Scarlett Johansson: we live in a new age that needs new love stories, and new presences to tell them. Here is an actress born for these roles

GF: You're demure in Lost in Translation, modest in Girl With a Pearl Earring. The Interview photographs, however, suggest you could have stepped out of the go-go 1960s. But is it better, especially for a young actress, to be reticent when it comes to sexuality onscreen?

SJ: I think it depends on what it is you're trying to portray. Sometimes you see young actors who always have this sexy face they make. No matter what they're playing, they're doing the sexy face. "Oh, look at me." When I see that, I'm like, "Oh, gross." Whereas, if you look at Goldie Hawn when she was in her heyday, she was so adorable and charismatic, and that's what made her sexy. If it's something you've got, you can't hide it. That doesn't mean I think I'm a big sexpot, but I've always been very aware of my own sexuality. And I don't feel like I have any responsibility to be any way other than the way I am. Though if you're playing an asexual character, it can be hard to try to hide your sexuality. It's like trying to hide a lisp or something.

GF: Girl With a Pearl Earring derives its power from its restraint: Griet, your character, and Vermeer, simply can't act upon their feelings.

SJ: It would have tainted the relationship between Vermeer and Griet if someone on the film had suggested there should be a scene of Vermeer standing by a window watching Griet wash her breasts in a basin. Not that it's not sexual between them, but there's a time and place for everything, especially regarding that kind of sexiness. If I was doing a sexy project, I would never give everything because that's not interesting to watch. It's more interesting to wonder what you're not getting.

GF: Did seeing Vermeer's painting in The Hague give you fresh insights?

SJ: Not really. It was funny because there was so much pressure around me seeing it that when I did, I was like, "Okay, there it is." Some guy was giving me this Big Whatever about what's special about it. I hate that. Part of the reason I love going to the museum with my dad is because we look at the paintings and then look at each other and go, "Hmm, this is nice, isn't it?"

GF: Do you think Grief loses her virginity when her ear is pierced by Vermeer or when she actually has sex with the butcher's boy?

SJ: A-ha! [laughs] I think she's taken with the piercing. Totally taken. Symbolically, I mean. There was no turning back after that point really, was there? One tear just came beautifully and everybody always asks, "Was that teardrop real?" Everything was magical in that moment.

GF: Did you draw on your own thoughts and feelings about love?

SJ: Absolutely. Though it's never specific. I'm not a method actor, but I think I subconsciously draw on my own experience and my own feelings, because otherwise it's just stale and doesn't work. I fell completely in love with the idea of the Vermeer character. There's one scene where Griet sees Vermeer stroking and kissing his wife. I was a basket case because, for whatever reason, it wounded me. It's a strange job to be an actor because you're emotionally vulnerable all the time when you're working, and it can be dangerous if you're not grounded and don't have people around you who are separate from your work.