Scarlett Johansson Cast Real Holocaust Survivors for Her Movie Eleanor the Great: ‘It’s a Community’ (Exclusive)

The June Squibb-starring movie, which sees Johansson make her directorial debut, had its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on Monday, Sept. 8

Scarlett Johansson attends the premiere of ‘Eleanor the Great’ during the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival.Credit : Jemal Countess/WireImage

Scarlett Johansson is shedding light on her new feature directorial debut.

In an exclusive chat with PEOPLE at Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday, Sept. 7, Johansson 40, revealed that for her upcoming film Eleanor the Great, which stars June Squibb as the titular character, she cast real holocaust survivors for the movie to “share their stories.”

“It wasn’t really ever a question of whether we would cast real survivors. It was more of how can we identify people that would want to participate, could participate,” said Johansson at the PEOPLE/EW and Shutterstock studio at the TIFF. “So, we got really lucky. Every time we would find someone who could participate, it was like, ‘Yes, we got another survivor.’ “

“I think at the time there was like 250,000 survivors living. Of course, every year it’s much less. So, we were able to identify [that] it’s a community,” explained the actress. Johansson noted that Jessica Hecht, who stars in the film “was really helpful actually in helping identify a couple of people” for the movie, along with the Shoah Foundation in finding people who were interested. “I have to say that the whole group was so patient,” she added.

Scarlett Johansson, June Squibb, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Erin Kellyman at the TIFF premiere of ‘Eleanor the Great’ on Sept. 8.Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty

“I don’t think anybody in the group had really done a film like that before,” said Johansson. “…They really were just engaged and listening.” The newly-minted director also said that the survivors were eager to “share their stories,” adding jokingly, “They were pretty excited about catering.”

Eleanor the Great celebrated its TIFF premiere on Monday, Sept. 8. The premiere was attended by Johansson along with costars Squibb, 95, Hecht, 60, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Erin Kellyman.

Following a world premiere in May at the Cannes Film Festival, where it earned a five-minute standing ovation, Eleanor the Great, written by Tory Kamen, is in theaters Sept. 26.

Scarlett Johansson at the TIFF premiere of ‘Eleanor the Great’ in Toronto on Sept. 8.Jemal Countess/WireImage

Speaking to PEOPLE on Sunday, Johansson said that she couldn’t help but feel a personal connection to Kamen’s script and was immediately drawn to direct the film.

“It had elements in it that were familiar to me, like New York being a character in the film in a way, and the Jewish identity piece, the intergenerational relationships,” said the Jurassic World Rebirth star. “That was something very appealing to me there. So, it had so many elements that I was felt very connected to. I felt I could film it. ‘Actually, I think I can direct this.’ “

June Squibb in ‘Eleanor the Great’.Sony Pictures Classics

In Eleanor the Great, Squibb plays the “witty and proudly troublesome 94-year-old Eleanor Morgenstein, who after a devastating loss, tells a tale that takes on a dangerous life of its own,” per an official synopsis.

The Oscar-nominated Nebraska star praised Johansson in a May interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “She’s so down-to-Earth,” Squibb said of her director. “With her knowledge as an actress, she knew immediately what I was doing, where I was going and how I was shifting everything. That’s wonderful because you don’t often have that. I’ve worked with wonderful directors that don’t have that kind of knowledge like Scarlett does.”