Pictures: Scarlett Johansson Sizzles In Broadway's 'Cat On A Hot Tin Roof'

Scarlett Johansson began previews of the Broadway production of Tennessee Williams' classic play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof this week. The Hollywood actress plays the lead role of Maggie the Cat in the forthcoming show, which officially opens to the public at the Richard Rodgers Theatre on January 17, 2013.

Scarlett Johansson Certainly Looks The Part As Maggie The Cat In 'Cat On A Hot Tin Roof'

One of the most famous plays of all time, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is set at the plantation home of a wealthy cotton tycoon Big Daddy Pollitt. Exploring themes of greed, superficiality, mendacity, sexual desire, repression and death, the play won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1955. Ciaran Hinds stars as Big Daddy, while the Tony Award winning actress Debra Monk plays Big Mama. Though best known for her roles in The Avengers and Lost in Translation, Johansson has a passion for the stage and won a Tony for her role in Arthur Miller's A View From The Bridge.

Johansson Ponders Life As Maggie The Cat [L] and Gets Close To Benjamin Walker [R]

In a series of photographs from the recent previews, the 28-year-old certainly looks the part as Maggie the Cat, wearing her hair in a 1950's style and donning white pearls and a yellow cocktail dress. After a rough couple of years that has seen her go through a divorce from Ryan Reynolds and cut professional ties with her mother Melanie Sloan, Johansson spoke with the New York Times about changing the type of role she took, "I felt extreme vulnerability over the last few years, more than I ever had, and no longer wanted to keep rushing into movie jobs or a play just to escape how I was feeling. Once I wanted to work again, I wanted to start playing adults - tough women who knew what it took to survive," adding, "After my first time on Broadway I decided I wanted to keep doing projects that I didn't know how to do. I'm finally at a place in my life where I feel comfortable not anticipating the result. I'm comfortable with being uncomfortable."

Scarlett Dazzles At The Cat On A Hot Tin Roof Photo-Call

Despite her penchant for the stage, Johansson has already reportedly signed on for two massive blockbuster movies; Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and The Avengers 2. She will play the Black Widow in both movies.