Real reason Scarlett Johansson cast in lead role in 'Jurassic World Rebirth'

Scarlett Johansson is the face of the new era of the Jurassic World franchise in Jurassic World Rebirth.

Director Gareth Edwards has shared insight into the decision to cast Scarlett in the lead role of Zora Bennett, a covert ops soldier. In the film, Zora goes to a closed-off biosphere that supports dinosaurs to get DNA from the biggest dinosaurs. Joining her on the mission are her longtime pal Duncan Kincaid (Mahershala Ali) and paleontologist Dr. Henry Loomis (Jonathan Bailey).

"It felt like at least one of them was going to be an A-lister," Edwards told Entertainment Weekly. "There were your obvious names floating around, and then at one point, Steven said, 'Well, if we don't give it to Scarlett, she's going to kill me because she's been pursuing a Jurassic film for ages.' My eyes lit up."

Gareth revealed that the character of Zora wasn’t assigned a gender before being cast.

"It's hard to think of someone better than Scarlett," the filmmaker remarked. "Now having worked with her, it's really clear why she's had the career she's had, and she's never been out of a limelight, as well as being an excellent actress."

In her own words, The Other Boleyn Girl star explained the character, writing in an email, "Zora has had a long career in the military and in private security.”

"She is someone who has dedicated her life to service and to helping people. She has experienced a lot of loss, yet she maintains a lot of positivity and humor, even when things are hard. I wanted her to have a lot of sparkle. She is someone everyone wants to hang out with. She is a good-hearted person and a loyal friend. Of course, David gave her a lot of gusto in his amazing writing. I just added my part to bring her to life," explained Scarlett Johansson.