SCARLETT JOHANSSON in Hitchcock movie

SCARLETT JOHANSSON

SCARLETT JOHANSSON TELLS WHY SHE WAS DRAWN TO PLAY HITCHCOCK'S 'MAGNETIC MUSE

An exclusive shot of Scarlett as iconic actress Janet Leigh in Hitchcock.

It's difficult to meet your heroes but, forI Scarlett Johansson, playing iconic actress Janet Leigh in her new movie Hitchcock alongside movie greats Sir Anthony Hopkins and Dame Helen Mirren was one of ihe most satisfying challenges of her career.

And as can be seen in these photos from the film, in which Sir Anthony plays the famed director and Dame Helen his talented wife and collaborator Alma Rcvillc, the BAFTA-winning bombshell embodies the Psycho star perfectly.

"The thing that really drew me to the project was the prospect of working with Tony and Helen," says Scarlett Johansson, 28. "I've always really loved Janet Leigh. I've always found her to be a very magnetic actress, charming and spirited, and I thought it would be fun to find her essence. I didn't realise how difficult it would be."

Hitchcock follows the tips and downs of Alfred and Alma's volatile relationship during the headline-grabbing production of his 1960 masterpiece, Psycho.

Scarlett Johansson's own personal life has also been known to make the odd headline. She was linked to actors Josh Hartnett and Benicio Del Toro prior to marrying Green Lantern star Ryan Reynolds in 2008. The couple separated just two years later, with Scarlett Johansson going on to enjoy a short-lived romance with Sean Penn.

Scarlett Johansson is now dating French editor Rornain Dauriac, and recently the pair have been spotted

out and about in New York, where the actress is starring on Broadway in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

Janet's daughter, Jamie Lee Curtis, helped her prepare for the role, in which she re-enacts the famous shower scene from Psycho. "Jamie Lee snared some great stories," Scarlett Johansson says.

MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS

Scarlett Johansson became a Hitchcock fan at a young age thanks to her mother, producer Melanie Sloan,

who introduced her live children to his films. "We grew up on Hitchcock movies, and I saw Psycho when I was far too young. But that was true of every film with my mom. We watched The Silence of the Lambs when I was eight years old."

During her research, Scarlett Johansson - who returns as Black Widow in superhero movie Iron Man 3

later this year-struck up a friendship with Janet's daughter, actress Jamie Lee Curtis, once known as the Scream Queen for her roles in horror flicks such as Halloween.

"I was very fortunate to form a really lovely relationship with Jamie over email, and she shared some great stories and photographs," says Scarlett. "I figured it must be strange to have somebody play your mom, especially a mother like Janet was: incredibly involved in her children's lives, really put her career on hold for,

and was adored by, her daughters - they were very, very close.

"Jamie was absolutely wonderful, so warm and very open and encouraging. It was great to have her on my side for this."

Screen legend Sir Anthony, who spent hours in make-up putting on prosthetics to capture Hitchcock's familiar portly frame, was also firmly on Scarlett Johansson's side.

"Her face would just change and she'd become Janet Leigh," he says of the New Yorker. "Maybe it was a smile or something. Quite remarkable."

Scarlett Johansson is just as effusive iti her praise of her co-star. "It's absolutely intoxicating to watch him," she says. "He's such a fine actor. He's also a very lovely person.

"With somebody like Tony, he's so friendly light off the bat. He has such a soft-spoken, very casual attitude that any fear you have of the 'Great Andiony Hopkins' just melts away."