Scarlett Johansson takes the cover of the December issue of Vanity Fair, although I’m not sure if she’s actually promoting anything. Her next film is We Bought A Zoo, but I can’t even see if that film has a release date yet. Mostly, ScarJo just did the cover so she could talk about her nude photos (they were for Ryan Reynolds, when they were married), her relationship with Woody Allen (joined by hypochondria) and her divorce. I would love to know if Scarlett discussed the Sean Penn interlude, but I guess I’ll have to wait until the full interview comes out:

Scarlett Johansson does not seem the least bit ashamed when discussing her recent nude-photo scandal with Vanity Fair contributing editor Peter Biskind.

“I know my best angles,” she says with her trademark insouciance. “They were sent to my husband,” now ex Ryan Reynolds. “There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s not like I was shooting a porno.” She adds saucily, “Although there’s nothing wrong with that either.”

Johansson, who has been active in campaigning for various Democratic political leaders, including Barack Obama, tells Biskind that nearly one term later “we’re all guilty of being idealistic, I and everyone who voted for him.” But in response to being asked if she would work for him again, she says, “It would be irresponsible not to.”

She also discusses her friendship with Woody Allen, spawned by their shared tendency toward hypochondria and, subsequently, shared Purell.

“He shakes a lot of hands,” Johansson explains. “I’ll squirt some in my hand and then squirt in his.” She also has a bizarre penchant for diagnosing him. “The only reason why Woody and I are still friends is because I’ve diagnosed all kinds of his skin tags, lesions, ailments. I’ve prescribed things for Woody that he’s then asked his doctor to prescribe for him.”

Despite their compatibility, after working with Johansson on several films, Allen decided they should take a break: “I have every intention of working with her again, but I just didn’t think it was a great idea for either one of us to work together too intensely, picture after picture. I didn’t want her to be burdened by, ‘Oh, she’s in all the Woody Allen pictures, it’s so predictable,’ and she’s my new muse, and all that silliness.” Johansson does not share his opinion: “I don’t think anything’s played out. I’m waiting for him to write my Citizen Kane.”

Johansson says that her role in a revival of Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge in 2009 opposite Liev Schreiber “completely took me over in every way. I’d spent four months bleeding all over the stage, completely exposed. I felt I was forever changed by that experience. It was unbelievable holding that Tony.”

Her emotional and physical exhaustion after the end of the run was compounded by her subsequent divorce from Reynolds. “I didn’t really know what to do with myself. It was such a strange time. There was nothing that was interesting to me. I had a very public separation. It was difficult. I felt very uncomfortable.”

[From Vanity Fair]

I remember when Scarlett was just the hottest thing ever and seemingly every regular and celebrity guy wanted to get with her – when was it? Circa 2006-07, I think. And then she married Ryan Reynolds and aimed for a more low-key lifestyle, and she dieted away her curves, and suddenly, most dudes moved on to crushing on other chicks. Plus, once she and Ryan were over and Scarlett starting boning Sean Penn, I think men and women were really turned off. I kind of wonder if Scarlett’s newly discovered happiness to do sexy photo shoots and give revealing interviews is part of her attempt to regain a male fanbase?

Photos courtesy of Vanity Fair.