Scarlett Johansson reveals why she does not take photos with fans: ‘It really offends a lot of people’

Scarlett Johansson opened up about navigating her boundaries as a public figure and mother while gracing the cover of InStyle’s March 2025 issue. 

The movie star explained during the interview that ‘the idea of being recognizable and celebrated feels fun, but then you can never stuff it back in the bottle.’ 

‘The reality of it is, there’s a massive loss to [fame], you know? So I think preserving that for as long as possible until it’s someone’s choice, that’s the choice I make as far as my kids go,’ she told the magazine. 

The Black Widow star, 40, also went on to shed light on why she refrains from taking photos with fans and actively chooses to keep her two kids out of the spotlight. 

‘It really offends a lot of people. It doesn’t mean I’m not appreciative, of course, that people are fans, or happy to see me. But I always say to people, “I’m not working.”‘ she explained of her policy not to take photos while off duty. 

She added: ‘[And that means] I don’t want to be identified as being in this time and place with you. ‘I’m doing my own thing.’

The Oscar nominee went on to clarify that she is happy to interact with fans, snap selfies and sign autographs for them while attending work events and  premieres.

But, outside of work, she likes to buy her ‘own s**t at Duane Reade’ and be in her ‘own thoughts that have nothing to do with what other people’ think of her.  

‘I don’t like being self-conscious,’ she reasoned. 

The mother-of-two proceeded to applaud singer, Chappell Roan, for speaking up about her need for boundaries and privacy. 

Over the summer, the Pink Pony Club hitmaker, 27, called out fans that crossed her boundaries in a six-page Instagram post, detailing incidents of stalking, harassment, and unwanted physical contact. 

After reading the statement, Johansson said she deeply empathized with Roan, who she praised for being ‘very outspoken about how hard it’s been to adjust to fame.’

Johansson, who was previously married to Ryan Reynolds, reflected on how some of her past high-profile relationships created a frenzy around her love life. 

‘When I was younger, I dated actors that had heartthrob status. That is, to me, scary. I don’t have that level. Fan crush-dom can be really hard,’ she said. 

During the interview, Johansson also stressed that ‘the anonymity’ of children is ‘very precious’ to her.

In addition to her three-year-old son, Cosmo, who she welcomed with husband Colin Jost in August 2021, Johansson shares her daughter, Rose, 10, with ex Romain Dauriac.

‘I definitely over-share. I’m not a closed book, you know?’ she said. ‘I’m politically active and vocal about it. But I am a private person in the sense that I value my close friendships. My family is very precious to me, as is their privacy.’ 

Still, the New York native said her little girl already seems eager to create content and help promote her mom’s skincare brand, The Outset. 

Despite Rose’s best efforts, Johansson reminded her of ‘the fact that’ she’s just 10.

Johansson, who does not have any social media account, also spoke of the ‘pressure to join social media’ placed on her from movie studios and her team at The Outset. 

When asked how close she has come to joining Instagram, Johansson confessed ‘close enough to talk to’ her therapist about it. 

‘I was like, I guess this is something I need to do. But it goes against my core values,’ she recalled. ‘Is there a way I could do this and stay true to who I am? It didn’t feel like I could.’ 

While appearing on The Skinny Confidential Him & Her podcast in 2023, Johansson said she is ‘too fragile a person to have social media.’ 

‘I can’t. My ego is too fragile,’ she admitted. ‘My brain is too fragile. I’m like a delicate flower.’

The performer went on to explain that apps like Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, are simply too addictive for her. 

‘I become like a three-year old with their mom’s phone, where I get completely absorbed into it. So that’s why I know I can’t have it,’ the Lost in Translation star confessed. 

The actress went on to reveal that the three days she used Instagram, through her company’s account, she found herself wasting so much time and wanting to ‘change’ her ‘life in all these ways that felt so bad.’ 

Back in 2011, the performer also insisted that she doesn’t ‘feel the need to brand’ herself.’

‘But as a means to share information and raise awareness of things, I think these social-networking platforms are unprecedented. They’re amazing tools to communicate information – especially about different causes or crises or movements,’ she acknowledged.

Still, she said she couldn’t ‘think of anything’ she’d ‘rather do less than have to continuously share details of my everyday life.’

‘I’m always surprised that certain actors have Twitter accounts. I guess they use it in a way that works for them,’ the Tony Award winner stated.

‘But I’d rather that people had less access to my personal life. If I could keep it that way, I’d be a happy lady,’ Johansson concluded of the subject.

That same year, after private photos of her were allegedly hacked from her private cell phone and put on the internet, she asked the public to respect her privacy.

‘Just because you’re an actor or make films or whatever doesn’t mean you’re not entitled to your own personal privacy,’ she told CNN. ‘If that is sieged in some way, it feels unjust. It feels wrong.’

While speaking of growing up in the spotlight, after making her film debut at age nine, she said ‘it’s an adjustment.’

‘I think there are certain instances where you give a lot of yourself and finally you have to kind of put your foot down and say, “Oh wait, I’m taking it back,”‘ she explained.