This is Dakota Johnson. Did you recognize her? This goes along with a theory I’ve been developing about Dakota for the past year: she’s got that Kristen Stewart quality, where she’s incredibly dependent on makeup and styling. Dakota can look wildly different from editorial to editorial. Anyway, Dakota covers the latest issue of Interview Magazine. Her current film is A Bigger Splash, a smaller European film starring Ralph Fiennes and Tilda Swinton. But in the interview, she’s mostly chatting about other stuff. You can read the full piece here. Some highlights:
On her sex scenes in the FSOG sequels: “It’s not … comfortable. It’s pretty tedious… I’ve been simulating sex for seven hours straight right now, and I’m over it.”
On fame: “I feel like sometimes it’s out of your hands. There are some days when I can do my thing and be in the world and walk around, and it’s fine. And then there are other days where it’s totally not fine, and I want to crawl into a hole and die. And it’s the most invasive and worst.”
On her stardom: “I still feel like I don’t know what I’m doing. Like, I’m unsure of what my life will be like. I mean, I have such an obsession with making movies that I probably will always do that. But sometimes my life can feel so suffocating, and then it can feel so massive, like I don’t have a handle on it at all, and I don’t know where it’s going or what I’m going to do. Right now, I’m known for making movies. And I wonder if that’s it. I don’t know. It doesn’t feel like it to me.”
The pressure of finding “the new face”: “It seems like the world is so fast to move its interest to someone else. When I think about filmmakers and actresses that I have admired my whole life, I’ve admired their entire body of work. I have admired what they began with and what they’re doing now. And now I feel like there’s such a weird pressure to find the new face. I don’t get it at all. I want to see women evolve. I want to see a body of work. I want to see all of it.”
She’s not into Netflix: “I missed the television train at some point. I don’t know what happened, but now I’ve created a complex about it. I’m missing out on what everybody’s watching, and now I can’t even begin to think about starting to watch a television show because it’s been so long. I don’t even have a Netflix account.”
I think it’s kind of funny that Dakota never lies about filming sex scenes with Jamie Dornan – they couldn’t hide their general ambivalence towards each other while they were promoting Fifty Shades of Grey, and now Dakota can’t even be bothered to pretend she’s having fun with him while they’re filming the sequels.
As for her fame… I actually like Dakota, but even I think she’s pretty forgettable. I’m sure she does get a lot of bad attention, but… it’s not going to be around forever, you know? She’s right about the “new face” thing – people will be moving on from Dakota in a short while. As for what she says about “missing the television train” thing – hipster nonsense. I felt the same way about Lupita Nyong’o talking about how she doesn’t own a TV too. It’s one thing to say that you don’t have a Netflix account, but to completely disregard the great TV shows on the air these days IS hipster nonsense.
Photos courtesy of Interview Mag.
I’m pretty sure Dakota is around because of her famous parents. This isn’t a girl who has that star power in my opinion anyway. She’s very aloof. Good for her not watching tv, my family all have their own little icons on Netflix. Don’t know what you’re missing Kota, it can be quite entertaining, more so than any of your movies.
Based on her acting chops, she should get know TV. I suspect her future is a USA Network sitcom about a woman who is a sassy socceer mom by day and hapless superhero by night.
Right…..except Dakota and sassy don’t go together. I see her more of depressed, pill popping mom on Lifetime……I know The Melanie Griffith Story!
She was already on a sitcom like that before. I forgot the name but it was on FOX right before she got cast in Grey.
Oh yeah she’s pretty forgettable. I was watching 21 Jump St the other day and she popped up – totally forgettable character. Very blink and you’ll miss her. Doesn’t bode well for career longevity.
She already tried TV first w a show on fox that was horrible. She was terribly not funny and seemed to be trying to be exactly like Jess on New Girl. It got canceled pretty quick, so she knows she can’t even make it on TV!
I thought she was adorable on her sitcom, “Ben and Kate.” And I actually liked the show; it was cute.
Ugh. Spare me.
You are totally right- total hipster nonsense.
I don’t think she “completely disregarded” television at all??
I just spent three years at college, and it’s so easy to drop out of television when you’re relentlessly working or doing other things, and with all the talk of “too much TV”, you do sometimes feel like “ugh, I’ve missed it now, why bother?”
Like I’ve never seen even a second of Game of Thrones or Walking Dead or all the really big stuff that’s popped up in the last couple of years. And it’s not just TV, it’s the chatter that accompanies it that just seems suffocating. When it looks like so much noise, it’s easy to just be, “pfft, I’ll not partake.”
