Dakota Johnson covers the new issue of Vogue UK. I honestly don’t hate the cover? I mean, I’ve complained about Dakota’s bangs (trauma) for what feels like years at this point, but I think she’s contractually obligated to keep her hair this way, probably because they’re going to be filming Fifty Shades Darker soon, and Ana Steele needs to look very close to how she looked at the end of Fifty Shades of Grey. There are only a handful of quotes from the Vogue interview, and they include Dakota talking about the “brutality” of Hollywood and how she’s proud of FSOG.
The brutality of Hollywood: “Why isn’t my mother in the movies? She’s an extraordinary actress. Why isn’t my grandmother in the movies? This industry is f–king brutal. No matter how tough you are, sometimes there’s the feeling of not being wanted. It’s absurd and cut-throat. Whenever I have downtime, I’m unsure that I will ever work again. I don’t know what it is, but it’s a definite thing that happens to me.”
Honesty: “In my real life, I don’t look pretty all the time. Nobody does. I love films that are honest… That’s the thing that turns me on.”
She’s proud of Fifty Shades: “I’m proud of Fifty Shades of Grey. I don’t need to distance myself from that. The more work I do, the more the general public sees the different things I can do. Do I think it opened doors? Yeah. More people know my name.”
The reason Tippi Hendren (Dakota’s grandmother) doesn’t work in movies is because she was basically forced to walk away from Hollywood after Alfred Hitchcock made her life a living hell. Melanie Griffith (Dakota’s mom) doesn’t work in movies anymore because… well, that’s up for debate. Most actresses see a significant drop-off in work in their 40s, but I think Melanie could have still found interesting projects if only she hadn’t messed with her face to such a terrible degree. In both cases, yes, Dakota is right when she says that Hollywood is “f—king brutal.”
By the way, I finally saw FSOG!!! It was on HBO about a month ago. It was silly and cheeseball, but I agree that Sam Taylor-Johnson really did try to give Ana Steele some wit, humor and agency, and Dakota should be happy with her work in the film. She made it watchable (hate-watchable). But yes, I did wonder if the film would have been hotter or more interesting with different people. Namely, Charlie Hunnam.
Photos courtesy of Vogue UK.
Yeah jamie dornan and her didn’t have good chemistry in the movie. They almost came off as uncomfortable with one another. Something was off. But I thought her acting was pretty good, considering the script.
Jamie Dornan ruined that movie. Which is saying a lot given that this is FSOG we are talking about.
What could he do, with that dialogue? His lines were the worst.
She made a horrible book/movie watchable. Jamie Dornan was like watching a wet piece of cardboard attempt to act.
Since she has another film to shoot(is it one of those two in a row filmings?), can’t imagine her saying she’s ashamed of anything in the first. Heck, I watched it and thought she did a good job. I really doubt the next two will do the box office $$$ of the first, it’s a long time till 2017.
I watched FSOG on HBO and don’t understand how I didn’t sustain brain damage from the boredom
Same with the first fifty pages of the book, which was all I could manage before I slipped into a short coma.
I had to force myself to finish the book, and that never happens to me. I also had to force myself to watch the film on HBO, strictly to see what all the fuss was about. Talk about sophomoric S&M light, I was bored to tears, and confess to fast forwarding through most of it. I suspect Dakota is vying for the queen of the lip-biting school of acting. I did however, enjoy the set decor, and the photography was beautiful. See, I can say something nice! The word to sum this whole mess up is cringeworthy. But, hey, EL James is making out like a bandit on the back of this dross, so I guess someone is happy.
I don’t think Melanie Griffith is a good actor, much less “extraordinary.” And she looks awful now — which makes me feel sad for her. As for Dakota, the jury is still out for me. I haven’t seen FSOG but she seems very bland.
I’m glad someone else thinks Melanie is awful. Of course, I say that not having seen her Oscar role, but in everything else I’ve seen I thought she was a horrible actress. I need to see Working Girl though to give her a fair shake.
Dakota looks so much like her dad, but in her case it works–I think she’s strikingly pretty. I thought the same thing about Lisa Marie Presley– who would have thought Elvis’s face would look good on a lady?
