What's your take on the notion of people getting married to improve their status, and have either of you ever had that kind of pressure put on you by your families?

PORTMAN: No, I don't get that personal pressure, but yeah, I think it definitely exists and I think that's why it's a story that is still resonant now, because you know those people. You know the people who think of marriage as empire building or whatever, and I think it's definitely something that still exists today.

JOHANSSON: Yeah, I guess so. It's the same as these debutante balls and things like this. It's completely foreign from any lifestyle that I grew up in, but I hear rumors of it.

PORTMAN: The fact that marriage is a legal contract at all is like - and the word husband means like "to tame" or whatever... it's just engrained in the language, the ownership and all of that of marriage.

What other historical characters would each of you like to play?

JOHANSSON: I'm starting production for Mary Queen of Scots, which is kind of interesting, because it's some time later, but the same bloodline, of course. So I guess I'd be playing a distant cousin of myself or something. I have to think about that for a minute. It's a little bit twisted.

PORTMAN: Maybe like an aunt or something.

JOHANSSON: A distant cousin? I don't know. The whole dynasty was so confusing at that time, but that's what I'm looking forward to. Natalie, what about you?

PORTMAN: Historical figures? I don't know. It's exciting, because there are many? I feel like there were periods of time a long time ago where there were more women leaders than there are currently, but nothing in particular.

Do you both seek out roles that send out positive roles for women?

PORTMAN: I want to do roles that are real people. I think that women can be weak or vulnerable or strong, they can be not very smart or brilliant. I don’t think that there’s one kind of woman out there and I think it’s important to portray a wide variety. But I’ve been getting frustrated recently with the number of roles for strippers and prostitutes or the opposite, which is like, "She’s the moral center of the film, she’s the pure one." That dichotomy exists so strongly. It's the virgin-whore thing in evidence to the greatest extent. That’s been bothering me. So to find a character that’s complicated, like the women in this film, is very exciting. Also, I love comedies, but any time I read a comedy the girl is in fashion, she’s really into clothes or she just wants to get married and those are not values that I care to jump on the bandwagon with.

JOHANSSON: I echo how Natalie feels about that and I never think about finding a particularly strong... I think I’ve found strengths in every character I played. Even if it is a vulnerable person or someone who is easily manipulated, there are strengths to every personality. I wasn’t particularly looking for a girl power kind of a role I think that maintaining integrity in a character is a positive thing for women to see. I think it’s inspiring for women of all ages and I don’t think that has necessarily to do with a girl power type of film or something like that.

PORTMAN: That's just as false as the "woman as victim" or "woman as whore" stereotypes. A strong woman is as much a fantasy as anything else.

Natalie, you were originally supposed to star in The Horse Whisperer but you pulled out and that ended up being Scarlett's breakthrough role. Can you talk about that?

JOHANSSON: I never even thought about that. It was the best thing that ever happened to me, that you dropped out. Thanks, Natalie.

PORTMAN: That was an awesome performance.