Scarlett Johansson

Johansson next had a supporting role in the Christopher Nolan thriller The Prestige (2006), again opposite Hugh Jackman as well as Christian Bale. Nolan, who described Johansson as possessing an "ambiguity... a shielded quality", said he was "very keen" for her to play the role. Johansson said, "she loved working with Nolan", and he was "incredibly focused and driven and involved, and really involved in the performance in every aspect." The film was both a critical and a worldwide box office success, recommended by the Los Angeles Times as "an adult, provocative piece of work." Also in 2006, Johansson starred in a short film directed by Bennett Miller and set to Bob Dylan's "When the Deal Goes Down...", released to promote Dylan's album, Modern Times.
Johansson starred in 2007's The Nanny Diaries, alongside Laura Linney. The film performed only marginally well at the box office, and was critically-panned. Johansson's reviews were mixed, with Variety saying, "She essays an engaging heroine", while The New Yorker criticized her for looking "merely confused" while "trying to give the material a plausible emotional center". In his review for the San Francisco Chronicle, Mick LaSalle said, "There's something painful about watching Scarlett Johansson, who looks as if she never had an indecisive moment in her life, struggle to seem ineffectual."