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Dakota Johnson — news, coverage & facts — IJR

Early life and background

Dakota Mayi Johnson was born on October 4, 1989, in Austin, Texas, to actors Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith. Her father was shooting the film The Hot Spot (1990) in Texas when she was born. 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. Actor Antonio Banderas is her former stepfather. Her maternal ancestry is Swedish and Norwegian.

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 Banderas; Grace (b. 1999), Jasper (b. 2002), and Deacon Johnson (b. 2006), from her father's marriage to Kelley Phleger.

Owing to her parents' occupations, Johnson spent much of her childhood in their various filming locations and accompanying them to premieres, though she spent time in Aspen and Woody Creek, Colorado, where, in her teen years, she worked summers at the local market. In Woody Creek, she was neighbors with Hunter S. Thompson. She attended the Aspen Community School for a time. "I was so consistently unmoored and discombobulated, I didn't have an anchor anywhere," Johnson recalled. 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.

Johnson became interested in modeling at age 12 after participating in a photo shoot with other celebrities' children for Teen Vogue. She subsequently earned an income modeling while attending high school in Santa Monica. She has struggled with depression since around age 14 and checked into rehabilitation. Even as a child, Johnson was interested in acting, having spent significant time on film sets with her parents, but they discouraged her from pursuing the profession until she graduated from high school. After reaching that milestone, she applied to Juilliard School, performing in her audition monologues by Shakespeare and Steve Martin, but was not accepted.

2015–2019: Breakthrough

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. 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." While the trilogy was widely criticized, Johnson received praise for often being the standout performer. However, her role in the first film won her first Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress, as well as an Award for Worst Screen Combo, which she shared alongside Jamie Dornan. She received nominations in the same categories for Fifty Shades Darker (2017), though she did not win. She reprised her role for the trilogy's final film, Fifty Shades Freed (2018).

On February 15, 2015, Johnson appeared on Saturday Night Live's 40th anniversary special and hosted SNL on February 28, 2015, making her the second daughter of a former SNL host (after Gwyneth Paltrow, whose mother Blythe Danner hosted during the show's seventh season in 1982) to host the show. Also in 2015, she reunited with her 21 Jump Street cast member Johnny Depp, playing the mother of his character's child in the feature film Black Mass. Jessica Kiang of IndieWire said that she "makes something of nothing" in her role. In 2015, Johnson starred in Luca Guadagnino's thriller A Bigger Splash, alongside Tilda Swinton, Matthias Schoenaerts, and Ralph Fiennes. Writing for Rolling Stone, Peter Travers stated that Johnson showed that her character "has more on her mind than slithering seductively". According to Christy Lemire from RogerEbert.com: "A Bigger Splash allows Johnson to be both funnier and sexier than she was in Fifty Shades of Grey". The same year saw the release of Cymbeline, a modern film adaptation of the William Shakespeare play, in which she starred alongside Ethan Hawke and Ed Harris. She also played a lead in the 2016 comedy How to Be Single, with Leslie Mann and her Date and Switch co-star Nicholas Braun. She performed a cover of the Frankie Valli song "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You", alongside Zani Jones Mbayise, Vanessa Rubio and Damon Wayans Jr. for the soundtrack of the film. Johnson was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in June 2016.

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. David Ehrlich of IndieWire described Johnson's performance in the film as "thrillingly unrepentant". Also in 2018, she starred in Drew Goddard's neo-noir thriller Bad Times at the El Royale, with Jeff Bridges, Jon Hamm, Cynthia Erivo, and Chris Hemsworth. In the film, she played a hippie staying at a resort on the California-Nevada border where the lives of various people with suspicious pasts intersect. 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".

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. It had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 26, 2019. Johnson starred in the well-reviewed independent adventure film The Peanut Butter Falcon, alongside Shia LaBeouf, Zack Gottsagen, and Bruce Dern. The film premiered at South by Southwest on March 9, 2019. It became the highest grossing independent film of the year. While promoting the film on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Johnson had a notably tense interaction with the show's host Ellen DeGeneres regarding a birthday party invite – leading to Johnson saying the now-famous phrase, "that's not the truth, Ellen." She starred in Gabriela Cowperthwaite's drama film Our Friend, alongside Casey Affleck and Jason Segel. 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. Johnson sang again during the film, performing a cover of "If I Had the World to Give" by the Grateful Dead. 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". 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".

Recent work 2020–present

Johnson founded the production company TeaTime Pictures, alongside former Netflix development executive Ro Donnelly, to develop films and television series. In 2020, Johnson made her directorial debut, co-directing (with Cory Bailey) the music video for Coldplay's "Cry Cry Cry", which featured her then boyfriend Chris Martin. Johnson starred alongside Tracee Ellis Ross in the dramedy film The High Note, which was released on May 29, 2020. 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." Conversely Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun Times saw it as "maybe her best and certainly most lovable performance."

