Dakota Johnson

Dakota Johnson (born October 4, 1989, Austin, Texas, U.S.) is an American actress who first gained fame for her work in the erotic Fifty Shades film series and who later demonstrated her range in a series of diverse roles.

Family

Johnson was born into a show business family. Her father is actor Don Johnson, and her mother is Melanie Griffith, an Academy Award-nominated actress. Tippi Hedren, her maternal grandmother, starred in several Alfred Hitchcock movies. While growing up, Dakota Johnson frequently traveled with her parents to filming locations, and from an early age she wanted to be an actress.

Early films: The Social Network and 21 Jump Street

Johnson made her film debut in 1999, appearing in a minor role in Crazy in Alabama, a comedy that starred her mother and was directed by Antonio Banderas, her stepfather at the time. While her parents tried to dissuade her from an acting career, Johnson refused to be discouraged, and, weeks after graduating from high school, she landed a minor role in David Fincher’s The Social Network (2010). The acclaimed drama centers on the creation of Facebook.

Over the next couple of years, Johnson had supporting roles in several little-seen films, including Beastly (2011) and For Ellen (2012). More successful was the comedy 21 Jump Street (2012), about two police officers (played by Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill) who go undercover at a high school. In 2012 Johnson made her TV debut, starring in the family comedy Ben and Kate. However, it was canceled after one season. Johnson later appeared in the 2013 series finale of the popular sitcom The Office.

Stardom: Fifty Shades series

Johnson’s breakthrough came in 2015, with the release of the erotic film Fifty Shades of Grey, based on the bestselling novel by E.L. James. Johnson was cast as the female lead, Anastasia (“Ana”) Steele, who embarks on a steamy relationship with a billionaire (played by Jamie Dornan). The movie received largely negative reviews, though Johnson’s performance was often singled out for praise. Fifty Shades of Grey grossed some $570 million worldwide, and Johnson became an international star. She reprised the role of Anastasia Steele for the two sequels, Fifty Shades Darker (2017) and Fifty Shades Freed (2018). The trilogy ultimately earned more than $1 billion at the global box office.

During this time Johnson appeared in other movies that highlighted her range as an actress. Notably, she starred with Johnny Depp and Benedict Cumberbatch in Black Mass (2015), as the girlfriend of crime boss Whitey Bulger. Johnson then drew praise for her performance in Luca Guadagnino’s A Bigger Splash (2015), a drama about four people on vacation in Italy. After starring in the romantic comedy How to Be Single (2016), she reunited with Guadagnino on Suspiria (2018), a remake of a 1977 horror-drama about a dancer at a women’s ballet academy. Her other films from 2018 include Bad Times at the El Royale, about mysterious guests at a hotel.

Later films

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In 2019 Johnson appeared in the well-received dramedy The Peanut Butter Falcon, portraying the caretaker of a young man with Down syndrome who wants to attend a wrestling school. That year she also starred with Casey Affleck and Jason Segel in Our Friend, about a dying mother and her husband who receive help from a family friend. Johnson also sang several songs for the movie’s soundtrack. In 2020 she appeared with Tracee Ellis Ross in the drama The High Note, playing a legendary singer’s personal assistant who aspires to be a music producer. The following year Johnson had a supporting role in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Lost Daughter, an acclaimed film adaptation of Elena Ferrante’s novel.

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Highly sought after, Johnson was especially busy in 2022. Her credits from that year include Cha Cha Real Smooth, in which she plays the single mother of an autistic son; Persuasion, based on the Jane Austen novel; and Am I OK?, a dramedy about a woman on a path of self-discovery. In Daddio (2023), which is largely set in a taxi cab, Johnson portrays a young woman who has a candid conversation with the driver (Sean Penn). In 2024 she assumed the title role in the Marvel film Madame Web. It was widely panned, and Johnson’s ambivalence about the action movie was a popular topic on social media.