Dakota Mayi Johnson (born October 4, 1989) is an American actress. The daughter of actors Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith, Johnson made her film debut at age ten with a minor role in Crazy in Alabama (1999), directed by her then-stepfather Antonio Banderas, and also starring her mother. After graduating from high school, she began auditioning for roles in Los Angeles and had a minor part in The Social Network (2010). Johnson had her breakthrough playing the lead role of Anastasia Steele in the erotic Fifty Shades film series (2015–2018). In 2016, she received a BAFTA Rising Star Award nomination and was featured in a Forbes 30 Under 30 list.[1]
Dakota Mayi Johnson was born on October 4, 1989, at Brackenridge Hospital in Austin, Texas,[2] to actors Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith. Her father was shooting the film The Hot Spot (1990) in Texas when she was born.[3] Her maternal grandparents are advertising executive and former child actor Peter Griffith, and actress Tippi Hedren. She is a half-niece of actress Tracy Griffith and production designer Clay A. Griffith. Her former stepfather is actor Antonio Banderas.[4] Johnson has a complex family as each of her parents had children by three different people. Her six half-siblings are: Jesse Johnson (b. 1982), from her father's relationship with Patti D'Arbanville; Alexander Bauer (b. 1985), from her mother's marriage to Steven Bauer; Stella Banderas (b. 1996), from her mother's marriage to Antonio; Grace (b. 1999), Jasper (b. 2002), and Deacon Johnson (b. 2006), from her father's marriage to Kelley Phleger.[2]
Owing to her parents' occupations, Johnson spent much of her childhood in various locations with them on film sets and premieres,[5] though she spent extended amounts of time in Aspen and Woody Creek, Colorado,[6] where she worked during summers at the local market as a teenager.[7] In Woody Creek, she was neighbors with Hunter S. Thompson.[8] She attended the Aspen Community School for a time.[9] "I was so consistently unmoored and discombobulated, I didn't have an anchor anywhere," Johnson recalled.[10] She attended the Santa Catalina School in Monterey, California, for her freshman year of high school before transferring to the private New Roads School in Santa Monica, California.[11]
Johnson became interested in modeling at age twelve after taking part in a photoshoot with other celebrities' children for Teen Vogue,[12] and subsequently earned an income modeling while attending high school in Santa Monica.[5] She has struggled with depression since around age fourteen[13] and checked into rehabilitation.[14] She also has had ADHD since childhood.[15] Johnson was interested in acting as a child, having spent significant time on film sets with her parents, but they discouraged her from pursuing the profession until she graduated high school.[16] After high school, she applied to Juilliard School, performing monologues by Shakespeare and Steve Martin, but was not accepted.[5]
Career
1999–2014: Beginnings
In 1999, Johnson made her film debut in Crazy in Alabama, where she and her half-sister Stella Banderas played daughters to their real-life mother, Melanie Griffith. The film was directed by Antonio Banderas and was based on the 1993 novel by Mark Childress. In 2006, she was chosen as Miss Golden Globe, where she served as the first second-generation Miss Golden Globe in the Globes' history.[17][18]
Johnson on the set of A Bigger Splash in 2014
That same year, Johnson signed with IMG Models.[12] Though acting is her primary work, she has since modeled for MANGO brand's jeans line in 2009 and shot the "Rising Star" campaign for Australian fashion label Wish in 2011.[19][20]
In March 2012, Johnson had a leading role in the Fox comedy television series Ben and Kate.[27] It was canceled on January 25, 2013, after one season.[28] Johnson continued acting on films, with a small role in Need for Speed (2014).[29] In 2013, she had a role as one of the new hires on the series finale episode of the NBC comedy series The Office.
