Scarlett Johansson Once Turned Down ‘The Sound of Music’ After ‘Ridiculous Demands’

Scarlett Johansson was once all set to star in a stage adaptation of the classic Sound of Music. But due to certain standards by her team, she wasn’t able to reach a compromise with the production’s composer.

Scarlett Johansson started acting because she wanted to be in a musical

Johansson is known as one of the biggest names in Hollywood today. It’s a reputation she’s built starring in a variety of successful films over the years, including Lucy and her Marvel films.

But when she first started acting, becoming a megastar wasn’t entirely on the actor’s mind. Instead, Johansson saw herself performing in musicals. But her film career took a surprising turn that led her away from that path.

“I actually started acting because I wanted to be in musicals when I was a little girl. That’s where my dream career was going to be when I was 8 years old, like the young Cosette in Les Miserables,” Johansson once said in an interview with Seattle Times. “Then I started making films and I never ended up doing musical theater. Of course, by the time I turned 13, I kind of buried that part of myself.”

Andrew Lloyd Webber once claimed Scarlett Johansson’s team made ridiculous demands for her ‘Sound of Music’ role

Around the 2000s, theater composer Andrew Lloyd Webber set out to make a stage play of The Sound of Music. He already had Johansson in mind to lead the project. Although Johansson was already a huge star at the time, she showed great interest in the opportunity.

“We had a hysterical lunch which ended in the early hours of the morning. We were at the top of the Peninsula Hotel and she sang in front of everyone, which was fantastic. She can really sing. I said to her, ‘Do you want to do Sound of Music?’ She said ‘yes’. We started planning things,” Webber once said according to Contact Music.

But according to Webber, Johansson’s team would soon interfere with their deal.

“Her people were not pro the idea. It became clear that it wasn’t going to work because the demands became so ridiculous,” he said.

Mostly, it was claimed that Johansson’s management team didn’t think the actor’s salary for the play was worth it. But Johansson’s management team offered another reason as to why their client couldn’t be a part of Webber’s production.

“The real reason why the negotiations stopped was the run of the play interfered with the production of one of the films she was slated to accomplish,” they claimed.

Scarlett Johansson turning down ‘The Sound of Music’ led to a reality TV series

Webber wouldn’t give up trying to make The Sound of Music. The stage production was more than just work for the respected composer, but was his dedicated passion project. He fell in love with the production when he first saw it in his school days. Years later, he would seek to realize his own vision of its story even after losing Johansson.

But without a big star, Webber realized creating his play would be a lot more difficult.

“Nobody is going to want to see a revival of The Sound of Music, however good, unless we’ve got a star,” Webber once said in the special Andrew Lloyd Webber: 40 Musical Years (via Express).

So Webber came up with the talent show How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? The winner of the competition would end up being cast as the star of Webber’s Sound of Music. Webber believed this talent show would generate enough interest in his stage play among the public to finally realize his vision.

The winner of the contest was decided by British audiences, who ultimately picked actor Connie Fisher for the lead role.