Scarlett Johansson reveals Joaquin Phoenix was ‘so upset’ while filming ‘bizarre’ orgasm he left the studio

Scarlett Johansson has revealed that a particularly intense voice-acting scene in Her left her co-star Joaquin Phoenix so overwhelmed that he had to step out of the studio.

In the 2013 sci-fi romance, Johansson voices Samantha, an AI system that develops a deep emotional connection with Phoenix’s character, Theodore.

The film features an intimate scene where Samantha and Theodore simulate a sexual encounter purely through voice acting.

Speaking on the Armchair Expert podcast, Johansson called the experience “bizarre” and admitted that Phoenix struggled with the scene.

She recalled, “We tried to get through one take, and he was like, ‘I need to step out’. He had to leave the studio because he was so overwhelmed.”

She explained that the challenge lay in making the moment feel authentic despite having no physical interaction.

She joked,  “You don’t want to hear your voice ever. You definitely don’t want to hear what you sound like having an orgasm.”

“You definitely don’t want to hear what you sound like having a fake orgasm — ew.”

“It’s so gross. It was so bizarre.”

The scene was already unusual because Johansson was not originally part of the project.

Samantha Morton had initially recorded all of the AI dialogue, but director Spike Jonze later decided to replace her with Johansson.

This meant that Johansson had to match her lines to Phoenix’s existing performance, adding another layer of complexity to the role.

During the same interview, Johansson spoke candidly about being hypersexualized in the early years of her career.

She said, “I kind of became objectified and pigeonholed in this way where I felt like I wasn’t getting offers for work for things that I wanted to do.”

The Oscar-nominated actress explained that, despite being young at the time, she felt Hollywood saw her differently.

She added, “I remember thinking to myself, ‘I think people think I’m 40 years old.’ It somehow stopped being something that was desirable and something that I was fighting against.”