But Johnson suggested that the studio, the director and even the author of the original books, E.L. James, were all part of the problem.
James — who goes by Erika — had “a lot of creative control, all day, every day, and she just demanded that certain things happen,” Johnson shared.
“There were parts of the books that just wouldn’t work in a movie, like the inner monologue, which was at times incredibly cheesy,” she explained. “It wouldn’t work to say out loud. It was always a battle.”
Johnson auditioned for the movie with a monologue from Ingmar Bergman’s 1996 film “Persona,” thinking the movies would be “really special.”
She was cast as Anastasia Steele opposite Charlie Hunnam, 42, as Christian Grey, with “Closer” playwright Patrick Marber revising the script. When Hunnam dropped out, Johnson said James was so enraged, she scrapped the revised script.
“I was young. I was 23. So it was scary,” Johnson said. “It just became something crazy. There were a lot of different disagreements.
“I haven’t been able to talk about this truthfully ever, because you want to promote a movie the right way, and I’m proud of what we made ultimately and everything turns out the way it’s supposed to, but it was tricky,” she continued.
When Dornan, 40, replaced Hunnam, director Sam Taylor-Johnson tried to resurrect Marber’s script.
“We’d do the takes of the movie that Erika wanted to make, and then we would do the takes of the movie that we wanted to make,” Johnson said.
Marber’s only scene that got into the first “Fifty Shades” movie was the scene where Anastasia and Christian negotiate their sexual contract.
“And it’s the best scene in the whole movie,” she declared.
When asked whether she regrets making the trilogy, she responded: “If I had known at the time that’s what it was going to be like, I don’t think anyone would’ve done it. It would’ve been like, ‘Oh, this is psychotic.’ But no, I don’t regret it.”
Johnson also shared that Dornan became “like a brother” to her while on set.
“I love him so, so, so much. And we were really there for each other,” Johnson said. “We had to really trust each other and protect each other.”
Johnson was hesitant to share more, telling Vanity Fair, “There are things that I still cannot say because I don’t want to hurt anyone’s career and I don’t want to damage anybody’s reputation, but both Jamie and I were treated really well.
“Look, it was great for our careers,” she said. “So amazing. So lucky. But it was weird. So, so weird.”In a companion video for the Vanity Fair cover story, Johnson discussed her guest-starring role in the 2013 series finale of “The Office.” She had a cameo as Dakota, who replaced Kevin Malone (Brian Baumgartner) at Dunder Mifflin.
“I somehow got myself into being in the series finale of ‘The Office’ because I was a fan of ‘The Office,’ of course,” Johnson said.
She revealed that she felt like she didn’t belong there — even after spending two weeks on set.
I felt like I was crashing someone’s birthday party when they actually didn’t mean to invite me — like, they did it just to be like, ‘Yeah sure, come!’ ” she said. “And then I was stuck there.”
Johnson also shared some insight into her private relationship with Coldplay’s Chris Martin.
The couple has been dating for five years, and she acknowledged that they keep their relationship low-key because of their blended family. Martin, 45, has two teenagers with his ex, Gwyneth Paltrow, 49.