For a television show, you have to watch it from beginning to end. And now bingeing is apparently a thing. If you don’t want to waste time, I can see why you wouldn’t try to start. Everyone talks about the greatness of Breaking Bad, and I feel I should watch it, but watching the whole thing in its entirety after everyone has moved on feels overwhelming. I have a Netflix account, but I do feel guilty if I’m watching episode after episode in a whole day.
I can also believe no one owns a tv anymore since we’re all watching stuff on our computers now. Is there even a point to watching tv anymore if GMA is going to tell you what just happened on Youtube?
I agree. It all seems overwhelming to catch up on it all if you miss it from the start. I used to binge watch ‘My So Called Life’ marathons on MTV back in the 90s but I don’t have the time for that anymore.
So I missed MAD MEN, BREAKING BAD, GAME OF THRONES, ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK and several other must watch shows. From what I hear and read they are incredible shows. Do I care of feel left out? No.
And I know it’s not really true anymore, but I’m an old school snob and still look down at TV as cinema’s tacky cousin.
On board with you, just having to put up with endless commercials is a deal breaker for me.
at some point in time, there became so many outlets for tv shows that i couldn’t keep up and as a result, sort of dropped out by default.
i watch a lot of movies on tv. i watch TCM a lot. but there are so many shows i couldn’t find if you paid me. it’s not that I’m “too cool” for tv. it just seems like a job to keep up with it all.
The person above will NOT survive the oncoming zombie apocalypse!
Did the netflix thing back in 2009 but their streaming was horrible back then so i cancelled. Now days i like to pick what i watch and dl it. I dont like the site picking what i will watch (via their releases)and within the time frame I’m gonna watch it. I dont watch tons of tv shows or movies bc I’m out and about but have an external loaded with stuff (some pretty old) for when i do feel like being a potato. Still havent seen Avatar…one of these days…i do like orphan black i recently watched the seasons my friend dl for me last year. It was good. I like some of the netflix made shows, but i wouldnt get netflix ever. I dont watch enough shows to make it worth it. Lots of people dont netflix and it’s no bigs. Dakota as an actress? Nope.
I like Dakota, she’s not pretentious and although not super talented, I enjoy watching her. I really like her fashion choices too.
I don’t think the “no TV” think is hipster nonsense at all. As people have said, so many outlets and choices and seasons can make it seem overwhelming. I have binged my way through a couple series — Breaking Bad and Mad Men and Parks and Rec. But trying to find something else seems like too much. My 16 year old has literally never watched a show other than Cops with his friends sometimes, he prefers sports. My husband watches only sports. My 15 year old is the only one who can turn on the TV and surf and find random things to watch on a semi-regular basis. And my sister and her family don’t own a TV — for real! — and seem to function ok in society.
Anyway, I don’t hate her and I think everything she said is reasonable. In fact I think it would have been a little weird if she had gushed about her sex scenes, don’t you think?
Wait, by Chrissie Hynde?? What’s that about?
I love my television. Love it. I DVR a ton of stuff and have Netflix and Hulu (“The Path” is pretty good). But when we are in the Bahamas, we have no television and I don’t really miss it.
Did anyone else think it was Elizabeth Banks on the cover, and not Dakota Johnson? Also, not to pit a woman against another woman, but Elizabeth Banks > Dakota Johnson. I love Elizabeth Banks. She just has so much more personality and humor! And I feel that she is defying Hollywood norms by being an “older” woman in Hollywood who is still doing interesting work. She’s 42 but she’s branching out to directing and franchise roles (my feeling about whitewashing Rita Repulsa aside). I think that she’s a great role model. It’s heartening to see an awesome woman like her can keep getting work.
I will wait to pass judgment on Dakota’s acting abilities. I really don’t think she’s very talented, but maybe the right role hasn’t come to her yet. Perhaps comedy would suit her better.
I thought it was Jessica Biel.
Looks like Biel to me, too.
I thought it was Shannen Doherty at first (like an old shot) and then I thought it was Elizabeth Banks.
She definitely has something Shannen Doherty-esque going on with her eyes.
Ouch Hipster nonsense. 🙂
I will stop there
I must be odd. I always read here that Dakota is so bland, so forgettable.
And I find her so unique, completly natural and great at portraying emotions. Photos of her like the last ones here can make me think up complete stories about the character in the photo and what she is experiencing.
Barf. Missed the television train?! Please.