Scarlett Johansson Explains Why She's Choosing to Keep Her Kids' Privacy Intact for as Long as Possible

In a new cover story for InStyle, Johansson opened up about her choice to keep her kids Rose, 10, whom she shares with ex Romain Dauriac, and son Cosmo, 3, whom she shares with husband Colin Jost, out of the public eye.

"But if anyone knows me, I definitely over-share. I'm not a closed book, you know?" Johansson began. "I'm politically active and vocal about it. But I am a private person in the sense that I value my close friendships. My family is very precious to me, as is their privacy."

"The anonymity of my children is very precious to me. I was talking to my daughter the other day, because she said, 'Oh, I would love to make videos for The Outset,'" she continued, touching on her daughter's desire to get involved with the Her actress' skincare line. "She was like, 'Why can't I?' And I said, 'Well, other than the fact that you're 10…'"

While the idea of being a celebrity seems nice, Johansson said there's a part of your former life that you can never get back once you're in the spotlight.

"The thing about being a public figure is that the idea of being recognizable and celebrated feels fun, but then you can never stuff it back in the bottle," she explained. "The reality of it is, there's a massive loss to that, you know? So I think preserving that for as long as possible until it's someone's choice, that's the choice I make as far as my kids go."

Elsewhere in the interview, Johansson dished on that NSFW joke her husband made about her on Saturday Night Live.

"It was so vulgar," Johansson told the outlet. "I just can't believe that they went there. I was like -- it was so gross. It was really gross."

It went down during the show's annual, end-of-year joke swap between Jost and his Weekend Update co-anchor, Michael Che, where the comedians read jokes written by one another.

Jost read: "Costco has removed the roast beef sandwich from its menu. But I ain't trippin'. I've been eating roast beef every night since my wife had the kid."

A camera then cut backstage to Johansson, who appeared shocked after hearing the wisecrack.

"My experience of it was so funny," she admitted, noting that the producers had given her notice before hand that Che wrote a "vagina joke."

But, Johansson didn't think she'd be the butt of the joke.

"I was like, 'I mean, it's a vagina joke, how bad could it be?' And then as soon as the Costco photo came up, I was like 'No! No, Michael!'" Johansson, who tied the knot with Jost in 2020, recalled.

She also addressed the camera crew being able to quickly show her stunned reaction.

"The fact that it took on a full To Catch a Predator-style reveal or whatever," she joked, "that was so intense. All of a sudden, it was like a whole bunch of people holding up lights, and a guy with a video camera. They were waiting for me to react. I felt insane. I was like, 'I think I'm going to faint.'"

Johannsson says she's laughed off the now-viral moment, thanks in part to her busy schedule, balancing mom life with her many projects and her business.