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Scarlett Johansson<\/strong><\/a> is opening up about the influence the late Robert Redford<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0had on her career.<\/p>\n Redford, who died at age 89 on September 16<\/a>, directed Johansson in one of her earliest roles in the 1998 film The Horse Whisperer<\/em>. Johansson was just 12 at the time, but seeing the Oscar winner<\/a> command the film set inspired her to one day direct her own film. 27 years later, Johansson\u2019s directorial debut, Eleanor the Great<\/em><\/a>, is set to hit theaters on Friday, September 26.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was when I was working with Bob,\u201d Johansson shared when she first realized she wanted to become a director during a Monday, September 22, appearance<\/a> on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert<\/em><\/a>. \u201cI remember seeing him on the set. He would have those intimate conversations with me, and then he would be coordinating a huge set scene \u2026 it was like, \u2018That job seems pretty interesting. I\u2019d like to do that job some day.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Johansson described the All the President\u2019s Men<\/em> star as \u201ca warm, kind, patient, generous, wonderful man.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe would take so much time with me every day,\u201d she said of her experiencing working with him as both her director and costar in The Horse Whisperer<\/em>. \u201cHe was so warm, and we had such a special relationship in the film \u2014 the characters do \u2014 where he actually therapizes my character. He, in real life, had that persona. Just so calm and kind and patient. He would talk me through the scene. Every scene we\u2019d do, he\u2019d talk me through what my character had been through up until that point, and it was like he had all the time to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt was transformative for me,\u201d Johansson continued. \u201cI had a complete understanding of, \u2018Oh, this is actually a craft and something you get better at and understand more the more you put into it.\u2019 That was all because of Bob, Mr. Redford.\u201d<\/p>\n Redford\u2019s publicist Cindi Berger<\/strong> confirmed his death in a statement to The New York Times<\/em> last week. She said he died in his sleep at his home in Provo, Utah. He was in \u201cthe place he loved, surrounded by those he loved,\u201d Berger said.<\/p>\n