Oscar-winning actor Scarlett Johansson agrees she "offends a lot of people" by refusing to take pictures with them when she's not working.

The 40-year-old star is extremely private and says she won't stop to take pictures with fans if they approach her when she's not working because she wants to be left alone in her "own thoughts", reports femalefirst.co.uk.

The Black Widow star told InStyle magazine: "It really offends a lot of people. It doesn't mean I'm not appreciative, of course, that people are fans, or happy to see me. But I always say to people: ‘I'm not working.' I don't want to be identified as being in this time and place with you. I'm doing my own thing."

She said she doesn’t like to be “self-conscious.”

The actor added: "I like to be in my own thoughts that have nothing to do with what other people think of me. I don’t like being self-conscious."

Johansson went on to reveal she empathises with pop star Chappell Roan, who has been open about her struggle to deal with life in the spotlight.

She said: "Like everybody else, I fell in love with her over the summer. She's very outspoken about how hard it's been to adjust to fame. It's like heart-throbs. That’s hard. When I was younger, I dated actors that had heart-throb status. That is, to me, scary.

I don't have that level. Fan crush-dom can be really hard."

It comes after the actor revealed that turning 40 in November has been a "liberating" experience because she cares less about other people's opinions of her.

During an appearance on LIVE with Kelly and Mark, she said: "So far, it’s great ... You also don’t care what anybody thinks, which is so liberating. It’s so liberating!"