Scarlett Johansson has been working in the entertainment industry for over two decades. Long before she was an action star and an actual Avenger, her earliest credits dated back to the 1990s, where she inhabited child and teen roles before taking on deeper, more challenging projects and becoming a critical darling in beloved films by the Coen Brothers, Christopher Nolan, Spike Jonze, and more. In 2019, she joined an elite club by receiving two Academy Award nominations in the same year, thanks to her work in both Marriage Story and JoJo Rabbit.
It’s not a stretch to say that Johansson’s work has spanned an entire generation. At the 2021 MTV Movie & TV Awards, that designation will become official: Johansson will receive the Generation Award during the ceremony, set to air on MTV on Sunday, May 16 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
The Generation Award “celebrates beloved actors whose diverse contributions to both film and television have turned them into household names,” according to a press release. Throughout her quarter-century in the industry, Johansson has made singular impacts in the realms of film, television, and music, turning her into a powerhouse whose work has landed her six Movie & TV Awards nominations throughout her career. She took home her very first Golden Popcorn in 2013 for Best Fight, thanks to a little film called The Avengers.
Accepting the Generation Aware, Johansson will be in good company. Previous award recipients of this honor include fellow indelible performers Sandra Bullock, Jim Carrey, Tom Cruise, Johnny Depp, Robert Downey Jr, Jamie Foxx, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Mike Myers, Chris Pratt, Adam Sandler, Will Smith, Mark Wahlberg, Reese Witherspoon, and more.
It’s been two years since Avengers: Endgame took the top honor of Best Movie at the 2019 Movie & TV Awards, so if you miss Johansson as Marvel’s Natasha Romanoff, a lynchpin in the Avengers films for over a decade, you’re in luck. She reprises the role in standalone film Black Widow, set to hit theaters July 9.
Hosted by Leslie Jones, this year’s MTV Movie & TV Awards will to celebrate the biggest moments in film and TV from the past year. Sacha Baron Cohen is set to receive the Comedic Genius Award. Find the full list of nominees here.
This year’s party is so big that it can’t be contained to a single special: The first-ever MTV Movie & TV Awards: Unscripted, hosted by Nikki Glaser, will air the next night, Monday, May 17, to honor all the best in reality TV.
The 2021 MTV Movie & TV Awards will air live on Sunday, May 16 from the Palladium in Los Angeles at 9 p.m. ET/PT. The inaugural Movie & TV Awards: Unscripted will air on Monday, May 17 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
