa, who is also an actress; an older brother, Adrian; a twin brother, Hunter, also an actor; and a half-brother, Christian. Johansson began her theater training by attending and graduating from Professional Children's School in Manhattan in 2002.

After appearing in several films during the late 1990s, Johansson garnered praise and widespread attention for her performance in 1998's The Horse Whisperer and 2001's Ghost World. Scarlett Johansson won the "Upstream Prize" for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival for Scarlett Johansson's performance as Charlotte in 2003's Lost in Translation. The same year, Scarlett Johansson was nominated for two best actress awards at the Golden Globes, one for drama (Girl with a Pearl Earring) and one for comedy (Lost in Translation). Scarlett Johansson was also nominated for best actress for both films at the BAFTAs, and won best actress for Lost in Translation. Johansson was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in June of 2004. In the same year, Scarlett Johansson starred in the films The Perfect Score, In Good Company and A Love Song for Bobby Long, the last of which earned Scarlett Johansson's a third Golden Globe Award nomination. Johansson was involved for a short time with the film Mission: Impossible III, but was not officially cast because of scheduling conflicts, although a falling out with the film's star, Tom Cruise, had been both widely reported and publicly denied. Scarlett Johansson was replaced by Keri Russell.
In July 2005, Johansson starred with Ewan McGregor in the Michael Bay-directed The Island, making Scarlett Johansson's debut as a female lead in a mainstream action film. Scarlett Johansson drew attention to both the film and herself when Scarlett Johansson proposed to appear topless in the film's sex scene, but director Bay disapproved, wanting to keep the film at a PG-13 rating. In the same year, Scarlett Johansson starred in the Woody Allen-directed drama Match Point, which opened in December.