Scarlett Johansson is reflecting on her experience filming her latest movie, “Asteroid City,” just eight weeks after giving birth to her son, Cosmo. During a June 18 appearance on Sunday Sitdown, Johansson, who is 38 years old, described what it was like to bring Cosmo, whom she shares with husband Colin Jost, on set. Her co-stars, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, and Bryan Cranston, had the opportunity to hold her newborn son during filming.
“I had to bring my infant child to the table. And he could be held by Adrien Brody and Willem Dafoe and Bryan Cranston, and everybody else,” she told host Willie Geist.
“The stories he will have,” Geist noted, with a laugh. “His earliest babysitters, all Academy Award winners.”
While they were waiting for a window of time to shoot the Wes Anderson film amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Johansson got pregnant, she said.
“So on my eight-week postpartum date, I was flying to Spain with my young, eight-week-old baby and Colin,” she said.
Johansson kept her pregnancy a secret to avoid being “scrutinized in the public eye,” she told Vanity Fair last year.
In August 2021, Jost announced the birth of their son on Instagram with a post that read: “OK OK we had a baby. His name is Cosmo. We love him very much,” adding the hashtag, #wegotawaywithitforalongtime.
In “Asteroid City,” Johansson takes on the role of a beloved movie star named Midge.
“She has a certain narcissistic and self-involved quality that’s very alluring and enigmatic,” she told Geist. “She’s aware that she’s constantly being watched, and she doesn’t mind that at all.”
According to the film’s plot synopsis, “Asteroid City” is set in 1950s America where the itinerary of a Junior Stargazer/Space Cadet convention is disrupted by world-changing events.
The film features a star-studded ensemble cast. In addition to Johansson, “Asteroid City” includes Tom Hanks, Jason Schwartzman, Bryan Cranston, Steve Carell, Margot Robbie, Tilda Swinton, Edward Norton, Adrien Brody, Rupert Friend, Willem Dafoe, Tony Revolori, Jeff Goldblum, Fisher Stevens, Jarvis Cocker, Hope Davis, Maya Hawke, Rita Wilson, Matt Dillon, and Hong Chau.
When asked what it was like to get a call to be in the movie, Johansson said it felt like a dream come true.
“It’s, like, a career dream goal, definitely,” she said. “I was very excited to read a script in its entirety, which I never had the chance to do. And it was in the middle of COVID. And so it actually was a really, even more exciting phone call to get because it felt hopeful.
