Black Widow‘s Scarlett Johansson became the 35th recipient of the American Cinematheque Award.
Among those in attendance to pay tribute to the two-time Oscar nominee was Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige, who praised her for her “talent,” “vision”, intelligence and savvy, both as an actress and a producer
Kevin Feige also teased a “top secret Marvel Studios project” on which the studio is reteaming with the actress, which he said has nothing to do with her Black Widow character, Natasha Romanoff
Additional speakers paying tribute to Johansson included her fellow MCU stars, Sam Rockwell, Chris Evans, Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Downey Jr. and Jeremy Renner.
Rockwell, Evans, Jackson and Downey chimed in via video messages, with Rockwell addressing the damage Johansson inflicted on him in fight scenes past.
Evans noted that he and Johansson did their first movie together “20 years ago” and have made eight more since, sharing that he thinks of her as an older sister not only because of her wisdom, but also because “there’s just no one else in the world I would rather annoy.”
Johansson later paid tribute to her mother, Melanie Sloan, who exposed her to films from a very young age, thereby igniting her passion for storytelling
Johansson called her mother her “own private American Cinematheque,” stating that as her career has gone on, she’s only grown more convinced that she’s doing the work she was meant to do
Johansson expressed the belief that storytelling has “an enormous impact on our emotional wellbeing,” also promoting empathy for others by allowing the viewer to see through their eyes.