Scarlett Johansson has defended her right to play a variety of roles in the aftermath of recent casting controversy.

Johansson addressed a disturbing “trend” in casting in the August issue of the arts and culture magazine, As If, one that fosters frequent investigation of who can play certain sorts of parts and pushes for diversity and inclusion both onscreen and off.

“Today, there’s a lot of emphasis and conversation about what acting is and who we want to see represent ourselves on screen,” she explained to reporter and artist David Salle in the July 11 story. “The question is, what is acting anyway?”

“You know, as an actor I should be able to play any person, or any tree, or any animal, because that’s my job and the requirements of my job.”

The actress made no particular film or event reference, but looked to be responding to criticism of her hiring in Rub & Tug, in which she was set to play trans man, gangster, and massage parlor owner Dante “Tex” Gill. Johannson originally disregarded such concerns, citing transgender portrayals by cisgender actors Jeffrey Tambor, Jared Leto, and Felicity Huffman, but resigned from the post following outcry from the LGBTQ community.

“Our cultural understanding of transgender people continues to advance,” Johannson said at the time, “and I’ve learned a lot from the community since making my first statement about my casting and realize it was insensitive. I am thankful that this casting debate, albeit controversial, has sparked a larger conversation about diversity and representation in film.”

Johansson also seemed to reference prior controversy over her own character choices. “I feel like it’s a trend in my business and it needs to happen for various social reasons. Yet there are times it does get uncomfortable when it affects the art because I feel art should be free of restrictions.”

Johansson’s wish to “play any person, any tree, or any animal” prompted both criticism and outrage on social media when the interview went viral. Johansson’s statements came off as callous to many because of her history of accepting parts based on marginalized identities despite a well-known paucity of representation of those identities on film — and despite the shortage of main roles for actors from those identities.

Johansson sent a statement to the Hollywood Reporter on July 13 in an attempt to clarify her remarks. She claimed that her statements were taken out of context for the purpose of “clickbait.”

“I personally feel that, in an ideal world, any actor should be able to play anybody and [a]rt, in all forms, should be immune to political correctness. That is the point I was making, albeit didn’t come across that way,” Johansson said in a statement.