Hollywood beauty Scarlett Johansson is reportedly in talks to star in a New York City production of South Pacific. The Nanny Diaries star is one of the actresses being considered for the role of US Navy nurse Nellie Forbush in a revival of the musical at the Lincoln Center, which is scheduled to open in January 2008.

Director Bartlett Sher is currently arranging auditions for the musical to take place next month, with Russian tenor Dimitri Hvorovstovsky said to be in line for the role of plantation owner Emile De Becque, reports the New York Post. A production source tells the Post, "They want the leads to be sexy. This is not going to be a stodgy old production of South Pacific."

Last year, Johansson was forced to put out of talks to play Maria in the London stage production of Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Sound Of Music, after her management clashed with the theatre impresario over her fees and conditions of her contract.

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(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)