How Scarlett Johansson’s Marriage Story Is Helping Train Wolves in the American West

In a twist that even Hollywood couldn’t script, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has found an unexpected tool in its effort to deter wolves from attacking livestock: Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver’s searing argument scene in Marriage Story (2019).

The emotionally charged exchange from Noah Baumbach’s Oscar-nominated drama is now being repurposed as part of a non-lethal wolf management strategy, combining cinema with conservation in a surprising bid to keep ranchers’ cattle safe.

The Rise of Wolves — and Ranchers’ Frustration

Since gray wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park in 1995, their population has rebounded from around 300 to nearly 6,000 across the western United States. Conservationists hail this as a success story, but ranchers in Oregon and California see another side: livestock losses.

At Prather Ranch, near the Oregon border, Jim and Mary Rickert reported losing up to 40 calves in a single year. Because wolves remain a federally protected species, lethal control options are limited. That’s where “wolf hazing” — startling predators away from livestock without harming them — comes in.

Wolf Hazing, Now With a Hollywood Twist

Traditionally, wolf hazing has relied on drones equipped with thermal cameras, spotlights, and loudspeakers blaring noises like fireworks, gunshots, or heavy metal tracks such as AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck.” But recently, USDA researchers decided to test whether the raw emotion of human voices could prove equally unsettling.

Enter Johansson and Driver.

The chosen scene, nearly ten minutes long, shows Nicole (Johansson) and Charlie (Driver) in the throes of their divorce, hurling accusations and grief at one another. The fight crescendos with Charlie’s now-infamous line: “Every day I wake up and I hope you’re dead!”

According to a USDA spokesperson, the clip was selected precisely because it contains both male and female voices, escalating emotion, and an unpredictability that wolves are unaccustomed to in the wild.

“When wolves hear the sound of real human conflict, it sends a clear message: stay away,” explained Paul Wolf, a USDA district supervisor in Oregon — fittingly sharing a surname with the very animal he’s working to manage.

Drones as “Cowhands”

The implementation is strikingly high-tech. Drones, described by officials as “drone cowhands,” patrol grazing lands after dark. When thermal cameras detect a wolf nearby, the drone swoops in, floods the predator with light, and blasts the Marriage Story argument through mounted speakers.

The result, officials say, has been effective. In Oregon’s Klamath Basin, where wolves killed 11 cattle over 20 days, the USDA deployed drones with the Marriage Story audio. Over the next 85 days, only two livestock deaths were recorded.

“The wolves didn’t like it,” Wolf confirmed. “That’s exactly the reaction we need — for them to think twice about coming anywhere near ranches.”

Culture Meets Conservation

While some ranchers remain skeptical about how long the deterrent will work before wolves adapt, the results so far underscore the USDA’s willingness to experiment. And in doing so, it has created an unlikely intersection of Hollywood drama and wildlife management.

The tactic also speaks to a broader effort to find humane solutions to human-wildlife conflict. Instead of culling wolves, officials are turning to creativity — even repurposing a piece of popular culture — to preserve both ranchers’ livelihoods and the wolves’ fragile population.

For Johansson and Driver, their emotionally raw performances in Marriage Story cemented their reputations as two of Hollywood’s finest actors. Now, those same performances are earning a second life — not in awards season montages, but in open pastures, keeping wolves at bay and cattle alive.

Would you like me to frame this article with a slightly humorous edge (leaning into the absurdity of using Hollywood drama on wolves) or keep it straight-laced, focusing on the conservation angle?