Inside Scarlett Johansson's Relationship History
We never really hear Scarlett Johansson talk negatively about her exes. In fact, the Marvel actor has dated quite a few A-list stars, but unlike some former celeb partners who've blasted one another's personal business after they split, Johansson has kept much of her previous romances under the radar.
She did, however, say one nice and straightforward thing about first ex-husband Ryan Reynolds, when she appeared as a guest on Gwyneth Paltrow's "Goop Podcast" in April 2023. Well over a decade following their divorce, Johansson simply told the host, "He's a good guy." We'll dive more into their short-lived marriage below, but don't you love to hear about exes who are on good terms? "I didn't know what I wanted or needed from somebody else," Johansson, who's since settled down with "Saturday Night Live" star Colin Jost, added of what she's learned from her past relationships. "... I never realized, 'Oh, it's really important for me, I need to be with a compassionate person. That's a fundamental characteristic that has to be there.'" The "Black Widow" star added, "Understanding what those fundamental things are that you need in a partner is a must, I think — for longevity, anyway."
Before coming to that "game-changer" of a realization, Johansson dated actors, musicians, and even some non-famous people — and it really does seem as though she doesn't have much bad blood with any of these exes. Well, from what we've heard, anyway. Let's dive deeper into Scarlett Johansson's dating history.
Scarlett Johansson and Jack Antonoff went to prom together
One of Scarlett Johansson's first romances was with singer-songwriter and music producer Jack Antonoff. The former couple met during high school at New York City's Professional Children's School and became an item around 2001. Photographs shared by Page Six show the two dressed up for prom, with Johansson wearing a white shirt dress while The Bleachers frontman donned a '70s-inspired orange suit. However, their high school romance was over by 2002. A former classmate claimed to the outlet, "Jack was absolutely obsessed with her, and she broke his heart. They broke up shortly after graduation. She got swept up in the Hollywood scene."
Johansson was indeed beginning to make a name for herself around the same time as her romance with the future Taylor Swift collaborator. She hit it big with her performance in 2003's "Lost in Translation," for which the former child star won the best actress BAFTA Award. Johansson would soon land roles in "Girl with a Pearl Earring" and Woody Allen's "Match Point."
For his part, Antonoff also seemed to hint that the breakup was due to Johansson's rising showbiz career. He wrote a 2005 tune called "Better Love" back when he was the lead singer for the now-defunct indie band Steel Train, and it happened to mention his ex by name. The lyrics read: "This girl, she had it kinda sweet / Till fame swept her off her feet / ... Scars are in her name / And she scars me in blame / Hey Scarlett, you're not the same."
ScarJo and Jared Leto had a brief thing
People became much more interested in Scarlett Johansson's love life when she was briefly linked to Jared Leto. The movie stars were first spotted packing on the PDA in the summer of 2004. However, one particular paparazzi snap made headlines, with the 30 Seconds to Mars singer multitasking while looking at his phone as they locked lips. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the two ended things later that year.
It's unclear what went down during this high-profile romance, but due to rumors at the time surrounding Leto's alleged flirtations with a "Lord of War" co-star and Johansson's subsequent jealousy, many fans suspect she may have made a rare comment on their relationship during a 2016 Cosmopolitan interview. "Long, long ago, I had someone in my life who was ... so attractively unavailable," Johansson said. "... Rock bottom is the moment when you're like, 'I've lost myself. Why am I standing outside this bar at 1:30 in the morning texting while my friends are inside? Or taking a taxi to see him at some ungodly hour? This isn't me.' That is the moment you've gotta cut it off."
Taking these supposed connections with a grain of salt, however, these two have actually proven time and again that ex-flames can be friends. In September 2012, Johansson and Leto were spotted at the Democratic National Convention. They reunited again at the 2018 Met Gala, but Johansson's future hubby, Colin Jost, didn't seem bothered by them chatting it up.
She dated The Black Dahlia co-star Josh Hartnett
It's not uncommon for co-stars to start a real-life romance — and it's precisely what happened between Scarlett Johansson and Josh Hartnett when they portrayed love interests in the 2006 film "The Black Dahlia." However, their relationship ended in 2007 after nearly two years.
The couple kept their romance extremely low-key, only really speaking about one another's work ethic during interviews. In a press junket for their film, Johansson shared, "Josh is such a wonderful actor. I've always admired him and felt that he was [a] very, very talented young actor. He's very intense when he works. He's very, very focused, very passionate about what he's doing, and I really appreciate that." Hartnett would return some kind words in the same interview, saying, "Scarlett is intuitive, open, [and] present on the film set. She's a lot of fun to work with."
Sadly, according to Hartnett, long distance was the culprit for their eventual split. "It was difficult spending so much time apart with all our different commitments and both of us flying all over the world," he told the Mirror of their "really painful" breakup. Speaking to Elle in 2014, Hartnett sounded as if he regretted getting into relationships with fellow actors. Noting that it's not something he'd suggest to up-and-coming performers, he explained, "You can make a lot of enemies in the business that way. But when you work with somebody every day, it's like trial dating. You develop a fantasy about them. It doesn't always work out, does it?"
Scarlett Johansson's first husband was Ryan Reynolds
One celebrity marriage that people tend to forget is that of Scarlett Johansson and Ryan Reynolds — it even slipped "Iron Man 2" co-star Gwyneth Paltrow's mind in Johansson's aforementioned "Goop Podcast" interview. In February 2007, the "Deadpool" star ended his engagement with singer Alanis Morissette. He went public with his romance with Johansson just two months later, and they quietly wed in September 2008. However, it was all over by December 2010, when they announced their separation.
