Scarlett Johansson is one of the most well-known actresses in the world and has held that distinction for a while. However, in the mid-90s, she tried out for a role in a film that went on to become a cult classic, and she was certainly not the most famous actress to auditions.
In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly for its "Hollywood's Greatest Untold Stories" series, the casting director for The Craft, Pam Dixon, talked about the actresses who were considered to play one of the four outsider friends in the beloved film. Dixon explained that Neve Campbell was the most well-known actress who auditioned for the film because at that point, she had already starred in several seasons of the popular show Party Of Five. However, the casting director mentioned a few other names that we definitely recognize. She said, "[Neve] was by far the biggest name. We tested Alicia Silverstone, Scarlett Johansson, Angelina Jolie, but Neve came in and she was really, really good." No shade to Neve, but it's pretty hard to remember a time when she was a bigger name than Scarlett Johansson or Angelina Jolie.
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Of course, Campbell went on to play the role of Bonnie in The Craft, but imagine how different the film would have been if one of those other stars had been cast. It would have been especially strange if the role had gone to ScarJo because, although she was already acting at the time, she was only 11 or 12-years-old when The Craft was being filmed. While it's not unusual to see actors in the 20s playing high schoolers on screen, it hardly ever happens the other way around. When The Craft came out in 1996, Neve Campbell was 23, and her co-stars were also all in their early 20s, with the exception of Rachel True who was 30.
It would have been pretty odd to see a 12-year-old hanging out in that group, even if it was Scarlet Johansson. This 1997 flashback photo of ScarJo working a serious 90s look – and looking very young – explains pretty clearly why she wasn't cast.