Scarlett Johansson (‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’,’Under the Skin’) is a few months pregnant during the filming of ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’, though you’ll never know it when you see it on the big screen next year! With the latest details coming from the set, we’re able to share with you how they pull it off! It’s actually kind of funny to hear how the actors describe the filming process and you can tell that they’ve all developed a bond while working together on the Marvel movies.
When Entertainment Weekly was on site, they were able to see a scene being filmed where Johansson is shooting at an enemy off camera while Mark Ruffalo is on the ground with his hands over his ears taking deep breaths and trying to calm down. Wait, which one is pregnant here? According to Ruffalo, “He’s trying not to Hulk out,” Ruffalo says. “He knows all the science of his body—what does anger, what does excitement do, physiologically speaking. You can’t have deep breathing and anxiety at one time. So he’s worked on controlling this stuff, he knows what he has to do to do it while it’s going down. I’m just laying in there because I don’t know how else to be. It’s basically like she said: ‘Do not go green.’”
That makes sense. Especially when he adds that “In their relationship, she protects him,” Ruffalo says. “She kind of becomes his bodyguard, in a weird way. And he goes with it. I mean, Bruce, he’s a pacifist, man.”
While on screen she might be the ultimate fem fatale, off screen her fellow actors don’t let her do that much. “Yeah, they’re very protective of her, and they try not to put her in any difficult situation,” Ruffalo says. “She’s pregnant, and she’s showing, and everyone loves and cares for her, so …”
It isn’t just taking care of her off screen that has the actors happy though. “There’s the element of just God’s grace with Scarlett getting knocked up because that just civilized the whole thing right away,” jokes Robert Downey Jr. “This is not going to be a massive grind. It’s not possible. We have to accommodate the latest news from headquarters, which is: ‘Oh my God, Scarlett Johansson is going to have a baby!’” I’m sure he’s really torn up that one of his last two films at Iron Man isn’t going to be overly difficult scheduling wise.
Of course things aren’t all bad on screen. Joss Whedon mentioned that “We’re not avoiding any of the danger because the stuntwomen do the danger—as has always been the case. She’s very central to the movie and when we heard [about the pregnancy] we scheduled things around that. She’s not going to spend the whole movie carrying groceries. We didn’t trim any scenes. We’re like: We’ll make it work.”
On top of that, Johannson would usually have one stunt double in place for films and for ‘The Avengers: Age of Ultron’ they have three on hand at all times in case any scenes feel that they are too much for her.
Even with the stunt doubles Chris Evans threw in that she wasn’t missing out on all of the fun. “She’s just been great. It really hasn’t slowed us down at all. She’ll be running around, diving and jumping and doing these things and you’re like ‘She seems like she’s got this.”
Clearly the cast all enjoys working with her and are having a good time sharing her time while she’s pregnant. I’m sure the familiarity between the cast will pay off once again when the sequel to ‘The Avengers’ hits the big screen.
‘The Avengers: Age of Ultron’ starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, and James Spader assembles in theaters on May 1, 2015.