Scarlett, born on the 22nd of November, 1984, in New York City, has an older brother and sister and a twin brother. She divides her time between New York with her father, a building contractor and Los Angeles with her mother, who looks out for her interests there. She's the only actor in the family, something she's wanted to be since she was three. Her acting career began when she was eight in the off-Broadway production of Sophistry with Ethan Hawke at New York's Playwrights Horizons.

She has been in seven movies, the first was North. For her role as Manny in Manny & Lo she was nominated as Best Actress by the Independent Spirit Awards (1997). She attained worldwide recognition for her performance as Grace MacLean, the teen traumatized in a riding accident in Robert Redford's hit feature The Horse Whisperer, a role for which she won a YoungStar award and was nominated for a Blockbuster Entertainment Award. She has most recently been spotlighted for her performances in the acclaimed films Ghost World, An American Rhapsody and the Coen Brothers film The Man Who Wasn't There. Johansson's additional credits include Rob Reiner's comedy North, the role of Sean Connery's daughter in Just Cause, as well as notable appearances in If Lucy Fell and Home Alone 3. She is currently lensing Brian Robbins' The Perfect Score for Paramount Pictures.