While the Coronavirus pandemic finally seems to be slowing down around the world, things aren't back to normal quite yet. For Hollywood, in particular, much of the economy is still moving at a snail's pace, hampered indefinitely by the need to keep social distancing, a practice that unfortunately makes it incredibly difficult to film and produce media. Whether it's small-time camera operators, large-scale producers, or huge movie-stars, everyone is feeling the impact of the slowdowns, including Black Widow star Scarlett Johansson.

Disney's Black Widow has been mostly finished for some time now but has struggled to release even as vaccines begin to rollout. That's not to mention all the other MCU projects that are either delayed indefinitely or can't even be filmed because of the current distancing guidelines. While some of those restrictions are being lessened and people are trying to get back to work, Black Widow herself, Johansson, has been keeping to the sidelines, choosing not to jump back into the production frenzy.

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It seems a strange move for an actress of her caliber, as typically she is one of the industry's most prolific stars, appearing in projects of all genres and sizes. While some slowdown is perhaps expected given current circumstances, it's a somewhat unusual step for the actress to stop working entirely and has left some to wonder why she is taking a break.

As it turns out, her reasoning is pretty straightforward: "I just can’t work. I don’t think the conditions that are required to work right now are conditions that I could work comfortably under." That's fairly understandable, given the currently awkward nature of filming just about anything right now. With all the current restrictions and risks, there's a pretty good argument to just step back for the time being, especially for an actress like Johansson, who doesn't have to worry about maintaining career momentum, given her profile.

It's not just about health concerns for her though, as she also misses being able to work in-person with other actors on set: "I’d rather wait until I could work in an environment where we can be connected to one another." As someone whose entire job revolves around interacting with other people in a convincing manner, it's not really surprising that Johansson feels stifled by the current filming conditions, and that's as good a reason as any to step away and wait for things to go back to normal.

So while the industry may not see Johansson for a while, audiences can at least enjoy her work in Black Widow when the film finally hits theaters and Disney Plus later this year. In the meantime, hopefully, the actress enjoys her time away from the floodlights and comes back refreshed and ready to kick off the next few projects she's involved in.

Black Widow is scheduled to be released in theaters and on Disney Plus on July 9, 2021.

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Source: The Gentlewoman