Who

The star of such films as Lost in Translation and Ghost World, as of late Johansson has been the blank screen upon which Woody Allen has projected his dreams and (of course) desires.

Backstory

The daughter of a Danish-born architect (dad) and a Jewish film producer (mom), Johansson was born in Manhattan and studied at the Professional Children's School before making her stage debut at age eight in Sophistry, an off-Broadway play with Ethan Hawke. By 10, she'd made the leap to Hollywood, appearing in her first film, North, in 1994 and later starring in franchise-killer Home Alone 3 as a tween. She later landed juicier roles in The Horse Whisperer, the Coen Brothers' The Man Who Wasn't There, and Ghost World, becoming a household name when she pouted her way through Sofia Coppola's jet-lag drama Lost in Translation in 2003. She's since established herself as the love interest of choice for countless older men, like Bill Murray, Billy Bob Thorton, Woody Allen. She's been cast in three of Allen's films, Match Point, Scoop, and Vicky Cristina Barcelona, and Johansson is now referred to as his "muse"; in other words, a girl young enough to be his granddaughter whom he would desperately like to molest.

Of note

Scarlett's acting chops have received slightly less acclaim than her chest, which In Touch dubbed the "best boobs in town" in 2006. (Ask Isaac Mizrahi, who famously groped them during a red carpet interview.) Recently she's displayed her assets in The Nanny Diaries—her performance prompted the Times to call her a "somnolent actress [who] confuses sullen attitudinizing with acting"—and The Other Boleyn Girl, with compatriot nubile starlet Natalie Portman. As for future parts, she'll appear in the movie version of He's Just Not That Into You (with Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Anniston, and Jennifer Connelly), and The Spirit, alongside Samuel L. Jackson and Eva Mendes.

She's also been busy trying to carve out a music career. She recorded an album of Tom Waits covers, inventively titled Scarlett Sings Tom Waits. And she's been raking it in with various endorsement deals. Johansson's modeled for Louis Vuitton since 2005, looking alternately like a Swiss Miss blow-up doll and the reanimated corpse of Marilyn Monroe. She's also hawked lip gloss for L'Oreal, appeared as Cinderella in an ad for Disney World, and was tapped by Reebok to design a line of fashion-forward workout clothes called "Scarlett Hearts Rbk." If you've got a few million dollars to throw at her, Scarlett will likely Heart your company, too.

In person

On the body mod front, she got her septum pierced in mid-2007, which she's said is a way of expressing her "creative side," and around the same time she unveiled a cheerful little tattoo of an oceanscape on her forearm.

Personal

It's no secret that Johansson is popular with the menfolk and has a thing for bad boys like Jared Leto and Benicio del Toro, whom she famously hooked up with in a Chateau Marmont elevator. Although she had a two-year romance with Josh Harnett—the pair was even seen apartment hunting together—the relationship fizzled in 2006. She briefly dated Justin Timberlake before taking up with Ryan Reynolds, the former fiancé of Alanis Morissette. The two got married in 2008.

Habitat

Scarlett bought a $1.95 million Leonard Street duplex in 2006, but almost immediately aroused the ire of her neighbors who complained about her chain-smoking. She sold the apartment in 2008 for $1.898 million and later purchased a penthouse on East 53rd Street for $2.1 million. She also has a home in LA: In August 2007, she dropped $7 million on a seven-bedroom house in the Hollywood Hills.

No joke

In June 2008, ScarJo said that she regularly exchanges emails with Barack Obama. The presidential contender later issued a denial and explained it was his aide who'd corresponded with her.