Scarlett Johansson takes acting to a whole new level in the new movie Under the Skin.
Director Jonathan Glazer (Birth, Sexy Beast) took a different approach to making the feature film. He shot the film guerrilla style in different parts of Scotland using up to eight cameras at the same time.
But, what was really intriguing was that Glazer asked Scarlett Johansson to pick up real hitchhikers in a van, and Glazer later confirmed that many scenes had to be cut when many of the non-actors Johannson picked up wouldn’t sign a release form.
Now Scarlet Johansson recently spoke about picking up random guys in her van, and The Daily Mail interviewed one of the guys about it.
Johansson tells The Guardian:
A remarkable aspect of Under the Skin is that a lot of the people who appear in it aren’t actors. They’re normal people – who happen to be walking down a road minding their own business when a pretty lady pulls up in a van alongside them and offers them a lift to Tesco and then a film crew clutching disclaimers leaps out of the back.
At what point did Glazer tell you: “Oh yes, by the way, Scarlett, we haven’t really got any other actors. We’re just going to cruise the streets and find them”? “That happened later on. And none of us knew how it was going to work. We toyed with lots of different things like prosthetics, teeth, all kinds of things that would change my face but only slightly, when in fact there was no need to do any of that.”
So, no one would really believe that Scarlett Johansson would actually pick up anyone in a van.
The Daily Mail talked to one of the guys Johansson picked up, the newly-single father of two Kevin McAliden.
“What man wouldn’t think, ‘Wow,’ when a good-looking woman has just pulled up in a van. […] She said: ‘Are you single? What are you doing tonight?’ I thought, ‘Yes! This is unbelievable!’ I’d been having quite a tough time in my personal life, so this was like a lucky break. I should have known it was too good to be true.”
Kevin was “stunned” when he got out of the van and was approached by a crew member. “The man said: ‘Do you know who that was who brought you home? Scarlett Johansson.’ I knew instantly it was the truth. It all fell into place. Afterwards, when I told my family and friends, they accused me of being nuts. But I had the last laugh when they saw the film trailer.”
Here’s a clip of one of the non-actors Johansson picked up in her van. It is not the guy interviewed above but, it is an interesting look at how the movie was produced.
But, to market the feature film, the producers have chosen a unique way to reach their audience, Craigslist.
Below is an example of what they used to entice people to hear an ad over the phone:
The Playlist was able to take a picture of the Craigslist ad before it was removed and it features a picture of Scarlett Johansson’s backside.
What do you think of the upcoming movie? Do you think it was interesting way to create a feature film? Leave us a comment below and discuss!
