With recent acclaimed roles in “The Lost Daughter” and “Cha Cha Real Smooth,” Dakota Johnson is fast becoming one of Hollywood’s most sought-after actresses. And her 2022 isn’t over yet, as she stars in Carrie Cracknell’s Jane Austen adaptation “Persuasion,” out on Netflix on July 15. For some fans, though, Johnson will always be Anastasia Steele, the college student who falls in with BDSM-practicing billionaire Jamie Dornan’s Christian Grey in the “Fifty Shades Of Grey” series.
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In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, Johnson opened up about her breakout role in the 2015 film. And while she’s thankful for how successful her role as Anastasia was, in her own words, she also “signed up to do a very different version of the film we ended up making.” Johnson cited creative interference as the primary culprit for the movie’s production issues, but when asked if the studio or the director was the problem, the actress replied, “[it’s a] combo. It was also the author of the books,” i.e., E.L. James, who goes by Erica.
Johnson detailed how James exerted constant pressure on the film’s production. “She had a lot of creative control, all day, every day, and she just demanded that certain things happen. There were parts of the books that just wouldn’t work in a movie, like the inner monologue, which was at times incredibly cheesy. It wouldn’t work to say out loud. It was always a battle. Always. When I auditioned for that movie, I read a monologue from “Persona“”—the Ingmar Bergman classic from 1966—”and I was like, ‘Oh, this is going to be really special.'” Of course, anyone who’s watched “Fifty Shades Of Grey” knows that it’s no Bergman movie, much less “Persona.”
Initially, Johnson signed a three-movie contract for the Anastasia Steele role opposite Charlie Hunman as Grey, with “Closer” playwright Patrick Marber adapting James’ book. But after Hunman dropped out, James went ballistic and scrapped the original script. “I was young. I was 23. So it was scary,” Johnson said of the experience. “It just became something crazy.” And from what Johnson described in the interview, crazy is an apt description. “There were a lot of different disagreements. I haven’t been able to talk about this truthfully ever, because you want to promote a movie the right way, and I’m proud of what we made ultimately and everything turns out the way it’s supposed to, but it was tricky.”
For Johnson, filming “Fifty Shades Of Grey” sometimes felt like shooting two movies at once. “We’d do the takes of the movie that Erika wanted to make, and then we would do the takes of the movie that we wanted to make,” Johnson explained. “The night before, I would rewrite scenes with the old dialogue so I could add a line here and there. It was like mayhem all the time.” But, according to Johnson, the one scene from Marber’s script that made it into the first film is the negotiation where Anastasia and Christian outline her sexual contract. “And it’s the best scene in the whole movie,” Johnson commented.
So, after such a chaotic production, does Johnson regret making the film? “No. I don’t think it’s a matter of regret,” she said, “If I had known at the time that’s what it was going to be like, I don’t think anyone would’ve done it. It would’ve been like, ‘Oh, this is psychotic.’ But no, I don’t regret it.” Johnson also shot down rumors that she and co-star Dornan didn’t get along on set, and that they were in a feud during production. “There was never a time when we didn’t get along,” she said about starring opposite Dornan. “I know it’s weird, but he’s like a brother to me. I love him so, so, so much. And we were really there for each other. We had to really trust each other and protect each other.”
In other words, Johnson and Dornan helped each other through what sounded like an outrageous and sometimes chaotic production. “Look, it was great for our careers,” Johnson said. “So amazing. So lucky. But it was weird. So, so weird.” And “Fifty Shades Of Grey” has indeed been amazing for Johnson’s career. Without that weird movie, and series, to her name, she probably wouldn’t have had the chance to star in “Suspiria,” “The Lost Daughter,” and other big roles the actress has had in recent years.
Catch Dakota Johnson next in “Persuasion,” out on Netflix on July 15. She’s also set to star in Sony’s latest “Spider-Man” spin-off, “Madame Web.”