Scarlett Johansson Talks About the Challenges of Monogamy After Splitting With Romain Dauriac
Scarlett Johansson should trust her gut.
The Avengers: Age of Ultron actress, who just recently announced her separation from her second husband, talked monogamy in a new interview in the March/April issue of Playboy. It’s an awkward read as the 32-year-old star, who is definitely still friendly with her ex, was clearly still pretending to be happily married (they split last summer), using “my husband” and “we” liberally throughout the conversation.
“Well, with every gain there’s a loss, right? So that’s a loss,” Johansson told the mag, which is back to allowing nude pictorials, though ScarJo wasn’t doing one. “You have to choose a path. I think the idea of marriage is very romantic; it’s a beautiful idea and the practice of it can be a very beautiful thing. I don’t think it’s natural to be a monogamous person. I might be skewered for that, but I think it’s work. It’s a lot of work. And the fact that it is such work for so many people — for everyone — the fact of that proves that it is not a natural thing. It’s something I have a lot of respect for and have participated in, but I think it definitely goes against some instinct to look beyond.”
A photo of Johansson from the Playboy shoot:
We find this interesting because she said something similar more than 10 years ago. “I don’t think human beings are monogamous creatures by nature,” she told reporters while promoting Match Point. Despite feeling this way, the blonde tried marriage two times: with Romain Dauriac, with whom she has a 2-year-old daughter, and with Ryan Reynolds prior to that. Perhaps she should have trusted her instincts?
In the Playboy interview, Johansson didn’t say whether her own monogamy was an issue in her relationship with Dauriac, a journalist turned popcorn store owner. During the interview, as she pretended they were still together, she talked at length about their marriage. She detailed how they were enjoying living in New York (they had moved to his native Paris a few years back) and said it was where they would remain as their 2-year-old daughter, Rose, starts school in the coming year. At another point, she talked about how he was home making meatballs the other night. (“You go, babe,” was her response.)
She also opened up about Rose, saying motherhood is “the best thing that has ever happened. Ever.” Perhaps a bit of insight into the split could be taken from another quote about of hers about parenthood: “I understand the importance of my own happiness now more than I did before. Because you see how it affects somebody else, and you’re kind of like, If I’m not happy, then I can’t be in tip-top shape for this other person.”
Johansson, who has had relationships with everyone from Josh Hartnett to Sean Penn, talked about her love life generally, saying she “never dated anyone.” She only went on “one blind date” with a guy who, prior to her arrival, had taken a shot of “tequila in his eye. … What a turnoff.,” she said.
And, yes, she referenced Reynolds, who is by all accounts happily married to Blake Lively now and is a dad of two. Discussing the Tom Waits cover album she did in 2008, she said, “Going to Louisiana to record was an absolutely epic experience. I was falling in love with my first husband at the time. It was just a very romantic and really liberating time. It was great.” (A few years ago, she hinted that her stardom being greater than his at the time of their marriage caused problems between them.)
ScarJo was at the Women’s March on Washington and shared a personal story about her experience with Planned Parenthood. She also talked about the election; the Hillary Clinton supporter admitted she was in “a complete and utter shock” when she awoke on a flight to Asia and heard the results. “I thought, This is a Twilight Zone episode.” She added, “It was an especially big blow after, I took my kid with me [to vote], and I was like, ‘Kid, we got a female president, which is pretty exciting. And it’s Hillary Clinton; that’s also cool, and we’re good.’”
She also recalled a conversation she had with Woody Allen soon after the election, and says he was equally shocked and hadn’t thought Donald Trump would even win one state.
The actress’s interview is now available for download, and the magazine will hit newsstands on Feb. 28.
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