The Truth About Scarlett Johansson Before She Got Famous

Scarlett Johansson's journey from indie starlet to Hollywood superstar began with some rough times growing up in New York City. Let's take a closer look at what the Avengers star's life was like before all the fame. Johansson's father is from Denmark, but she's 100 percent a Manhattan girl. She remembers her time growing up in NYC fondly despite it being a lot more difficult than her life is today. She attended elementary school at P.S. 41 on 11th Street in Greenwich Village, a school that's now in a high-demand area but wasn't as trendy back then. She lived in a middle-income housing development in the West Village that's since become filled with condos. At the start of eighth grade, Johansson joined what she's described as the, quote, "pot-smoking, Beatles-listening" student body at the Professional Children's School, a college prep institution designed for kids working as performers in and around New York. While she graduated, it wasn't exactly with flying colors. She's admitted to struggling a little academically, particularly with her SATs. She got a 1080 out of a possible 1600, which according to her was partly because she didn't answer half of the math questions. Watch the video for The Truth About Scarlett Johansson Before She Got Famous! #ScarJo #ScarlettJohansson #Scarlett Growing up in New York | 0:12 Living on welfare | 1:04 Film freak mom | 1:54 BFFs with grandma | 2:56 The pangs of puberty | 3:43 A crushing rejection | 4:39 Too deep for Jell-O | 5:16 Lying to get a gig | 6:17 Crushing on Jared Leto | 7:53 Politically active childhood | 8:52