James Gray was sure Scarlett Johansson would say no. “I didn’t think Scarlett Johansson had any interest in working with me on any level,” the acclaimed filmmaker says. “I don’t even know if she’s aware of this, but multiple times, I wanted to work with her. I’ve been kind of obsessed with working with Scarlett for a long time so I had total pessimism about it.” Listening in on an adjacent Zoom box, Johansson nods while holding her poker face like only great actors can. Then, when it’s her turn to respond, she smirks: “I won’t comment on the pessimism part…but James and I have met before to discuss different things, so he’s actually not being totally forthcoming. He did know that I was interested.”  Gray clarifies: “I was extremely nervous. I was terrified that she was going to think it’s preposterous and silly.” Then Johansson read the script for  Paper Tiger , which debuts this weekend in Cannes . “I was like, ‘Oh, I know I can do this.…