Dakota Johnson famously starred as Anastasia Steele in the film adaptation of E.L. James’ Fifty Shades of Grey novel. She went on to reprise her role in the 2017 and 2018 sequels alongside Jamie Dornan, who portrayed the enigmatic Christian Grey.
The controversial movie was filled with steamy and intimate scenes, and it even received a lot of harsh critical reviews despite being a massive box office hit. The franchise ended up earning $1.3 billion in total, making it one of the most successful trilogy films of all time.
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, actress Dakota Johnson shared her honest thoughts about getting cast in the 2015 installment of Fifty Shades of Grey. It must have been a total shock for her to receive the news; after all, it was a very challenging role. Johnson said:
“They said, ‘You got the offer,’ and I couldn’t speak. I was just so relieved. I was crying and crying. Water was literally squirting out of my eyes because I had been so stressed out.” She admitted playing Anastasia Steele was quite a stretch because she never had the chance to rehearse. Johnson told the outlet:
“At first, it felt like what are we doing because we haven’t done anything yet: How are we supposed to be in character when I don’t even know what’s going on, but then everyone chilled out, and that was good.”
Johnson confessed to never reading the books, but when she found out producer Mike DeLuca was making the movie, she messaged her manager and asked him to help her snag the lead role. Eventually, the actress perused the novels and thought:
“I just really understand it. I think it’s an incredible love story, and that’s why it’s affected so many people. Erica (EL James) did a really good job of explaining how that just can happen sometimes, and you have this chemical pull to someone. Adding in the s*x makes it perfect. Sometimes you feel a little bit naughty, and that’s okay.”
Johnson tried out for the role and read a long and explicit soliloquy from Ingmar Bergman’s movie Persona. It was a strange audition piece, but still made the actress stand out from the rest of the aspirants.
Dakota Johnson spoke with Vanity Fair and talked about her role in the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy. The actress shared how she prepared for the film and her takeaways from the experience:
“We did a lot of research, just learning about the sort of power dynamics between a submissive and a dominant. It’s very, very psychological. And I found it to be amazing to learn about what kind of relief and release some people need and how everybody is different and everything is okay, as long as you’re not hurting somebody else without their consent.”
She remarked how the theme of the film remains a sensitive topic and how the concept was quite a quest to conquer:
“But it is complicated. It was a lot to try and ground the character and this young girl inside of this massive idea. I really was looking to find the beauty in it and the heart and the humanity.”
Johnson had no regrets about starring in the movie; in fact, she has previously said she’s proud of her work in the Fifty Shades of Grey franchise despite the many challenging scenes she had to do with co-star Jamie Dornan.
