Samantha Morton is still “hurt” over being replaced in the Oscar-winning movie Her by Scarlett Johansson.
The 49-year-old Odyssey star visited the Happy Sad Confused podcast recently and expanded on what led to the change-up in casting after she was previously set to play the artificial intelligence operating system also named Samantha that Joaquin Phoenix‘s character falls in love with in the 2013 movie.
“Well, I have to say that it’s every director’s prerogative, in regards to the final cut of the film,” Samantha said. “And for any job, you’re never guaranteed to be in it in the end because unless you are the lead in the movie and you’re pivotal, you never really know.”
The Walking Dead alum admitted she’d previously been warned not to get “too excited” about any role because there is always a possibility you won’t make it to the finished product.
She continued, “But with that I was surprised and a little sad would be an understatement. But, again, I think that the time I had on set with Joaquin and the working with Spike on the script and finding Samantha and all the work that we did was really special.”
Samantha shared that they even created a special booth for her to record all of her sounds and lines, calling it a “black kind of padded phone box.”
That being said, she also revealed that Scarlett‘s final version was “very, very different” from hers.
“I have to say, I think my version of Samantha was very she’s English,” she said. “It was just very, very different. And I think Scarlett Johansson has a beautiful voice. She’s incredibly evocative. It’s, you know, I got it, but I was sad.”
She had also been on set at times and worked alongside Joaquin for some of his scenes.
“We did work together, opposite each other, and that was, I loved it, but I was sad. It does hurt when you’re fired from something or before it. I don’t know.”
She added, “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.”
Samantha is currently among the star-studded cast of The Odyssey.
Posted To:Movies Samantha Morton Scarlett Johansson