Johnson's breakthrough came with her leading role as Anastasia "Ana" Steele in the erotic romantic drama film Fifty Shades of Grey, which was released in February 2015 and brought her international recognition.[30] Johnson won the role over Lucy Hale, Felicity Jones, Elizabeth Olsen, Danielle Panabaker and Shailene Woodley. In response to questions regarding her stance on gender rights concerning her character in the Fifty Shades film series, Johnson stated: "I'm proud of [the film]. I completely disagree with people who think Ana's weak. I think she's actually stronger than he is. Everything she does is her choice. And if I can be an advocate for women to do what they want to do with their bodies and not be ashamed of what they want, then I'm all for that."[31] While the trilogy was widely criticized, Johnson received praise for often being the standout performer.[32]
Johnson starred in Luca Guadagnino's supernatural horror film Suspiria (2018), a remake of the 1977 film, in which she played an American dancer in Berlin who enrolls in an academy run by a coven of witches.[7] David Ehrlich of IndieWire described Johnson's performance in the film as "thrillingly unrepentant".[42] Also in 2018, she starred in Drew Goddard's neo-noir thriller Bad Times at the El Royale, with Jeff Bridges, Jon Hamm and Chris Hemsworth. In the film, she plays a hippie staying at a resort on the California-Nevada border where the lives of various people with suspicious pasts intersect.[43]Screen Rant ranked Johnson's performance as the fourth-best in the film and stated that "she brings a reserved, under-the-surface power to her role".[44]
In 2019, Johnson starred opposite Armie Hammer in Babak Anvari's psychological horror film Wounds, which is based on Nathan Ballingrud's horror novella The Visible Filth.[45] It had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 26, 2019.[46] Johnson starred in the well-reviewed independent adventure film The Peanut Butter Falcon, alongside Shia LaBeouf and Bruce Dern.[47] The film premiered at South by Southwest on March 9, 2019.[48] It became the highest grossing independent film of the year.[49] She starred in Gabriela Cowperthwaite's drama film Our Friend, alongside Casey Affleck and Jason Segel.[50] The film is based upon real life couple Nicole and Matthew Teague, faced with Nicole's impending death, see their best friend move in with them to help them out.[51][52] She sang on three covers of songs for the film's soundtrack,[citation needed] including one of "If I Had the World to Give" by Grateful Dead.[53]Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal wrote that the "intimacy of Ms. Johnson's performance is extraordinary. She is the least assertive of movie stars, yet the courage, despair and fury she finds in Nicole will lift you up and spin you around".[54] While Gary Goldstein from the Los Angeles Times stated that Johnson "impresses with affecting range — from flirty, ebullient and adoring to stalwart, enraged and resigned; it's a lovely performance".[55]
2020–present: Professional expansion
Johnson founded the production company TeaTime Pictures, alongside former Netflix development executive Ro Donnelly, to develop films and television series.[56] In 2020, Johnson made her directorial debut, co-directing (with Cory Bailey) the music video for Coldplay's "Cry Cry Cry", which featured her boyfriend Chris Martin.[57] Johnson starred alongside Tracee Ellis Ross in the dramedy film The High Note, which was released on May 29, 2020.[58]Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post wrote that "she's lovely to look at and can never be accused of overacting, but in terms of conveying single-minded drive, Johnson is no match for [Tracee Ellis] Ross's carefully calibrated tonal swings between imperiousness, self-awareness, isolation and down-to-earth intimacy."[59] Conversely Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun Times saw it as "maybe her best and certainly most lovable performance."[60]
In 2021, she co-starred in The Lost Daughter, directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal and based on Elena Ferrante's novel of the same name.[61] In December 2021, Boat Rocker Media acquired a minority interest in Johnson's TeaTime Pictures company.[62] In 2022, she starred in a Netflix adaptation of author Jane Austen's Persuasion,[63] She co-produced and starred in several films: As a lesbian in Am I Ok? by Stephanie Allynne and Tig Notaro,[64] and as a young mother with an autistic child in Cha Cha Real Smooth by Cooper Raiff,[65] and as a cab passenger who has an emotionally profound interaction with a cabbie in Daddio.[66] Her performances in The Lost Daughter, Persuasion, Cha Cha Real Smooth, and Daddio were met with positive reception from critics and audiences.[67]
Johnson is a tattoo enthusiast[82][83] and has been named a brand ambassador for luxury fashion brand Gucci.[84][85] In November 2020, it was announced that she had become an investor and co-creative director of Maude, a sexual wellness brand.[86] In 2018, she collaborated with 300 women in Hollywood to set up the Time's Up initiative to protect women from harassment and discrimination.[87]
Johnson is an avid reader. She launched a book club in March 2024.[88]
^ abSchaefer, Stephen (April 5, 2014). "Johnny Depp talks "Whitey"". Boston Herald. Archived from the original on June 9, 2014. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
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