Scarlett Johansson is the May cover girl for Vogue. Much like Charlize Theron’s recent appearance on Vogue UK, it seems like the default-setting for fashion editors these days is, “Eh, just put a blonde on the cover and style her like Grace Kelly.” How does ScarJo do with Grace Kelly-styling (as opposed to her usual Marilyn Monroe styling)? It’s okay. Actually, I think this is one of the most boring Vogue editorials ever. Not even the leopard saves this junk. I’m actually putting some of the blame on ScarJo – considering the girl gets SO many modeling contracts, I expect more from her as a photographic subject, and she consistently fails to deliver. You can read the whole Vogue piece here – ScarJo is taking cooking lessons! Because Blake Lively loves to cook. Sorry! I just thought I would mention that. Here are some highlights from the piece:

Being older: “It feels like a lifetime ago,” Johansson says. “Am I happy I’m not 20 anymore? Yeah. Nineteen? I don’t want to be that age. It’s incredibly confusing.”

Working with Woody Allen: “I forged this unbelievable friendship with somebody who saw the potential in me at that age,” Johansson says. She would later work with Allen on Scoop and Vicky Cristina Barcelona. “Not that the parts he wrote weren’t sexy, but they had substance to them.”

Marrying Ryan Reynolds: “We always kept our story private—how we met, our wedding, everything,” she says. “It was about us.”

The divorce: Johansson describes it as “comically amicable,” but the parting was far from painless. “It was horrible,” she says. “Of course it’s horrible. It was devastating. It really throws you. You think that your life is going to be one way, and then, for various reasons or whatever, it doesn’t work out. This was something I never thought I would be doing,” she continues. “And there’s no way to navigate it. Nobody can give you the right answer. It’s never anything you want to hear. It’s a very lonely thing. It’s like the loneliest thing you’ll ever do, in some way.”

She’s almost wistful about it: “I’m not saying more time in the marriage, but just having more time with my ex and really clocking those hours of face time with the person you love, really live together and not having the pressure of two people that have these careers. . . .” She has no regrets about getting married; she describes the experience with genuine affection. “It was a beautiful thing,” Johansson says. “The falling in love and getting married and making that commitment . . . I think it’s nice to know that you’re capable of loving somebody in that way. I think it’s a rare opportunity.” She says she is still recovering and doesn’t pretend the divorce is fully in the rearview. “I don’t feel on the other side of it completely, but it gets better,” she says. “It’s still there. More than anything, it’s just that not having your buddy around all the time is weird. There’s no rule book. I think it’s just time.”

On Sean Penn: “We spent time together, yeah,” she says. “I never put a title on it, really, but we were seeing each other.” She says she was startled by the amount of media attention the pairing received. “In my marriage, funnily enough, we had relative privacy,” she says, but the fuss over her and Penn “was a little bit of an adjustment.” She says she and Penn have remained friends, and she praises his extensive relief work in Haiti. “He’s a remarkable person,” she says. “He really is.”

Being hacked: “It wasn’t just me,” Johansson says. “It was others. I don’t want to be a victim and say, ‘Oh, well’ and just hide my head in shame. Somebody stole something from me. . . . It’s sick. I don’t want people like that to slide.” The incident clearly still rattles her. “When all those photos came out, of course I go out to dinner and think, Goddamn it, these people have all seen my. . . .” Johansson’s voice trails off. “That’s terrible. You know what I mean? You can’t not think that. Even if they haven’t, you’re paranoid. I don’t want pity,” she says. Her solution, she says, was “tuning it all out”—to stop paying attention to the gossip and the endless churn of celebrity coverage. She says she had never paid much attention to it before, but she imposed a strict blackout. “I have to say I’m way happier because of it,” she says. “It’s nice. It allows me, I think, to be more creative. It’s nice not to be so self-aware.”

On playing Black Widow: “Female superheroes normally are superlame.” Natasha/Black Widow “is kind of gray. I like that about her.”

The most beautiful man in the world: Lately, Johansson has been dating a New York–based advertising creative director named Nate Naylor; they’ve been photographed by the paparazzi on the Manhattan streets and vacationing in Hawaii—the actress and the real-life Don Draper. Seeing someone out of the public eye may be a comparatively tranquil experience for Johansson, but for her new beau, dating a celebrity has been a real change. Johansson seems amused by how well Naylor has dealt with the sudden attention. “It must be very strange for him,” she says, smiling. “It’s totally bizarre. It’s an adjustment—I mean, it’s got to be an adjustment for him way more than it was for me at nineteen. But he’s really remarkably good about it.”

[From Vogue]

Is it okay if the divorce stuff doesn’t interest me at all? I’m kind of over talking about Ryan and Scar together or apart. But I do think it’s interesting that she commented on the Sean Penn thing – remember, it’s said that Sean pretty much dumped her after their whirlwind affair. I also think the Nate Naylor stuff is good – of course he’s adjusted to dating a celebrity – he thinks he’s a celebrity too! After all, he’s the most beautiful man ever.

Photos courtesy of Mario Testino/Vogue, slideshow here.