After losing her best friend of seventy years, a woman moves to New York City for a fresh start in Director Scarlett Johansson’s drama, Eleanor the Great.

Johansson’s film tells the story of witty and proudly troublesome 94-year-old Eleanor Morgenstein, who moves from her Florida retirement community to Manhattan to live with her daughter and grandson. Soon after she meets a group of holocaust survivors and feels compelled to tell a story about her past that takes on a dangerous life of its own.

On September 27, after the DGA membership screening in New York, Johansson discussed the making of Eleanor the Great during a Q&A moderated by Director Frank Oz (Death at a Funeral).

During the conversation, Johansson revealed what she looks for as a Director during a table read.

“I love a table read. I’m looking for the pacing of the script. I’m looking for excess fat to trim. What is feeling long? What is feeling superfluous? That and the musicality of it. The chemistry of the actors, that doesn’t matter because table reads are weird. Some people are good at them and some people aren’t. You can’t really judge an actor’s performance at a table read. If I cast them, it’s because they’re good. So, I assume they’ll have chemistry with whatever actor they’re with who’s also good. But the table read it’s more about the pacing of the script and how it’s feeling so I can understand what’s necessary.”

Eleanor the Great is Johansson’s feature directorial debut. She has been a DGA member since 2008.