Scarlett Johansson defends casting: 'I should be allowed to play any person, tree or animal'

There are a lot of social lines being drawn now, and a lot of political correctness is being reflected in art." Related: Will whitewashing anger haunt live-action 'Ghost in the Shell'?More: Scarlett Johansson drops out of transgender 'Rub & Tug' role after casting backlashIn the new interview, Johansson lamented current "trends in casting" and what it means for what sorts of roles that actors are allowed to play. Some social media users found hypocrisy between Johansson's interview comments and the racist backlash against Halle Bailey's "The Little Mermaid" casting.So #ScarlettJohansson can play anybody but Halle Bailey gets cast as Ariel in #TheLittleMermaid and suddenly its "They should respect the source material" pic.twitter.com/eFISl2FviwOthers had jokes about Johansson arguing she should be able to play "any tree." "OMG I can't believe I just met Scarlett Johansson!!" one Twitter user wrote, captioning a photo of herself standing next to a tree. pic.twitter.com/9GyiB1G5AU"This has to be scarlett johansson's best performance of her career," another Twitter user wrote, captioning a picture of Grandmother Willow, the talking tree from "Pocahontas." this has to be scarlett johansson’s best performance of her career pic.twitter.com/qVo3UEES1JLast year, in response to the "Rub and Tug" criticsm, Johansson issued a statement to Out.com, announcing she would "respectfully withdraw" her participation in the film "in light of recent ethical questions." "Our cultural understanding of transgender people continues to advance, and I’ve learned a lot from the community since making my first statement about my casting and realize it was insensitive," she said.