SCARLETT JOHANSSON Frees her Mind in LUCY

Portraying strong, unique female characters on the big screen is always a welcome challenge for Scarlett Johansson. So when casting his latest action-thriller “Lucy,” and writer-director Luc Besson needed to find an actress who could be believable as extremely vulnerable, as well as superpowered, when her exposure to an illicit substance inadvertently makes her acquire incredible skills, Johansson quickly came to mind.

Producer Virginie Besson-Silla describes the unlikely heroine of this story: “Lucy is an average girl who’s having fun with her friends in Asia, and there’s a lot of partying going on. She’s discovering life, but she’s going to discover it the hard way…and go much further than she would ever expect.”

For the role, Besson and his producer reached out to Scarlett Johansson, who has starred in intimate films such as “Lost in Translation” and “Her,” as well as action blockbusters including “Iron Man 2,” “The Avengers” and, most recently, “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.”

What "LUCY" Cast Says About Director LUC BESSON

A Luc Besson production looks like no other. That definitely has to do with the fact that the writer/director is deeply involved in every aspect of the shoot. And his latest action-thriller “Lucy” starring Scarlett Johansson, is no exception.

It's worth noting that Besson worked in every department of a film production before he became a full-fledged director. It wasn’t surprising therefore for fellow cast and crew to see Besson add fake blood on some extras or to touch up Johansson’s makeup, while he was at the camera.

Besson says that he has such a clear vision of the picture he is trying to achieve that he likes to have the camera with him most of the time: “I’m either at the camera, or I have the camera on my shoulder. I like to be very close to the actors. I’ve realized that, when you say, ‘Action,’ it’s like sticking a syringe in the actor’s arm. It’s an anesthetic. Between the moment, you say, ‘Action’ and ‘Cut,’ he’s on an anesthetic. He’s someone else. So I don’t want to break that. Sometimes in the middle of a line, I might say, ‘Okay, breathe. Do it again. Say it again. Go back to the beginning.’ I don’t cut because I want to get the most I can from the state the actor is in. They appreciate that because what’s difficult for them is to build up that pressure for ‘Action!’”

The cast members find the director’s approach both rewarding and demanding. Johansson was particularly taken with Besson’s directing style: “Luc has a very specific vision of how he wants each scene to look. That can be tough, but I appreciate that in a director. I appreciate the attention to detail and that unwillingness to settle for anything less. It can be exhausting, but in the end, I never left the set feeling, ‘I don’t know if we really got that.’ He’s emphatic about the fact that he settles for nothing less than perfect. And that’s great!”