LOS ANGELES, July 14 — Scarlett Johansson might have just stirred up a hornet's nest with a recent statement about the roles she should accept.

In an interview with As If magazine, Scarlett Johansson said: "You know, as an actor I should be allowed to play any person, or any tree, or any animal because that is my job and the requirements of my job."

The actor said she felt art should be free of restrictions, and that society would be "more connected if we just allowed others to have their own feelings and not expect everyone to feel the way we do." She also commented on the trend of political correctness that she saw in the arts.

When asked, "Must you only represent yourself, your gender, your ethnicity, or can you, in fact, play beyond these categories?"

The actress replied that a lot of social lines were "being drawn now" and that a lot of political correctness is being "reflected" in art.

Johansson had previously been criticised for taking the role of a trans-man in the film Rub & Tug, as well as playing what some said should have been a Japanese-speaking character in Ghost in the Shell.

Her statement comes in the wake of movements to have more inclusiveness in casting, as well as backlash against the trend of "whitewashing" - casting white actors in non-white roles.

Johansson is one of the more popular and highly-paid actresses in Hollywood, with an upcoming Black Widow film being in the works for her. So it"s unlikely her comments will hurt her career much, if at all.