Scarlett Johansson Admits That She Is Ornithophobic

On the red carpet, at the premiere of the film “We Bought a Zoo,” Scarlett Johansson admitted that she is Ornithophobic.

“I’m only scared of birds,” she said. “Something about wings and beaks and the flapping. I’m terrified of them. That still hasn’t gone away. My uncle is terrified of birds, as well, so it runs in the family.”

The actress fear of birds is so deeply rooted that she worried that it would be an issue while filming the movie.

“If they’d asked me to put a bird on my shoulder I would’ve done it, but it would’ve been hard.” Johansson mentioned that there were Peacocks on set and said, “I was terrified of them. Like, ‘Ahh, don’t get too close.’ They’re like, mean.”

Johansson wasn’t the only one on the “We Bought a Zoo” set that is scared of an animal. She made fun of co-star Matt Damon and said he cried when he had to do a scene with a snake.

Johansson said, “He was definitely sweating a bit, and maybe the sweat formed in the corner of his eye. I said, ‘Matt, these kids are practically juggling the snakes. Hold it together.'”

“I’m afraid of snakes,” Damon admitted. “And I got bullied into interacting with them by Scarlett and the kids.”

“We Bought a Zoo” is a comedy-drama film, which was directed by Cameron Crowe and stars Matt Damon, Thomas Haden Church, Colin Ford, Scarlett Johansson, Desi Lydic, Patrick Fugit, and Elle Fanning.

The movie is based on how a family used their life savings to buy Dartmoor Zoological Park, a dilapidated zoo with 200 exotic animals as it faces destruction.

It will hit theaters on December 23, 2011

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