Scarlett Johansson Had A Strange Nickname For Her Former Costar Robert Redford

In September 2025, Hollywood lost one of its greatest icons when legendary actor and Oscar-winning director Robert Redford passed away at age 89. Given the length of his celebrated career, Redford understandably shared the screen with a murderers' row of similarly acclaimed co-stars over the years, from Paul Newman in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" to Meryl Streep and Tom Cruise in "Lions for Lambs." In 1998, he even found a co-star in then-child actor Scarlett Johansson, who would go on to become a Hollywood icon in her own right. Shortly after Redford's death, Johansson recalled starring opposite him in "The Horse Whisperer" (which Redford also directed), revealing that she had a strange nickname for him on the set of the western film.

"I actually had a nickname for him that was Booey, which is something that I don't think I've ever told anybody, but now I've told everyone," Johansson shared on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert." If you're wondering what exactly the origin of that unusual nickname is, well, you're not alone, because Johansson herself can't quite recall, either. "I don't know. I mean, I was 12," she said. Still, Johansson certainly spoke highly of working with Redford early in her career. "He was such a warm, kind, patient, generous, wonderful man. ... It was transformative for me," she revealed. Sixteen years after "The Horse Whisperer" was released, by which point Johansson had more firmly established herself in Hollywood, she and Redford once again shared the screen in the Marvel film "Captain America: The Winter Soldier."

Given the fact that he was given the United States' highest civilian honor by former President Barack Obama, it's fairly safe to say that Robert Redford was incredibly well respected. And during her September 2025 appearance on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," one of the things Scarlett Johansson extensively praised Redford for was how patient he was with her on the set of "The Horse Whisperer," both as her co-star and as the film's director. "He would take so much time with me every day. ... Every scene that we would do, he would talk me through where my character had been through up until that point," she said. Of course, September '25 was a big month for Johansson, as it saw the release of her own directorial debut, "Eleanor the Great." And apparently, she made a conscious effort to pay Redford's treatment of her all those years ago forward.

Speaking exclusively to People at the New York premiere for "Eleanor the Great," Johansson opened up about extending Redford-like patience to the actors she now found herself in charge of. "Because you're always in a rush on set, but not letting any of the actors feeling like you're in a rush — I think that's really important," she said, adding, "Bob Redford always took so much time with me and he was so patient. It was really impactful; it made me feel like I had the space to really explore and be creative."