Scarlett Johansson to play 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'

CEBU, Philippines - Scarlett Johansson will tap into her feline side later this year when she plays Maggie the Cat on Broadway.

Producers unveiled the Tony Award-winning Johansson in a revival of Tennessee Williams’s “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.” It will be Johansson’s first time back since winning a Tony in the Arthur Miller play “A View from a Bridge” opposite Liev Schreiber in 2010.

Benjamin Walker, who starred in “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson,” will play her husband Brick, Ciaran Hinds plays Big Daddy, and Debra Monk will be Big Mama. The production will be directed by Tony and Emmy Award-winner Rob Ashford.

On the news of the announcement, Johansson said: “I am so thrilled to return to Broadway and feel incredibly fortunate to be doing so with Rob Ashford and such gifted actors.”

The new “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” will begin previews at the Richard Rodgers Theater on Dec. 18 and open on Jan. 17. It marks the play’s fifth revival on Broadway and one four years after Anika Noni Rose played Maggie.

Johansson’s films include “Lost in Translation,” “Match Point” and “We Bought a Zoo.” (FREEMAN)