Dakota Johnson covers the recent issue of L’Officiel, all to promote Madame Web. Dakota’s promotion has been a bit chaotic, but hey, she’s definitely doing more promotion than I thought she would. Dakota’s got side projects happening at the same time and she definitely sounds more engaged with that stuff, like her production company and her work with a vibrator company. Dakota chatted about all of that plus her recent claim that she sleeps 14 hours a day. Some highlights from this interview:
Why she was open to a superhero movie: “I’m always open to anything. I don’t discriminate against movie genres when it comes to how I choose things or what I do. I heard that this was going to be made, and it was interesting to me that the main character’s superpower is her mind, and that she is a woman. That is something that I can really get behind. That’s very real to me, and it’s really powerful and sexy… I think that the minds of women are incredibly powerful, so I think that it’s a more relatable superhero. It is more of a psychological thriller. This film is a really fabulous departure for Marvel, because sometimes it’s amazing to have these other universes and galaxies doing unrealistic things in an unrealistic place. That can be escapism and really entertaining.”
What she’s working on with her production company TeaTime: “We are starting to see a throughline. We don’t have a mandate or anything. I guess the constant, for me, is that all of our movies and shows have really powerful females at the center. They’re very intricate. They’re very detailed. They’re very nuanced.
The bleakness of the industry: “I am discovering that it’s really f–king bleak in this industry. It is majorly disheartening. The people who run streaming platforms don’t trust creative people or artists to know what’s going to work, and that is just going to make us implode. It’s really heartbreaking. It’s just f–king so hard. It’s so hard to get anything made. All of the stuff I’m interested in making is really different, and it’s unique and it’s very forward in whatever it is. We made a movie called Daddio that was sold at Telluride to Sony Classics, which was amazing, but it took a lot of fighting to get that made. People are just so afraid, and I’m like, why? What’s going to happen if you do something brave? It just feels like nobody knows what to do and everyone’s afraid. That’s what it feels like. Everyone who makes decisions is afraid. They want to do the safe thing, and the safe thing is really boring.
What she did during the SAG strike: “Had an existential crisis. I mean, I didn’t shoot anything, but I was working on production stuff and TeaTime stuff. I was kind of all over the place. I was in Japan. I was in LA. I was in Europe.
Whether she really sleeps 14 hours: “I said I could easily sleep 14 hours. I didn’t say that I sleep 14 hours every night. I have a job. There’s no way that I could do my job and do that. So clearly something is amiss with that. I do love sleeping, but I didn’t say that. I think I’m beginning to understand that sarcasm doesn’t translate to journalists these days, or embellishment. I just have to be more literal, I guess.
The rollback on women’s rights and reproductive rights: “I mean, we have gone completely backwards in terms of reproductive rights, women’s equality, and women’s rights. It is so mind-bending. I think it’s hard to articulate because when Roe v. Wade was overturned, I think everyone thought, okay, well, this is insane, and it’ll be rectified quickly. Of course, we’re not going to be in this position. Of course this is not going to be the reality. But then weeks pass and months pass, and more and more women are denied the healthcare that they need and they deserve. Women deserve the choices that are so basic to being a human being on this planet. I think it’s hard to articulate what I feel and think right now because I am blown away. I’m blown away, and I find it absolutely heartbreaking and terrifying.
Re: sleep… she told the Wall Street Journal that she “needs” 10 hours of sleep or she can’t function properly but that she “could” sleep as much as 14 hours a night. If you ask me, ten hours of sleep mandatory every night is still kind of bonkers, but it’s less bonkers than 14 hours. Re: Hollywood decision-makers and “It just feels like nobody knows what to do and everyone’s afraid. That’s what it feels like. Everyone who makes decisions is afraid.” Dakota isn’t the first person to talk about it – Issa Rae recently made very similar remarks – and I think it’s notable that these comments are being echoed by a lot of women in the industry but not the men. So many women have started their own production companies and they’re taking the lead on producing their own projects, and studios are still fearful and frozen. The accountants have taken over in such a big way, and the biggest casualties are female-led projects.
Cover courtesy of L’Officiel IG, additional photos courtesy of Backgrid.
