Dakota Johnson is an American actress and producer who has starred in some of the most popular and critically acclaimed films of the past decade. She is best known for her role as Anastasia Steele in the erotic romantic drama film series Fifty Shades, which catapulted her to global fame and earned her a BAFTA Rising Star Award nomination in 2016. But who is Dakota Johnson, and how did she become one of Hollywood’s most versatile actresses?
Dakota Johnson was born on October 4, 1989, in Austin, Texas, to actors Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith. Her maternal grandmother is actress Tippi Hedren, who starred in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds and Marnie. She has six half-siblings from her parents’ previous and subsequent marriages, including actor Jesse Johnson and actress Stella Banderas. She grew up in various locations with her parents on film sets and premieres, but also spent time in Aspen and Woody Creek, Colorado, where she worked at a local market as a teenager.
She made her film debut at age ten with a minor role in the dark comedy film Crazy in Alabama (1999), where she and her half-sister Stella played the daughters to their real-life mother Melanie Griffith. The film was directed by her stepfather Antonio Banderas, but it wasn’t a hit. Dakota resumed her schooling and waited several years before she decided to become a professional actress and model.
In 2006, she was voted Miss Golden Globe, a launching pad bestowed on off-spring of famous parents. She also signed with IMG Models and modeled for brands like Mango and Wish. She graduated from high school in 2007 and started auditioning for roles in Los Angeles.
She had her first box office hit in 2010 with David Fincher’s film The Social Network (2010), in which she had a scene with Justin Timberlake. The film received eight Oscar nominations, including one for Best Picture. She also appeared in films such as Beastly (2011), Goats (2012), The Five-Year Engagement (2012), and 21 Jump Street (2012).
She had her breakthrough playing Anastasia Steele in the film adaptation of E.L. James’ best-selling erotic novel Fifty Shades of Grey (2015). She beat out many young actresses for the coveted role of Anastasia, a college student who enters into a BDSM relationship with billionaire Christian Grey, played by Jamie Dornan. The film was a worldwide hit, grossing over $570 million at the box office, and making Dakota a star. She reprised her role in the sequels Fifty Shades Darker (2017) and Fifty Shades Freed (2018), which were also successful commercially.
Dakota Johnson proved that she was more than just Anastasia Steele by appearing in diverse films such as the crime drama Black Mass (2015), where she played the wife of notorious gangster Whitey Bulger; Luca Guadagnino’s drama A Bigger Splash (2015), where she played a seductive young woman who disrupts the lives of a rock star and a filmmaker; the romantic comedy How to Be Single (2016), where she played a newly single woman navigating the dating scene; the supernatural horror film Suspiria (2018), where she played an American dancer who joins a prestigious but sinister dance academy in Berlin; the thriller Bad Times at the El Royale (2018), where she played a mysterious hippie who checks into a rundown hotel; and the coming-of-age film The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019), where she played a nursing home employee who joins a young man with Down syndrome on his quest to become a wrestler.
She also ventured into producing with her company TeaTime Pictures, which she co-founded with former Netflix executive Ro Donnelly in 2019. She produced and starred in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s directorial debut The Lost Daughter (2021), based on Elena Ferrante’s novel of the same name. She played a young mother whose life is intertwined with that of an older woman, played by Olivia Colman, who becomes obsessed with her. The film received rave reviews from critics and won several awards at international film festivals.
Dakota Johnson is currently dating Coldplay frontman Chris Martin since 2017. They have kept their relationship private but have been spotted together on several occasions. She has also been vocal about her mental health struggles, revealing that she has suffered from depression since she was 14. She has advocated for destigmatizing mental illness and seeking professional help.
Dakota Johnson is one of the most talented and versatile actresses of her generation. She has shown her range and depth in various genres and roles, from comedy to drama, from romance to horror. She has also established herself as a producer and a fashion icon, gracing the covers of magazines like Vogue, Elle, and Glamour. She is not afraid to take risks and challenge herself, both on and off screen. She is a star of Fifty Shades and beyond.