In 2021, she co-starred in The Lost Daughter, directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal and based on Elena Ferrante's novel of the same name. In December 2021, Boat Rocker Media acquired a minority interest for TeaTime Pictures. In 2022, she starred in the Netflix film adaptation of author Jane Austen's Persuasion. Johnson co-produced and starred in several films. She played a lesbian in Am I Ok?, which was directed by Stephanie Allynne and Tig Notaro. She played a young mother with an autistic child in Cha Cha Real Smooth, in which she starred opposite Cooper Raiff. Johnson played a cab passenger who has an emotionally profound interaction with a cabbie in the film Daddio, in which she starred opposite Sean Penn. Her performances in The Lost Daughter, Persuasion, Cha Cha Real Smooth, and Daddio were met with positive reception from critics and audiences.

In November 2023, Johnson departed WME and signed a representation deal with Creative Artists Agency. She played the title role in the superhero film Madame Web (2024), set in Sony's Spider-Man Universe. It was produced on a budget of $80 million and was critically and commercially unsuccessful, earning her a second Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress. Johnson said about the film: "We don't have control over how something turns out. (I) signed on to a movie that, by the end of shooting it, (was) a completely different script than what I attached to, and that is a crazy journey to go on as an artist. Because you're like, 'OK, I'm doing something with my actual body and my actual mind and my heart and my emotions,' and it's just being taken and fucked with, but you can't do anything about it. Like, what am I going to do, fucking cry about Madame Web? No. I'm gonna laugh."

In 2025, Johnson had a supporting role in the comedy film Splitsville which she also served as a producer. That same year, she had a leading role in Celine Song's romance film Materialists (2025), alongside Chris Evans and Pedro Pascal. Johnson starred with Anne Hathaway and Josh Hartnett in Michael Showalter's film adaptation of Colleen Hoover's novel, Verity (2026). She makes her directorial debut film A Tree is Blue, written by Vanessa Burghardt who is her co-star in Cha Cha Real Smooth.

Public image

Johnson's role in the Fifty Shades film series established her as a sex symbol early in her career. Since then, her performances have diversified, ranging from supporting roles in blockbusters and art films to leading roles in prestige films. In 2024, she said that she does not “discriminate against movie genres” when choosing acting projects. She has also said she is willing to accept smaller roles, provided the character interests her, and that she uses each one as an opportunity to hone her craft.

Johnson's acting has often drawn a polarized response from critics. While some reviewers have criticized her performances as wooden, emotionally detached, or lacking range, others have praised her subtle, understated, and emotionally nuanced work, as well as her willingness to take creative risks. Tom W. Clarke of The Sydney Morning Herald labeled her "the most unfairly maligned actor in Hollywood", while Louis Chilton of The Independent and Sonia Rao of The Washington Post argued that few of her films fully capitalize on her unusual, enigmatic strengths. Miriam Handel of The Daily Beast and Coleman Spilde of Salon agreed that Johnson frequently elevates the material she is given, and Clarke said she excels at "playing complex characters on journeys of self-discovery". Luca Guadagnino, who directed her in Suspiria, described her as a bold, bombastic, and committed performer.

Johnson has been described as refreshingly candid and relatable in her off-screen appearances, with her interview clips and quotes consistently going viral online. Texas Monthly’s Meher Yeda observed that her press appearances often overshadow the films she is promoting. Her press tour for Madame Web was particularly noted by the media, with her remarks and demeanor receiving significant news coverage due to her self-awareness and apparent indifference towards the film’s reception. Regarding her press tour for Materialists, Taryn Ryder of Yahoo! Entertainment said the actress "reminded us why she’s one of the most magnetic, self-aware stars working today ... effortlessly chic, disarmingly unfiltered and entirely in control of the narrative". Stephanie McNeal of Glamour described Johnson’s public persona as “acerbic, witty, [and] deadpan”, noting that she has, in her own way, become something of an “America’s sweetheart”. In 2024, film critic Stephanie Zacharek said the actress had endeared herself to the general public through a combination of unfiltered responses, intelligence, dry wit, and commitment to diverse performances.

As a child of well-known actors, Johnson’s career and the extent to which her family background influenced her opportunities have been discussed in the media. While she has acknowledged benefiting from a degree of privilege, she has also described the broader discourse surrounding nepo babies as “boring”, particularly among journalists. She has also poked fun at the label in her appearances on Saturday Night Live.