Scarlett Johansson's Recasting In 126-Minute Sci-Fi Masterpiece Recalled By Original Star

Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images Published Aug 4, 2026, 9:53 AM EDT Growing up around performers, storytelling was always central to Emma's life. Add in a nerdy older brother who introduced her to Marvel at far too young an age, and her love for entertainment led her to pursue a Journalism degree at Indiana University, where she discovered her passion for entertainment reporting. She spent nearly one year in Los Angeles covering industry stories and fully immersing herself in the world of entertainment media. Sign in to your ScreenRant account Before Scarlett Johansson became the voice of Samantha in Spike Jonze's Her, another Oscar-nominated actor originally played the role. The 2013 movie became one of the defining sci-fi romances of the decade, earning five Academy Award nominations and winning Best Original Screenplay. Spike Jonze's movie follows Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix), a lonely writer who falls in love with an advanced AI operating system named Samantha (Scarlett Johansson). Because the voice is one of the story's central characters, Johansson's vocal performance became a defining element, so it comes as a shock that she wasn't originally cast in the role. Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Samantha Morton recently revealed that she portrayed Samantha before Jonze ultimately recast the role in post-production. She reflected on being replaced, admitting that it "does hurt when you're fired from something." While she acknowledged that directors ultimately have the final say over their movies, she admitted the decision was still deeply disappointing. Read her comments below: "Well, I have to say that it's every director's prerogative, in regards to the final cut of the film... We did work together, opposite each other, and I loved it, but I was sad. It does hurt when you're fired from something... I was surprised... and a little sad would be an understatement." Despite her disappointment, Morton understood why Jonze ultimately went in another direction. She explained that her version of Samantha was "very English" and noticeably different from the one audiences eventually heard in theaters. Looking back, she said she wished she had been given another opportunity to rerecord the performance using an American accent before the decision was made. "What I’d have wished for was another chance in a booth to do an American accent. But I think, you know, Scarlett Johansson! I mean, come on." Despite this shocking fact behind Her, missing out hardly derailed Morton's career. Alongside supporting roles in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Anemone, one of her biggest projects was the hit series The Walking Dead, where she portrayed the major villain Alpha in two seasons. Meanwhile, the two-time Oscar nominee has continued to build an acclaimed résumé, most recently appearing in the global box office phenomenon Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey. While Morton has only about 10 minutes of screen time in the nearly three-hour epic, her performance as Circe has become one of the movie's most impressive and memorable sequences, earning widespread praise from critics and audiences alike. Morton will next appear in Ruben Östlund's The Entertainment System is Down but has no further projects beyond that. Despite the star's achievements, she admitted in the same podcast that "I haven’t worked for a year since making ‘The Odyssey." I’ve got really good agents and a manager, but at the end of the day, I’m 49, and whilst I really do believe I’m a good actor, there are other good actors out there. " Hopefully, with the acclaim that Morton is receiving for The Odyssey, that will change in the near future. Her 8/10 Release Date December 18, 2013 Runtime 126minutes Director Spike Jonze Writers Spike Jonze Budget $23 million Studio(s) Warner Bros. Pictures Distributor(s) Warner Bros. Pictures, Sony