During the Avengers: Age of Ultron press tour, Mark Ruffalo and Scarlett Johansson had the interview questions flipped on them to prove how differently actors and actresses are treated by the press.
The Avengers: Age of Ultron promotional tour has had its ups and downs, from the cast’s hilarious turn on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to the much-debated Jeremy Renner/Chris Evans incident.
One of the more interesting videos came from Cosmopolitan, when the interviewer told Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow) and Mark Ruffalo (the Hulk) that she’d be switching the questions around, and ask Ruffalo the questions usually reserved for female actors:
While Ruffalo was stumped by the questions about his diet regime and his red carpet outfits, Johansson was asked much more substantial questions, such as the seemingly generic, “What’s your favorite thing about playing this character?”
But you’d be surprised by how rarely actresses are actually asked to talk about the roles they play.
Related: I went to the Avengers: Age of Ultron premiere and all I got was this awesome T-shirt (giveaway)
By only asking Johansson questions about her character, and asking Ruffalo questions mainly related to his physical appearance, Cosmopolitan is reminding us how natural it feels when it’s the other way around.
While actors are encouraged to talk about their professional approaches to stunt and acting techniques, actresses are mainly asked about their (real-life and on-screen) appearance.
There have been a number of different initiatives over the past few years that aim to make journalists treat actresses as professionals rather than glorified models; earlier this year, comedian Amy Poehler launched the #AskHerMore campaign as a response to the clichéd “What are you wearing?” question so often asked on the red carpet.
It might seem like a small issue, but seeing as how much our society is influenced by celebrities, it’s nice to see people make a real effort to promote equality.