AMNA NAWAZ: Academy Award nominee Scarlett# Johansson is known the world over for major## roles in close to 40 films over# the past three decades.

Recently,## she became the highest-grossing# lead actor in Hollywood.

She's now taking on a new role# as director.

Her debut film,## "Eleanor the Great," hits theaters tonight.

I# met up with her in New York earlier this week## to discuss this latest chapter in her career.# It's for our arts and culture series, Canvas.

JUNE SQUIBB, Actress: Because we have been# coming here every Friday for the last 16## years.

Can you count to 16, Charlie?

AMNA NAWAZ: It's a celebration of deep## devotion, a friendship for the ages... (LAUGHTER) AMNA NAWAZ: ... paired with .. from sudden loss and a lie# that ties it all together.

Actress June Squibb, who turns 96# this November, stars as Eleanor,## who one day accidentally walks into# the wrong room at her New York Jewish## community center and ends up adopting her# late friend's Holocaust story as her own.

ERIN KELLYMAN, Actress: I was wondering# if I could feature you in my article.

SCARLETT JOHANSSON, Director: I have to approach# my job with empathy and then let the audience,## let them have their own feelings# about the characters and what they do.

AMNA NAWAZ: It's the feature directorial# debut for Scarlett Johansson.

SCARLETT JOHANSSON: I hope# that, at the end of the film,## the audience has empathy for Eleanor.

I# certainly do.

I think people are complicated.

AMNA NAWAZ: Eleanor can be bawdy and brash.

JUNE SQUIBB: Say goodbye to Melvin for me.## Oh, we had such a wonderful time# the other night.

He's very strong.

ACTRESS: You're so full of# (EXPLETIVE DELETED) Eleanor.

JUNE SQUIBB: Yes.

AMNA NAWAZ: And an imposing often grading presence# on the d.. ACTOR: She's going to live forever.

AMNA NAWAZ: There is in Eleanor# this main character who is not## there to compliment anyone else# or play off of someone else.## You don't see women like that a lot# on the big screen.

Why don't we?

SCARLETT JOHANSSON: Characters like# Eleanor in real life are often invisible## in communities.

Why?

I don't know.

I think# people are afraid of their own mortality## and people that are aging are a reminder# of that potentially for people.

You know,## and it's like -- I don't know.

I# think we live in an aging society,## and so there's more interest, I think, in# aging now than that has been in the past.

And I think movies like this film and actors# like June help to move that cause forward.

AMNA NAWAZ: After the devastating loss of# her best friend Bessie, Eleanor fills the## void with an unlikely new bond, a college# student reporter played by Erin Kellyman... ERIN KELLYMAN: What's it like being 94?

JUNE SQUIBB: I feel the same# way I did when I was 16.

AMNA NAWAZ: ... who turns to Eleanor# and other stories of survival from a## Holocaust support group to help her wrestle# with her own grief after her mother's death.

JUNE SQUIBB: You have to talk about# the things that make you sad.

Jews## fled Poland and never talked about# what they went through.

They just## kept it moving.

And there's some good# in that, but it can just eat you alive.

AMNA NAWAZ: Central to the story and to the# character of Eleanor is her Jewish faith,## right, her relationship to her faith.# And your decision in key parts of the## movie to -- as I understand it, to# cast real Holocaust survivors playing## themselves in some of those scenes,# why was that important to you to do?

SCARLETT JOHANSSON: You know, I# never even questioned it.

I just## never thought about casting actors# for those roles.

Part of it, again,## was just the desire to ground the story# in even a deeper emotional significance.

Several years ago, I participated in "Finding# Your Roots," and I discovered that I -- I knew## that I had relatives that died in the Warsaw# ghetto, but I didn't know the whole story of it.

It makes me feel more deeply connected to# that side of myself, that side of my family.

He presented me with a paper that had# -- it was essentially like a death## certificate for all of the people# in my family that I'd lost there.

AMNA NAWAZ: How much did you# think about your own family## story as you were telling this family story?

SCARLETT JOHANSSON: It was impossible# not to think about my own family story,## because it lives within me.# That's sort of all in my own DNA,## and all in all my memories, and# so the film is infused with that.

AMNA NAWAZ: It's also informed by Johansson's# own relationship with her grandmother,## Dorothy Sloan, a kindergarten# teacher, arts lover, and inspiration.

SCARLETT JOHANSSON: We had such a deep friendship# and feeling a sense of, like, sisterhood between## us.

We talked about everything.

We talked about# our bodies.

We talked about our family.

We talked## about our fantasies, our -- we talked about sex.# We talked about politics.

Like, we really... AMNA NAWAZ: With your grandmother?

SCARLETT JOHANSSON: Yes, with my# gr.. Reading this script and seeing# this intergenerational friendship## celebrated and out in the open, it was so# unique.

It felt like something I wanted to## explore artistically and something# I feel like we should see more of.

AMNA NAWAZ: That uniqueness is being well# received.

At the Cannes Film Festival premiere,## "Eleanor the Great" received a# five-minute standing ovation.

(CHEERING) SCARLETT JOHANSSON: I felt like the# ovation was, it was for the film,## and it was also for June, I think.# She's so extraordinary in the film.## And it felt like -- this really feels# like a legacy performance for her.

AMNA NAWAZ: Tell me about working with her,## what that was like, and directing her in# particular.

Does she take direction well?

SCARLETT JOHANSSON: June is -- I mean,# she's such a sharp, very sinewy actor.

She's## just -- she comes to set, she's been preparing for# months, she has an idea of what she wants to do,## and her first take is fantastic, and then# just keeps getting better from there.

AMNA NAWAZ: The 40-year-old Johansson's evolution# and dexterity have built a career most actors only## dream of, from child star in "The Horse# Whisperer" with mentor Robert Redford... ROBERT REDFORD, Actor: What, do# you have a problem with that?

SCARLETT JOHANSSON: Isn't it, like, obvious?

AMNA NAWAZ: ... to films# like "Lost in Translation"... SCARLETT JOHANSSON: How dare you# compare my mothering to my mother?

AMNA NAWAZ: ... "Marriage Story"# and "Jojo Rabbit," even extending to## action films like "Jurassic World" and# across the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

But directing was a dream she carried for years.

SCARLETT JOHANSSON: Part of my work is,# I read a lot of scripts.

And I think,## having done it for such a long time, when I read# a script, like, I see I see the entire film in## my mind.

You know this film inside and out,# and it's my own perspective on storytelling.

JUNE SQUIBB: Me?

AMNA NAWAZ: Johansson says she hopes# the connec.. story offers a window into her life# and a mirror for the audience watching.

SCARLETT JOHANSSON: You know, we're all human.# And I think I would hope that this story## allows the audience to let go# of whatever judgment that they## may have of Eleanor initially and# be able to reflect on themselves.

AMNA NAWAZ: And, remember,# there's a lot more online,## including a lightning round of questions# with Scarlett Johansson, covering everything## from her real-life superpowers to her latest# Google search.

That is on our YouTube page.