By RACHEL DODES
Nov. 14, 2013 9:27 p.m. ET
In Spike Jonze's modern romance, Scarlett Johansson never once appears on screen. Yet her instantly recognizable sultry voice—as a computer operating system named Samantha—somehow creates a three-dimensional title character over the course of the two-hour film.
That may be because Ms. Johansson never thought of her character as a product of artificial intelligence: "She's like a person, just a person without a body," Ms. Johansson says. "I don't know if that makes sense."
Warner Bros. and the film's producers are hoping that audiences—and Academy members—feel that it does. Producer Megan Ellison caused a stir last month when she tweeted "Scarlett is eligible [for a supporting actress nomination], deserves the recognition and we are going to campaign for her." (Ms. Johansson says it is premature to comment on the Oscars, adding that she's "humbled by any recognition for a performance that is maybe not hindered by the fact that I am not physically in [the movie].")
The plot of the film, set in a near-future Los Angeles where men carry messenger bags and dress in hipster high-waisted pants, centers on the relationship that develops between Samantha and Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix), a mustachioed employee at an Internet company called BeautifulHandwrittenLetters.com. Lonely and in the midst of a divorce, Theodore purchases software that promises to help organize his life. He gets more than he bargained for when he discovers that Samantha not only is capable of streamlining his overflowing inbox in a matter of seconds, but is the woman of his dreams. What transpires between the two main characters, "is a sort of chance encounter between two people who don't have any preconceived ideas about one other," says Ms. Johansson.
The actress replaced Samantha Morton after the film was shot. (Mr. Jonze has said he realized in postproduction that the character needed something "different.") Ms. Johansson was starring in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" on Broadway earlier this year when she first read the script. The role was initially pitched as entailing a few days of voice-over work, but Ms. Johansson says she soon discovered it was going to be much more involved. She recorded some of her performance with Mr. Jonze during her Broadway run. Then she flew out to Los Angeles and was able to perform opposite Mr. Phoenix during breaks from another movie she was shooting—the second installment of "Captain America." Mr. Jonze later decided to reshoot some scenes, so that Mr. Phoenix could react directly to Ms. Johansson's recording.
The idea of a man falling for a computer perhaps isn't so unusual at a time when people are glued to their iPhones and follow directions from seductive GPS voices. But it remains to be seen whether film audiences will buy into the concept of Samantha and Theodore's unconventional relationship. "I am curious to see how people react, if they feel the love we put into it," says Ms. Johansson. "It's sure to be a conversation starter."

斯嘉丽的录音过程就是她在演百老汇演《猫》剧的途中在纽约和Spike一起录了一部分。然后在洛杉矶拍《美队2》的时候又和凤凰一起录了一部分。最后Spike又和凤凰一起重拍了一部分的场景，这样凤凰能做出对斯嘉丽声音反应的精确表演。

我的楼呢又被度娘吃了？
卫报Inside the cutting room with Spike Jonze on new film, Her
It might have turned out very differently, though. On the set, Phoenix interacted live with Samantha Morton as digi-Samantha. "Samantha was a big part of it, and we've been friends for a long time. What happened in post was that we edited the movie for ages and finally realised that what Samantha and I had done together wasn't working the right way. It was a really hard realisation to come to, and it was really, really hard to tell her about it. So we brought Scarlett in during post-production, and we somehow got it to work." Johansson was working on Broadway in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at the time, and Jonze grabbed her for rehearsals at any odd moment. At one point, Johansson said recently: "We were even rehearsing on Maggie the Cat's bed on stage."