Even after having an illustrious film career, her performance in her Broadway show would scare her badly.

Scarlett Johansson was nervous about performing in front of a live audience on Broadway for her play A View from the Bridge.
She had little prior knowledge of theatre and believed the audience was there to see her fail.

Co-star Liev Schrieber advised her that the audience was rooting for her to succeed, and Johansson went on to win a Tony award for Best Actress for her performance in the play.

The beauty of the performing arts is that it can be expressed through a variety of mediums, which are popular via theatre plays, television, and major motion pictures. When it comes to films, Scarlett Johansson has it all covered with numerous blockbusters and Academy Award nominations in her illustrious career.

Scarlett Johansson
But when it came to theatre, it was a whole different story for the actress, especially because she had little prior knowledge of the craft. Thus, when she was out on Broadway to perform in Arthur Miller’s play, тιтled A View from the Bridge, she was mighty nervous, so much so that she felt the audience was there just to see her fail.

Scarlett Johansson Was Convinced She Was Going To Fail At Her Broadway Show
Scarlett Johansson in a still from A View from the Bridge

While people may think that acting is the same, whether it be in front of a camera or on the stage, the difference between cinema and theatre is quite different and vast. When we ask stars who have done both, they will tell you that theatre is sometimes a more challenging task than shooting a film, because a live audience is there to witness your performance without any retakes.

All of these factors culminated in the fear Scarlett Johansson felt when she made her appearance on Broadway for her play A View from the Bridge.

In a past interview with Parade, the Marriage Story star opened up about working on the aforementioned Arthur Miller play while being new to theatre. She revealed that she was very nervous about performing in front of a live audience, where one misstep might derail the entire progression of the show.

At one point, she even believed that people were just there to see her fail. Thankfully, her co-star Liev Schrieber was there to help and guide her. She said:

“I don’t know necessarily that it’s about the applause. Of course, that’s always welcome. When I did A View from the Bridge, I was convinced that people wanted me to fail. I was really nervous. I remember Liev saying to me, ‘[An actor] always thinks the audience is against you. But for the audience this is a night out on the town, a Broadway show. They want to be carried away. They’re rooting for you. They want you to succeed.’ He’s right. It totally changed my experience of stepping out on stage. Suddenly, it felt like it was a whole room of people who wanted to be moved. It’s such an amazing feeling.”
This one piece of advice proved to be of tremendous help to her as she would go on to win a Tony award for Best Actress for her performance in the play.