She should send gift baskets to her publicists on a regular basis because her profile has risen spectacularly AND positively. no more ‘awkward in interviews’ gossip. She’s on the cover of Vogue UK – suck it Kelly with your ELLE Romania – is invited to all the A list events etc. Even by Hollywood kids’ insider advantage, her publicist is doing stellar work on/for her.
She is part of a high profile franchise so the coverage is no surprise to anybody. And experience is making her a more savvy interviewee, again no surprises there.
FSOG is a terrible movie but Sam Taylor-Johnson and Dakota did their very best. I’m not generally against terrible movies, some of my favorites are pretty bad. But you can only polish a turd so much.
Hollywood killed both her grandmother’s and her mother’s careers. Whether Griffith contributed to her career death is a tough question because I would argue that the industry drove an insecure person to self-mutilate. Which is a strong term, I know. But the only difference between her and a self-harming teenager is the fact that plastic surgeons held the knife. I should re-watch Working Girl.
She always looks so uncomfortable and nervous. The expression in her eyes have the look of a woman not at one with how/why she’s being shilled as she is. There’s a disconnect somewhere in most photo-shoots you see of her; this included.
NOT a criticism of her, btw. Rather an observation based on perceiving her, despite her bold and proud assertions otherwise, as unhappy to have become a product without much agency. I know she chose it as a route to the name recognition but her I feel most sorry for in the whole franchise mess. At least she committed to owning her role and why she took it, unlike Dornan.
Well, if she actually said what we all think of the movie, the internet would be lynching her for being an ungrateful b*tch. I couldn’t watch more than a half-hour of the movie, but I have to say Dakota was actually the better part of it, so yeah… I guess she does have a reason to be proud.
I would watch Charlie Hunnam read the dictionary. So, yes – the movie would have been infinitely better. However, it was a good move for his career. He now has King Arthur and more importantly, LOST CITY OF Z! I do hope Charlie continues to work with great directors. I’d love to see him work with Bennett Miller and the likes.
I so agree with you about Lost City of Z- such a great book!
Re Charlie H/FSOG- honestly, given the script, no one could have been a “good” CG- Dakota’s lines had some levity, and she did a good job with them. I have hope for Jamie D-esp for season 3 of The Fall!!
I totally agree, TIG!
I think Dakota’s lines were just as terrible, tbh. It all came down to charisma, to me. Dakota was somewhat charismatic and witty while Jaime Dornan was just a very realistic looking mannequin.
First season of “The Fall” was aired on German tv a few weeks ago. And as I had read about it here, I gave it a try. Oops. I really don’t understand the praise for that series. Don’t get me wrong, normally I love thrillers with slow and careful building of characters and tension (“Sarah Lund” or “Broadchurch” come to mind) – but where WAS the tension with this one?! I tortured myself through the first three and a half episodes of this boring sh*t – then gave up and did something better with my time….
Yeah Charlie in the movie would have been phenomenal – it’s still one of the worst books ever written but he definitely would have done more for the character than Jamie.
I agree. I know there was a huge fan outcry when Charlie was originally cast…but Charlie has charisma and would have made it work better than Jamie, who just looked plain uncomfortable on-screen and off.
I find Dakota to be really really pretty and I hope she does more films in the future with Sam Taylor Johnson preferably with better actors.
Melanie Griffith was adorable! So sad about the drug abuse and lips. Her acting was great. I would love to have seen her go onto more characters….
I loathed the pages of the boom that I read, and I still don’t plan on watching the movie, but I kinda like what she says here.
I have a soft spot for Melanie Griffith because of Working Girl (“I have a head for business and a bod for sin” … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMKDouP2xeI) and who can forget Joan Cusack’s “coffee, tea.. me?” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9DccgyYcrU 🙂 It’s sad what she did to herself when she was with Antonio -it’s debatable whether the industry drove her to it, I always thought she was quite fragile. But it’s brutal, for sure.
I didn’t read FSOG and I didn’t see the movie (zero interest) but before it Dakota was just Melanie’s and Don Johnson’s daughter. Now at least I know she’s an actress.
Nice. Another person confusing fame with notoriety. I have nothing against the content of 50 Shades; it’s just offensively bad writing. I would distance myself from it on that basis. It’s just shitty storytelling.