Scarlett Johansson Says It's 'Not Possible' to Have 'Work-Life Balance': There Is Always 'a Deficit in Some Area'

Kimberlee SpeakmanFri, May 22, 2026 at 5:26 PM UTC

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Scarlett Johansson attends the Newport Beach Film Festival Honors in October 2025.
Credit: Tiffany Rose/Getty -

Scarlett Johansson said in a recent interview that "it's not possible" to achieve work-life balance, and accepting that has helped her be kinder to herself as a parent

She also shared her thoughts on what being a successful parent looks like and the challenges that come with that

Johansson is mom to two kids, Rose Dorothy and Cosmo, whom she shares with ex Romain Dauriac and Colin Jost, respectively

Scarlett Johansson isn't afraid to admit that she doesn't have an answer for how to achieve the perfect work-life balance.

The Paper Tiger star, 41, got candid about juggling her career and family life when asked about how she balances it all during an interview with CBS Sunday Morning in early April.

"I think actually admitting that there is no work-life balance is the first step to kind of getting there in a way, because it's not possible,” Johansson admitted.

“There's always something that is— there's a deficit in some area, and I think you have to be— I learned to be more kind to myself. You can't do all of these things all the time and so, you know, there's just like, ‘Is it good enough?" she added.

Colin Jost and Scarlett Johansson attend special screening of 'Eleanor the Great' in 2025.
Credit: Michael Loccisano/Getty

She said elsewhere in the interview that welcoming her first child, Rose Dorothy, 11, whom she shares with ex Romain Dauriac, was “a big turning point” in her life because it “shifted” her priorities and her whole mindset, especially toward work.

“I realized anyway that you can't really control everything and everything changes all the time and I found that to be liberating and it affected how I approached the work that I did,” she shared on CBS Sunday Morning.

The Jurassic World: Rebirth actress would go on to welcome her first son, Cosmo, 4, in 2021 with husband Colin Jost, whom she wed in 2020.

When asked about what success looks like to her, she noted that “there's a different definition” for each part of her life including acting, business, being a good partner and parenting. In particular, she noted that success in the latter was more challenging to achieve.

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“As a parent, you know, you're not always the most popular and that's okay. It's not about popularity as a parent,” Johansson said.

"Somebody once told me, ‘If you're successful as a parent like 75% of the time, that's good — if you're doing 75% of it like right, then you're winning, which is probably true," she added.

The Avengers star has been open about the challenges of motherhood in the past. On The Skinny Confidential Him & Her Podcastin 2023, she joked that raising a toddler was like "being in an emotionally abusive relationship."

"It's really tough," she said. "I remember my daughter when she was 2, I said, 'This is great. I don't know what everybody is talking about.' And then she turned 3, and it's like being in an emotionally abusive relationship.

Colin Jost and Scarlett Johansson at the 78th annual Cannes Film Festival in May 2025.
Credit: Ernesto Ruscio/Getty

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"It's just so intense. No reasoning," Johansson continued. "Very intense emotional swings and like, so bossy and adamant, and it's just crazy," adding she was "up and down constantly."

However, she also noted that there was an upside, and that as challenging as a toddler may be, "having a baby is so lovely."

"They're so cute. They sit there, and they love you, and then that's it. And you just get, like, love from them," she said of raising an infant. "Whereas you get a lot of grief from toddlers. Like, everything you do is not right, which is hard."

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”