Italian house Prada has long ensconced itself in the world of cinema, enlisting big name directors like Ridley Scott and Wes Anderson to helm past fashion films. Now, the label has teamed up with Oscar-winning director Jonathan Glazer for its new Galleria bag campaign, and he’s brought Scarlett Johansson along for the ride.
The new ad is a reunion of sorts for the director and actor, who first worked together on Under The Skin, the 2013 sci-fi thriller where Johansson played a man-eating alien. For the Galleria ad things are just a little calmer, with Johansson embodying an actor who’s dramatically rehearsing lines in front of the camera. Johansson repeats different phrases over and over again, adding a different flair to each repetition, and even goes in for a make-up retouch after a particularly teary take. At the end of the ad, Johansson exits the studio carrying the Galleria and hails a yellow cab, the string arrangement in the background adding an air of Old Hollywood to proceedings.
The new ad is Glazer’s first professional outing since picking up the Oscar for Best International Picture at this year’s ceremony. While accepting the award for Zone of Interest, the director made a speech denouncing the ongoing war in Gaza, which was then wildly misquoted and repeated out of context online. As a result, a group of Hollywood figures signed an open letter denouncing the speech.
The Galleria ad also continues an ongoing partnership between Prada and its brand ambassador Johansson, who’ve been working together since the summer of 2023, when the actor shot a campaign with the artist Alex Da Corte. Similarly, Glazer is no stranger to iconic fashion campaigns, having helmed Burberry’s extremely memorable spot for its Hero men’s fragrance, where Adam Driver inexplicably transforms into a horse at the end.
Revisit our 2014 profile of Johansson here, where the actor discusses working with Glazer on Under The Skin.