She is the smouldering glamour puss of Hollywood, but Scarlett Johansson says that her good looks aren’t always the best asset.

The actress insists that her appearance has occasionally impacted on her career, causing her to miss out on roles she coveted because she was thought of as ‘too 𝑠e𝑥y’.

Discussing the issue, the We Bought A Zoo star revealed: ‘That has happened to me before, yeah. That’s always an unfortunate thing to figure out. “Why can’t you see?!” For me, I would imagine casting someone, you would want to challenge yourself in some way.

I’m too 𝑠e𝑥y for my work: Scarlett Johansson has said that she’s lost out on roles because she is too 𝑠e𝑥y

‘It is so interesting to see actors transform. There are certainly plenty of times when I am definitely not 𝑠e𝑥y.’

Despite her complaint, the 27-year-old does take care of herself and says the secret to her looks are staying healthy, but not being too strict with herself when it comes to diet and exercise.

‘I live a relatively healthy lifestyle I think. Ish. I’m not overly strict. I like to go out and enjoy myself and drink a couple of glasses of wine and stay out late occasionally and eat a slice of cake.

‘I work out and eat well most of the time and try to get some rest.

Natural beauty: Scarlett transformed into a more down to earth look for her film We Bought A Zoo

‘[I eat] lots of kale. I try to stay away from meat and dairy and that.

Director Cameron Crowe was able to see past Scarlet’s famous curves and pout, and cast her as zookeeper Kelly in We Bought A Zoo, which is released on DVD this week.

‘It was amazing to be able to work with him,’ says Scarlet. ‘Any time we have ever done any work together has just been amazing. You leave the audition feeling like a million bucks whether you got the role or not: “I did work today that was hard and good”.

‘He makes you think. You’re thinking outside the box. You’re trying everything a million different ways; you’re discussing the depths of the character that you see that you want to develop. To finally be able to do that over months and build a character with him was great. It was a beautiful thing.’

Smouldering: Her looks certainly weren’t an issue for the actress’ more recent role in The Avengers

Scarlet had to get up close and personal with a number of animals, from tigers to snakes, during filming of We Bought A Zoo. But she reveals that there is only one that makes her squeamish.

‘Cockroaches. I hate them. I have a weird childhood trauma from cockroaches. I can’t stand them. Seriously. I could pretty much do most things that I didn’t want to do but any kind of cockroach situation, even if meant kind of the performance of a lifetime I don’t think I could do it. I’d be paralyzed by them. Tigers and lions are majestic. Cockroaches? No way.’

She also worked with children in the film, and says that she wouldn’t mind having some of her own in the future.

‘Someday it would be nice,’ Scarlet says. Not any time soon. It would be nice to have a couple of kids running around.