Samantha Morton: being replaced by Scarlett Johansson in Her ‘does hurt’

File this one under Hollywood swap-outs with a particularly human sting. If you know Spike Jonze's Her, you'll remember the sultry, thoughtful voice guiding Joaquin Phoenix through his feelings. What you might not know is that voice originally belonged to Samantha Morton — not Scarlett Johansson, as in the finished film. Morton was the original Samantha in every sense, right down to doing dialogue on-set, but got the chop in post and has just opened up a bit more about it on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. The inside story is as weird and personal as these things get.

Nobody safe in post

Morton, who'd spent ages helping shape the film alongside Jonze and with Phoenix right there in the flesh (well, not literally touching — she was actually stuck in a 'padded phone booth' off camera so the actors could interact but not see each other), wasn't exactly expecting to be ousted after everything was in the can. Still, she told the podcast it was clear who held the cards:

Morton said, 'Well, I have to say that it’s every director’s prerogative, in regards to the final cut of the film. And for any job, you’re never guaranteed to be in it in the end because… unless you are the lead in the movie and you’re pivotal, you never really know.'

In other words: welcome to showbusiness, where the rug can be pulled at any stage if you're not the actual face on the poster — and, let's face it, sometimes even then.

A very different Samantha

Morton gives credit where it's due: she understands how things work, but admits the decision stung. She described being 'sad', but makes clear that 'sad' is putting it blandly. In her own words, actually putting heart into the performance made being let go that much worse:

She explained, 'We did work together, opposite each other, and that was… I loved it, but I was sad. It does hurt when you’re fired from something or before it. I don’t know… But with that I was surprised… and a little sad would be an understatement. But, again, I think that the time I had on set with Joaquin and the working with Spike on the script and finding Samantha and all the work that we did was really special.'

If you're imagining a simple plug-and-play swap, think again: Morton says her Samantha was genuinely nothing like Johansson's familiar take. For one thing, she played her as English. If you're used to Johansson's Americanised timbre, that's a bit of a head-spinner. Morton isn't bitter about Johansson stepping in, calling her voice 'beautiful' and 'incredibly evocative', but did note, 'What I’d have wished for was another chance in a booth to do an American accent.'

• Morton's version was English — wildly different vibe to Johansson's final take
• Morton did all her work during filming, actually reading with Phoenix
• The dismissal only happened in post-production; she got no chance for a re-record
• Morton believes Johansson brings a lot to the role, but says she would have liked the opportunity to recreate it for an American audience

Morton is currently turning heads on screen as Circe in Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey, which is as far from a voice role as you can get, and at least lets her keep her own accent. But, with Her, it's a rare case where the actor poured herself into the part, only for all but a handful of people on set to ever hear her do it.

Her was released with Scarlett Johansson's voice in 2013, but Samantha Morton was the original performance — right up until post-production.