Samantha Morton Makes Her Feelings Clear on Being ‘Fired’ & Replaced by Scarlett Johansson

The Odyssey’s Samantha Morton has revealed the lasting sting of losing the role of the AI companion Samantha in Spike Jonze’s Her. The director replaced her voice with Scarlett Johansson’s during post-production.

Samantha Morton is still sad after being replaced by Scarlett Johansson on Her

Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Samantha Morton detailed how she originally performed the part on set opposite Joaquin Phoenix. “We did work together, opposite each other, and I loved it, but I was sad,” she said. Jonze later chose to recast the voice, handing the role to Johansson.

Morton also spoke about the emotional impact. “It does hurt when you’re fired from something,” she stated. She acknowledged the filmmaker’s authority over the final product, calling it “every director’s prerogative.” Yet the disappointment cut. “I was surprised… and a little sad would be an understatement,” she added.

The actor traced the recasting to a fundamental creative difference. Her original interpretation leaned heavily on her natural accent. “I have to say, I think my version of Samantha was very… she’s English,” Morton explained.

“It was just very, very different.” She believes Johansson brought qualities she could not offer in that particular recording. “Scarlett Johansson has a beautiful voice. She’s incredibly evocative,” Morton said.

Had the production given her another chance, Samantha Morton would have tackled the role differently. “What I’d have wished for was another chance in a booth to do an American accent,” she revealed.

That opportunity never materialised. Jonze moved forward with Johansson, whose vocal performance became central to the film’s identity. Her got five Oscar nominations and won Best Original Screenplay.

However, losing Her did not halt Morton’s momentum. She later commanded the screen as the formidable Alpha across two seasons of The Walking Dead. More recently, she seized attention in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, where her brief role as Circe became one of the standout sequences.

Source: Comingsoon.net