It’s not easy for a Marvel star to avoid being the center of attention, but Scarlett Johansson seemed to be using every ounce of her being to step out of the spotlight — even as an entire theater rose to applaud her entrance at the Cannes Film Festival Tuesday afternoon.

Award-winning actor Scarlett Johansson's directorial debut at the Cannes Film Festival is a story she hopes will challenge audiences to reconsider their perspectives on forgiveness and empathy, she told Reuters on Wednesday.

You definitely need to be confident in every piece of art you create. You can tell that Scarlett Johansson put a lot of herself into Eleanor the Great. The movie takes place in Upper Manhattan where she grew up, with a detour to Coney Island where she’d spend time with her grandfather as a kid.