Scarlett Johansson felt like she was having an "out-of-body experience" when the pandemic hit.

Scarlett Johansson

Scarlett Johansson

The 'Avengers' star admitted she didn't know what to do when news broke of the coronavirus pandemic and she was completely "flummoxed" as the world suddenly shut down in front of her.

Speaking about being forced to take time off amid the pandemic, she said: "I was kind of flummoxed. I don’t know, I was having an out-of-body experience ... At the beginning, I was doing all this c*** that everyone was doing – like, I’ll start learning how to play guitar ... Whatever. In between panicking. And then that stuff sort of faded away, and I realised actually that I exist pretty well in this space. I realise I don’t have to be constantly in motion to survive, I think. I’ve always had this fear of, what if everything goes away, what will become of me? It’s this great fear of the unknown, and now I’ve been that way for some time, I realise, Oh, actually, you’re still alive. It probably comes from some fear of death, anyway."

And Scarlett admits her daughter played a huge part in making her feel "very grounded".

She added: "Eventually you have to accept that this is going to take the time it’s going to take and I had to be there for my daughter, obviously, immediately, like all parents. That’s very grounding."

The 36-year-old actress will return to work one day, but would rather wait until the pandemic is over.

Speaking to The Gentlewomen, she explained: "I just can’t work. I don’t think the conditions that are required to work right now are conditions that I could work comfortably under.

"I’d rather wait until I could work in an environment where we can be connected to one another. I know people are just happy to have a job. Fortunately, I don’t have that urgency."


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