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- New York City, NY – Dakota Johnson looks glamorous in a white dress suit leaving Tiny’s after dinner and attending the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City. Pictured: Dakota Johnson BACKGRID USA 13 JUNE 2022 BYLINE MUST READ: Ulices Ramales / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Rio de Janeiro, BRAZIL – Hollywood star Dakota Johnson was a vision of elegance and style at the Vogue Carnival Ball held at the iconic Copacabana Palace in Rio de Janeiro. Pictured: Dakota Johnson BACKGRID USA 3 FEBRUARY 2024 BYLINE MUST READ: AG News / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Rio de Janeiro, BRAZIL – Hollywood star Dakota Johnson was a vision of elegance and style at the Vogue Carnival Ball held at the iconic Copacabana Palace in Rio de Janeiro. Pictured: Dakota Johnson BACKGRID USA 3 FEBRUARY 2024 BYLINE MUST READ: AG News / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
Is it just me or is she exhausting? I am starting to cringe every time I hear her name or see her picture.
That is exactly what I was going to post. She really is exhausting
It’s not just you. She’s just so beige.
And who thought Roe being overturned was going to be rectified quickly? Absolutely no one. That’s why it was such a fucking disaster. It could take an entire generation to fix that mess.
Dakota, now imagine you didn’t have the industry connections you were born into.
😂😂😂😂
I’m not sure it’s her that exhausts me
, specifically, or if I’m just exhausted, in general, at how, every time a person shielded by privilege most of their life finally encounters the real world and goes on, ad nauseum, with the zeal of a new convert, about the inequities in the world.
Problem is, women, people of color, LGBTQI+, and disabled people BEEN knowing and struggling with these things – especially being kept out of Hollywood’s decision making rooms and excluded from key opportunities – for generations, and, as a general rule it’s not even easy for white males without DJ’s privileges and advocates to break through or succeed in Hollywood either.
It’s not new and it’s a lifelong struggle for some, so it’s trying when the child of a TV star and a movie star (granddaughter and stepdaughter of two other movie stars) who has had an exceptionally easy ride so far, suddenly learns that Hollywood is not the most supportive or easy place for women or anyone with a non-safe, non-mainstream vision and that the competition for getting studio dollars and greenlights is hard, no matter whom you are…much harder than being cast as an actor in roles, where your celebrity and name recognition are far more marketable, look at what Margot Robbie has had to deal with.
And now that she knows, now that its happening to her, it’s AN ISSUE, and she can’t stop complaining about it. She talks as if she thinks she’s educating and raising awareness over something everyone else has known, forever, which only emphasizes and draws attention to the fact she hasn’t had to deal with the real world in this way, until now.
I think what exhausts me isn’t her, it’s the effort I have to constantly put into nodding sympathetically and hold the hands of SO many people through the years, while also reading about people like DJ who every few years suddenly discover the limits of their privilege and won’t stop complaining about their oppression. As a member of multiple minority groups these folks have had, I feel like they also expect me to sympathize and cheer them on in *their* (not OUR) struggle while doing precious, precious little acknowledgement that they aren’t the only one to have dealt with these things. If they were newly awakened and humbled by it all, it would be one thing, but it’s not.
I hate this idea that people seem to have gotten that only the people who are most wronged — and it’s a contest — are the people who are allowed to complain about anything. Surely we’re more likely to fix a problem if we’re all complaining.
What are the options? Seriously. Call out a problem where you see it and have everyone roll their eyes at you for being obvious, or keep quiet about it and have everyone roll their eyes at you for being oblivious. There is no winning with some people.
If she could just stop with those dreadful bangs and go back to shilling butt plugs for her company and STOP ACTING or whatever it is she thinks she’s doing.
Too many streaming companies out there now. Needing to much content. And not enough money going around to pay for it all. That is what is happening right now. So for any one streamer to stay afloat they have to watch what they spend. And have to make decisions on what is more probable to make money. Creative people never seem to understand that. It’s a business first and foremost. Which means niche projects will always be pushed to the side. And unfortunately right now. Female lead projects are still considered niche.
@Robert Phillips–I’m honestly wondering how much of an audience there is for all this streaming content. Between the expense and the sheer time sink, one would have to be hooked up to TV 24/7 to watch even a fraction of these programs. And everyone I know is doing good to get through a day’s worth of overwork/juggling other life elements to watch a lot of tube.
