It seems like only yesterday we were swooning over the mostly unknown actress as she wandered around Tokyo, and our hearts, in “Lost in Translation.” But that was 11 years ago, and the actress — Scarlett Johansson, of course — has become a household name.
At first it looked like she was going to be an indie darling, then it seemed like she traded all that cred in to do big-budget Hollywood fare. Yet, somehow she turned into the rare breed of actor who could mix Hollywood blockbuster status (“The Avengers”) with indie cred (“Her,” “Don Jon”).
Here are her 10 best movie performances, where you can see her go from nerdy young kid to box-office dominating femme fatale.
‘Ghost World,’ 2001: Indie nerd kid
Scarlett Johansson’s early roles were small bits in “North” and “Home Alone 3.” It was this adaptation of the “Ghost World” graphic novel that propelled her into the spotlight. She plays a social outcast graduating high school with her best friend, played by Thora Birch.
But Johansson’s character ends up going more mainstream by the end of the flick. Hmm, sound familiar?
‘Lost in Translation,’ 2003: Indie dream girl
Her big break came in Sofia Coppola’s airy and longing-filled look at modern romance, where her raspy voice and on-screen chemistry with Bill Murray propelled her into a million emo boy fantasies.
She blossomed from the shy kid in “Ghost World” into a full movie star here, and the sweet simplicity of the “Lost in Translation” story combined for some movie alchemy.
‘Girl With a Pearl Earring,’ 2003: Getting serious
Johansson entered Serious Movie world with this period piece, playing Griet, the inspiration for the famous Johannes Vermeer painting. The movie got solid reviews (78 percent on Rotten Tomatoes) and showed she was ready to jump into bigger movies with more complex roles.
‘Match Point,’ 2005: Woody Allen’ing
It used to be considered a mark of honor to be chosen as one of Woody Allen’s vixens for his movies — well, at least until things got all creepy. But Johansson’s dip into Allen’s world had mixed results: “Match Point” and 2008’s “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” were hits with critics, 2006’s “Scoop” wasn’t, but it did pair her with future Marvel movie colleague Hugh Jackman, a k a Wolverine.
Though it’s likely we won’t ever see them team up in the movies (the Avengers and X-Men are owned by different studios), they do meet in the comics sometimes, so a fan boy can dream.
‘The Prestige,’ 2006: Damn fine adult acting
Oh hey, it’s Black Widow and Wolverine AND Batman in the same movie! “The Prestige” was released during Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, but the lack of masked heroes doesn’t make this movie any less enjoyable.
Johansson plays a pivotal role in this smart, tricky movie full of powerful performances — and twists.
‘Iron Man 2,’ 2010: The badass
If getting cast in a Woody Allen movie is artistic validation for actors, getting cast as a superhero must be like getting invited to sit at the cool actors’ table in the lunchroom.
Comic fans were worried if ScarJo could pull off playing the dangerous and seductive Black Widow, a k a Natasha Romanoff, but she wowed everyone with a performance as packed with action as it was with quips, in the first “Iron Man” sequel.
‘Her,’ 2013: Return to indie
Johansson was famously brought in to save this movie after director Spike Jonze felt Samantha Morton’s original voice recordings were missing something. That raspy lift to her voice helped carry the movie.
Lots of us probably have her voice in our heads now whenever our iPhones talk to us. And working with Jonze restored her cred in the indie world, where she was sorely missed.
‘Don Jon,’ 2013: Small budget indie
Johansson took on a role in Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s “Don Jon,” where she plays a love interest that showed she still enjoys doing a small movie without CGI. And she plays against type as a prissy Long Island princess.
‘Captain America: Winter Soldier,’ 2014
Johansson gets an expanded role as the Black Widow in this very enjoyable Captain America sequel, packed full of action, humor and sex appeal.
She’s enough of a standout character that Marvel announced she’ll get her own stand-alone movie (release date still to be determined). And we’ll see her again in next year’s “Avengers: Age of Ultron.”
‘Lucy,’ 2014: The super super hero
The movie, which opened Friday, from director Luc Besson promises the kind of action we haven’t seen Johansson in before. While she kicks butt in “The Avengers,” she doesn’t have any real super powers besides her own cunning.
In “Lucy,” she gets infected with drugs that unlock the unused parts of her brain, giving her super duper powers. And even though that “you only use 10 percent of your brain” thing is a silly and persistent myth, ScarJo deserves to kick some butt whatever way possible.