Watch Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson Sing Hanukkah Songs
Movie stars do all kinds of silly things to promote their films — including singing Hanukkah songs and discussing gefilte fish on MTV.
Scarlett Johansson and Matt Damon both proved good sports during interviews with the channel’s Josh Horowitz this week, gamely playing along during a segment entitled “After Hours Chanukah Special.”
They were visiting MTV to talk about “We Bought a Zoo,” the Cameron Crowe-directed movie opening today, but ended up getting their knowledge tested on a range of Jewish trivia, including proper usage of the word “chutzpah” — both did better than GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann — as well as their thoughts on Jewish foods. (Johansson defended gefilte fish, though she admitted it’s “an acquired taste.”)
Johansson, whose mother is Jewish, displayed a dose of Jewish guilt at the start of the quiz, nervously joking that her “grandfather’s rolling over in his grave.” But she and Damon acquitted themselves quite nicely during the singing portion of the session — with the non-Jewish Damon even singing a second Hanukkah song just for fun.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