That said–business people never understand that it is a creative business as well. 🙄 Johnson is dead-on here. Studios are at break/merge point; theaters still aren’t back to profitable capacity; and everyone is scared because the previous sure-fire formulas aren’t bringing in the huge profits like they used to. It’s times like this risks have to be taken and different POVs and stories have to be told. This is a typical historical cycle with movies (indeed, a lot of arts), and regarding certain stories as “niche” or “non-recurring phenomena” is dangerously short-sighted. (Hey, mega-hits like Everything Everywhere All At Once or Black Panther _never_ would have gotten through the system as late as ten years ago because of attitudes like this.) And it’s not like the industry isn’t facing major competition from other media. It has a choice–keep boring everyone stupid and losing money–or take some chances and shake things up. Formulas don’t exist if someone doesn’t create them.
Ah yes…..a small taste of real life.
Because all those striking writers and actors traveled the globe while not working.
But like the tinniest taste of real life.
All this subpar girl does is complain with a blatant lack of self awareness. She doesn’t excell at anything, so I guess that must be hard.
I mean complaining about women’s rights being rolled back doesn’t read as lack of self-awareness to me, but okay. As for the comments about the industry – she isn’t the first one to say it and it needs to be talked about. Because this is why there is a dearth of decent content at movie theaters. I get disliking her but literally nothing she said in the above comments was inaccurate.
She mentions Marvel but…this isn’t a Marvel film. It’s a Sony film. Sony owns the rights to Madame Web – even though she is a Marvel character. And I think that’s perhaps where the disconnect is with her promotion. I have a feeling that she was told she was doing a Marvel film. She was not. And outside of Spider-Man (and to a lesser extent, Venom), Sony has a terrible track record with comic films (looking at YOU, Morbius).
As for her comments about the industry. She is absolutely right. And all one has to do is look at what is being financed and produced. No one wants to take creative risks. It’s why we keep getting watered down remakes no one asked for. Once studio heads were replaced with finance guys it was over. Those people don’t have a creative bone in their body and their entire way of thinking about things is risk-averse.
I think it came out at some point during this press tour was that she was either under the impression or was led to believe this was an MCU film and not the Sony side of the aisle.
I said this in another comment section but if I were an executive making a bold creative choice on a project I can guarandamntee you Dakota Johnson would not be on my Top 25 list of performers to hire for the project.
It’s not like there weren’t huge problems with studios before, but generally the studio heads actually cared about films.
@Lizzie Bathory which was her point and mine. Of course the bottom line mattered. It’s always mattered. But most studio heads back in the day started as producers themselves. They had a connection to the process and a passion for it. They championed a lot of films that would otherwise have not been made.
True about the accountants in control and the inequity for female artists … but she’s exhausting. Everything is so tirrrreesome. I always found her pretty much vanilla milquetoast – but then that last interview about lame nepotism. She hasn’t achieved enough to be so bored with everything.
People can not like her or care for her acting, but she’s been in 35 films over the last 10 years and has her own production company that has almost exclusively supported projects from female directors with female leads. Regardless of her having a leg up in Hollywood, that’s A LOT of work and achievement and a lot she’s doing to support women in the business.
If she thinks Hollywood is so bleak and the world so tough for women now, wait until she learns that back in the day, her twenty-something dad started a sexual relationship with the fourteen year old daughter of a famous actress and no one batted an eye about it! Oh, wait…
Except the world is pretty bleak now for women so I don’t think this comment is the flex you think it is. And what happened between her parents was inappropriate – and has literally nothing to do with her since she was not in fact born at the time. That lays square at the feet of Tippi and Melanie’s father. Not Dakota. And its weird to even try to make it about her.
Yeah, she’s only finding it out this late, because she IS a nepo baby. “Normal people” in the industry find it out in the very beginning, and at her age they are completely battle-weary. This is exactly the thing, when you are a nepo baby you get a helicopter ride half way up the mountain.
“…and her work with a vibrator company.” Cool. 😎
I actually need 10 hours of sleep a night. I also have OCD and ADHD, and my psychologist told me I needed 10 hours of sleep a night. It’s because having OCD and ADHD really tires out the mind. Before this I would get 8hrs sleep and still feel tired, so it was a game changer.
The difference it makes in my mood when I get a full 10 hours (I’m not always so good to sticking to this all the time) is night and day.
Although I assume people without these conditions need less sleep.
Let’s hope she keeps pushing back, against the glass ceiling.