Scarlett Johansson Lauds Pamela Anderson’s ‘Powerful’ Makeup-Free Move: ‘Zeitgeist for Women’

Scarlett Johansson thinks Pamela Anderson's bold decision to go makeup-free at the Paris Fashion Week was nothing short of a revolution!

In a new Popsugar interview, she heralded the decision as a zeitgeist for women and was all praise for Anderson. “I think it is definitely different to see somebody that’s in the public eye, a woman in the public eye, go to a fashion show or big event with no makeup on. It’s just very different from what we’re used to,” Johansson, 38, told the outlet.

“It’s a powerful message for women to see that, whether they follow suit or whatever the effect is, in the zeitgeist. It’s powerful for women to see other women rejecting standard beauty norms.”

Anderson's Paris decision was not one that was planned, but she is aware of the impact it caused and that, she feels, was intentional. “I didn’t come to Paris Fashion Week and think ‘I’m not going to wear any makeup,’” the Baywatch beauty shared in a Vogue interview. “Something just came over me and I was dressing in these beautiful clothes and I thought, ‘I don’t want to compete with the clothes.’ I’m not trying to be the prettiest girl in the room.”

“I feel like it’s just a freedom,” the blond bombshell described the feeling. “It’s like a relief.”

While Anderson sometimes wonders if she's “doing the right thing” by not wearing makeup, she aspires to be a role model for other women to appreciate their own natural beauty. “You kind of have to challenge beauty sometimes,” Anderson added. “If we all chase youth or we are all chasing our idea of what beauty is in fashion magazines then we are all going to be disappointed or maybe a little bit sad.” 

And she's challenged them all right! Many celebrities have come out in support of the former Playboy star. She was recently endorsed by fellow actress Jamie Lee Curtis in a moving Instagram post. “THE NATURAL BEAUTY REVOLUTION HAS OFFICIALLY BEGUN!” the actress wrote of her colleague. “With so many pressures and postures … this woman showed up and claimed her seat at the table with nothing on her face. I am so impressed and floored by this act of courage and rebellion,” she added.

The Barb Wire actress revealed in August that she initially stopped wearing cosmetics when her makeup artist, Alexis Vogel, died of breast cancer in 2019, leaving her feeling that it was preferable to avoid beauty trends entirely. "I did notice that there were all these people doing big makeup looks, and it’s just like me to go against the grain and do the opposite of what everyone’s doing," she told Elle. “I think we all start looking a little funny when we get older. And I’m kind of laughing at myself when I look in the mirror,” she added.