"Woody and I were shooting 'Match Point' and of course I've always admired him as a director and a comedian and as a writer and as an actor," Johansson remembered at a recent press day for the film in New York City, "and I said to him, 'It'd be so nice if we could work together as actors because we have such a nice banter between us.' He was like, 'Yeah, kid. I'll think of something.'"

"Scoop" is the result, a screwball comedy in the tradition of "His Girl Friday," in which Johansson dons spectacles and a nebbishy demeanor to match Allen's familiar onscreen persona, as the duo trade jokes and quick, clever dialogue.

"He wrote it for us. But most of 'Scoop' is kind of our banter, our lunchtime banter [in real life], brought to the screen," she revealed. Hugh Jackman and Ian McShane co-star in the comedy, opening Friday, July 28.

Ironically, Johansson tamped down her va-va-voom good looks for the part, donning nerdy glasses and not-so-flattering clothes in the process, a look she takes complete credit for inventing.

"I wanted to wear glasses. I just thought that it would be funny to have regular glasses, not the ones that you wear to be cool, but actual prescription ones that are the dorky kind," she giggled. "It was fun. It was definitely a huge part of the character. She's just dorky and she has a retainer and her dad is an orthodontist and she says things that are so dorky."

Johansson, whose voluptuous figure has won the heart of boyfriend Josh Hartnett along with millions of male fans, doesn't mind hiding her assets for a funny part. What she does mind is the world's obsession with skinny, fat, and what famous women are doing to keep themselves in the right dress size.

"I think that it's obvious to me that there is an overwhelming amount of actresses out there, who I look at and say, 'They're too thin for my taste.' But I think that that's something that's bought and sold by the media," she said, turning serious.

"I mean, I don't answer questions about my own personal life and I understand if someone isn't interested in not talking to the press about their eating habits or having to make excuses for being thin. But why don't we just talk about the real issues that are happening in this world instead of focusing on everyone else's lives? I mean, hello, there is a war going on and there is another one about to be started. There is mass genocide and starvation and epidemic and people don't talk about those things," she continued forcefully.

"Certainly in the society that we live in today people seem to want to focus more on things that are very sort of superfluous and unimportant instead of focusing on what is actually going on in the world. It's much easier to find out who is dating who than getting any real story about what's going on in Iraq or in Africa or in Haiti – all over the world."