Scarlett Johansson has never been afraid to take journalists down a notch. The Ghost in the Shell actress famously called out a reporter for asking her a sexist "rabbit food" question during an Avengers press conference in 2012. Now, she's explaining how a "misogynistic journalist" inspired her to learn self-defense moves.
Johansson appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyers on Tuesday, where she explained the reasoning behind her new interest in self-defense classes.
"I actually started recently taking a self-defense class, because I was giving an interview, and the interviewer asked if I could beat him up in the interview," the actress explained to the NBC host. "It was such a weird interview, and I was like, 'Right now?' And he was like, 'Yeah, could you beat me up?' And I was like, 'I want to, but I don't know if I can!' And then on my walk home I was like, 'I gotta do something about this.' Just so I could kick the ass of some misogynistic journalist."
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Johansson is known for playing kick-ass roles in films like the Avengers and Captain America franchises. And while the recent interview is apparently what made her interested in learning defense moves, it's not the first time she's been asked about her ass-kicking abilities. In a 2014 appearance on NPR's "Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me," host Peter Sagal asked the star if she could "beat somebody up if there were a real-life situation." Her response was perfect then, too — "Of course I could" was her answer.
"I made a promise to myself that I should not just look like I know how to kick ass, but I probably should be able to," Johansson told Meyers on Tuesday. Check out the full clip below.