“Watching that reel reminds of me all the incredibly inspiring collaborators that I’ve been fortunate enough to work with for over three decades.”
That’s how Scarlett Johansson addressed her fans, her co-stars, her creative partners, her past crew members, and more as she accepted the Generation Award at the 2021 MTV Movie & TV Awards on Sunday night (May 16). For a performer like ScarJo, who’s been a staple of Hollywood since she was a literal child and has since blazed her own unique cinematic trail in the following years, it felt right.
“I never would’ve been able to continue to evolve as an actor for the last 30 years without the support and dedication of so many cast and crew members that make up the nomadic traveling circus family that are [on] movie sets, and the dedication and hard work of so many people that goes into making any movie continues to inspire me as a performer,” she continued from a video message addressing the crowd.
“This award really belongs to many hundreds of creative people all over the world. Thank you so much to my fans for riding the way with me and supporting my career so I can continue to have the good fortune to pursue the job that is my passion, and I realize what an absolute gift it is to have the opportunity to do what I love. I couldn’t do it without your continued support. This award is made possible by all of you. It’s because of that that it’s so meaningful to me.”
Naturally, after an extremely heartfelt speech and an equally genuine lead-in from her pal Billy Porter that touched on her decades of growth and hard work, ScarJo got slimed — by her husband, Saturday Night Live‘s Colin Jost, no less. He thought MTV did the whole slime thing, but I mean, my man, everyone knows that’s Nickelodeon. Come on.
Now, about two months ahead of the return of her iconic Marvel Cinematic Universe hero Natasha Romanoff in Black Widow, felt like the perfect time to reflect on all the hard work she’s done to get to this point.
For someone who’s been involved with the MCU as she has for over a decade, Johansson came to be known globally even before that — which is incredible to consider. She appeared in films that have become huge outsider-culture signifiers, like Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation and Terry Zwigoff’s Ghost World, right as she established herself as a performer capable of noir, mystery, comedy, and romance, in addition to stage work. In 2019, she joined an elite short list of actors who’ve been nominated for multiple Oscars in a single year.
It’s a testament to her strength and her commitment to growing and evolving. Through the 2010s, she was perhaps best known as an Avenger — and her character’s final scenes in 2019’s conclusion film Avengers: Endgame showcase her deep commitment to the franchise.
Her Marvel days aren’t over, though. In July, she’ll get her long-awaited standalone film, Black Widow, which centers around her character’s journey after the events of 2016’s Captain America: Winter Solider. And the Movie & TV Awards felt like the perfect place to preview the exhilarating clip, which featured Johansson and her co-star Florence Pugh gunning through what looks to be European streets to escape an approaching motorcyclist.
Check out the exclusive clip, which culminates with Flo Pugh absolutely owning the would-be attacker with a car door. Then relive Johansson’s love-slime moment — uh, and also her most-deserved Generation Award rewarding decades of hard work — above.
The 2021 MTV Movie & TV Awards are airing live right now from the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles. Find the complete winners list right here.
