Actress Scarlett Johansson during the red carpet of the movie Under the Skin, during the 70th Venice Film Festival last month. Photo: Reuters

American actress Scarlett Johansson has been named the sexiest woman alive for the second time by Esquire, the men’s lifestyle magazine said yesterday.

The Avengers star was named sexiest woman in 2006 and is the only woman to have been given the title twice by the publication. The annual recipient of the title is chosen by Esquire editors.

Husky-voiced Johansson, who rose to prominence as a teenager in the 2001 cult film Ghost World, stars in three films this fall. In Don Jon she plays the girlfriend of a pornography addict and in the sci-fi thriller Under the Skin she is a seductive extraterrestrial. She voices a man’s computer companion in Her.

“You know, I gotta hustle,” Johansson told the magazine of her busy work schedule. “I’m a 28-year-old woman in the movie business, right? Pretty soon the roles you’re offered all become mothers. Then they just sort of stop.”

Johansson said last month she was engaged to marry French journalist Romain Dauriac. Her previous marriage to actor Ryan Reynolds ended in 2011 after three years.

Last year’s sexiest woman, according to Esquire, was American actress Mila Kunis. Barbadian pop singer Rihanna, British actress Kate Beckinsale and South African actress Charlize Theron have all been given the “sexiest” distinction by the magazine.