Scarlett Johansson has got a big year ahead. Not only will the 27-year-old be appearing in a trio of big releases – Cameron Crowe’s We Bought A Zoo , Jonathan Glazer’s sci-fi Under The Skin and something called The Avengers – but she’ll also be stepping behind the camera for the first time on Summer Crossing .
The film is an adaptation of Truman Capote’s first novel of the same name, set in New York in 1945. The story follows Grady, a 17-year-old Protestant from a wealthy family, as she enters a passionate (and somewhat controversial) affair with a Jewish parking attendant.
“It’s about that first love you have that’s sort of vicious, in a sense,” Johansson told Vanity Fair . “It’s a hard sell because it’s a period film, it takes place in New York, and there’s no room for a big name. We’ll see. Fingers crossed.”
The star also revealed that she won’t be appearing in the film herself, and will instead be focusing on the business of pointing the camera. However, despite the confidence required to get this one off the ground, Johansson has also spoken of the doubts that plagued her ahead of We Bought A Zoo .
“I went into We Bought A Zoo and I didn’t know how to do it, exactly,” she said. “I had ideas and things I wanted to do, but I was a little bit raw. I felt out of practice and a bit exposed. I was feeling very protective of myself. But Cameron’s world was very welcoming.”
You can see whether her endeavours were successful when that film opens in UK cinemas on 16 March 2012. Summer Crossing is expected to arrive in 2014.