It sounds as though their divorce — finalized the following July — had something to do with their busy work schedules, in addition to Johansson killing it in her career while Reynolds was still slowly making his way to the top. In a 2016 interview with Cosmopolitan (via E! News), Johansson somewhat touched upon this when she said, "The logistics of being with another actor are challenging. There has to be a real understanding of how you share your time, especially when two people's careers are going at the same rate. Or even if one person is more successful than the other, that also proves challenging. There may be a competitive thing."
Both stars would state that there were challenges in the marriage, with Johansson telling Cosmopolitan UK, "I think I was not fully aware of the peaks and valleys. I wasn't prepared to hunker down and do the work." As for Reynolds, he told Details in 2011 (via the Daily Mail), "I don't think I want to get married again" — which proved untrue when he married Blake Lively the following year.
Sean Penn was just a fling for the Black Widow star
Fresh off her divorce from Ryan Reynolds, Scarlett Johansson rebounded with much older actor Sean Penn in 2011. The "We Bought a Zoo" star was 26 when she started her short-lived romance with a then 50-year-old Penn. Their relationship would only last a mere five months, if that.
The pair were first publicly linked when they attended Reese Witherspoon's wedding to now ex-husband Jim Toth that March. In May of that year, they held hands as they attended the White House Correspondents' Dinner and were reportedly all over each other during the event's afterparty. During their quick run, Johansson and Penn had also vacationed in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. But it was all over by that June, with a source claiming to Us Weekly that Penn did not want to pursue a serious relationship. For his part, the "Milk" actor had also just recently divorced his second wife, Robin Wright, with whom he shares two children, in 2010.
In an April 2012 interview with Vogue, Johansson confirmed her short-lived romance with Penn, but she — as you may have guessed — didn't appear to have any bad blood with the Oscar winner. "We spent time together, yeah. I never put a title on it, really, but we were seeing each other," she shared, adding, "He's a remarkable person. He really is."
Scarlett Johansson dated non-famous people too
In late 2011, Scarlett Johansson began seeing advertising executive Nate Naylor after meeting through mutual friends. They quietly made their relationship known when photographers captured the pair holding hands in New York City in January 2012. The following month, they were seen vacationing on a beach in Hawaii, and that August, there were pictured holding each other close in Paris.
Although Johansson has kept much of her love life under wraps, she did open up about how Naylor had been managing the attention that comes with dating a Hollywood star. "It must be very strange for him," "The Avengers" actor shared with Vogue in April 2012. "It's totally bizarre. It's an adjustment — I mean, it's got to be an adjustment for him way more than it was for me at 19. But he's remarkably good about it."
Unfortunately, trying to date someone out of the spotlight for a change ultimately didn't help Johansson's love life blossom, as she and Naylor eventually called it quits that October. As mentioned earlier, Johansson previously made headlines that September when she was spotted holding hands with her ex, Jared Leto, at the DNC amid her relationship with Naylor. However, that reportedly had nothing to do with her subsequent split with the businessman, according to sources cited by Us Weekly.
Marriage No. 2 was to French journalist Romain Dauriac
Scarlett Johansson decided to give love another shot with another non-celeb: French journalist Romain Dauriac. They were first spotted together in New York City in October 2012, the same month she ended things with Nate Naylor. Johansson and Dauriac took things to the next level when they got engaged in 2014. That August, the MCU star became a mom for the first time when the couple welcomed their daughter, Rose. Johansson and Dauriac then secretly wed that October.
Johansson was clearly smitten with her second husband. When asked what attracted her to Dauriac in a 2015 interview with Parade, she replied, "His brain. He's the smartest person I know. I was attracted to the way that he thinks, his sense of irony, how he looks at things." However, their union unfortunately wasn't meant to be. After separating sometime in the summer of 2016, the "Marriage Story" actor filed for divorce the following March. Her request for primary physical custody of their daughter led the exes into a custody dispute.
Dauriac's lawyer told People that he insisted their daughter be raised in France because of Johansson's busy acting career. For her part, Johansson stated, "As a devoted mother and private person and with complete awareness that my daughter will one day be old enough to read the news about herself, I would only like to say that I will never, ever be commenting on the dissolution of my marriage." Both their divorce and a custody agreement were finalized in September 2017, but details of their settlement remain unknown.
Scarlett Johansson met third husband Colin Jost in 2006
As previously mentioned, Scarlett Johansson found her forever love with her third husband, "Saturday Night Live" star Colin Jost. The pair made their public debut as a couple at the 2017 American Museum of Natural History Gala, and the following year, Jost was Johansson's date at the Met Gala. The "Weekend Update" anchor would pop the question in May 2019.
ScarJo sweetly mentioned then-fiancé Jost in her opening monologue for "SNL," which she hosted for a sixth time in December 2019. "This place means so much to me. I have so many friends here, and I met the love of my life here," she said. In fact, Johansson has known Jost since way back in 2006, when she hosted the sketch comedy show for the first time. Who knew her future hubby was right under her nose that whole time?
Johansson and Jost quietly wed at their Palisades, New York home in October 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Meals on Wheels America Instagram account announced the happy news of their nuptials, noting of the newlyweds, "Their wedding wish is to help make a difference for vulnerable older adults during this difficult time by supporting @mealsonwheelsamerica." In August 2021, Johansson became a mom for the second time when she and Jost welcomed their son, Cosmo. These days, it seems Scarlett Johansson couldn't be happier. Gushing about married life with her "sweet" third husband on "The Drew Barrymore Show" in 2022, she said, "Just feeling seen by somebody else ... just to be seen is what it's all about."