Dakota Johnson
Dakota Mayi Johnson (born October 4, 1989) is an American actress. The daughter of actors Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith, she made her film debut at age ten with a minor role in Crazy in Alabama (1999), directed by her then-stepfather Antonio Banderas, and also starring her mother. After graduating from high school, she began auditioning for roles in Los Angeles and was cast in a minor part in The Social Network (2010). Johnson had her breakthrough playing the lead role of Anastasia Steele in the erotic Fifty Shades film series (2015–2018). In 2016, she received a BAFTA Rising Star Award nomination and was featured in a Forbes 30 Under 30 list.[1]
Dakota Johnson
Actress
1999–present
Chris Martin (2017–present)
- Jesse Johnson (half-brother)
- Tippi Hedren (grandmother)
- Tracy Griffith (aunt)
Her profile grew with roles in the crime drama Black Mass (2015), the drama A Bigger Splash (2015), the romantic comedy How to Be Single (2016), the horror film Suspiria (2018), the thriller Bad Times at the El Royale (2018), the coming-of-age film The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019), the psychological drama The Lost Daughter (2021), and the romantic drama Cha Cha Real Smooth (2022). She also produced the last of these under her company TeaTime Pictures. Johnson has since played the title role in Madame Web (2024).
Early life[edit]
Dakota Mayi Johnson was born on October 4, 1989, at Brackenridge Hospital in Austin, Texas,[2] to actors Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith. Her father was shooting the film The Hot Spot (1990) in Texas when she was born.[3] Her maternal grandparents are advertising executive and former child actor Peter Griffith and actress Tippi Hedren. She is a half-niece of actress Tracy Griffith and production designer Clay A. Griffith. Her former stepfather is actor Antonio Banderas.[4] Johnson has a complex family as each of her parents had children by three different people. Her six half-siblings are: Jesse Johnson (b. 1982), from her father's relationship with Patti D'Arbanville; Alexander Bauer (b. 1985), from her mother's marriage to Steven Bauer; Stella Banderas (b. 1996), from her mother's marriage to Antonio; Grace (b. 1999), Jasper (b. 2002), and Deacon Johnson (b. 2006), from her father's marriage to Kelley Phleger.[2]
Owing to her parents' occupations, Johnson spent much of her childhood in various locations with them on film sets and premieres,[5] though she spent extended amounts of time in Aspen and Woody Creek, Colorado,[6] where she worked during summers at the local market as a teenager.[7] In Woody Creek, she was neighbors with Hunter S. Thompson.[8] She attended the Aspen Community School for a time.[9] "I was so consistently unmoored and discombobulated, I didn't have an anchor anywhere," Johnson recalled.[10] She attended the Santa Catalina School in Monterey, California, for her freshman year of high school before transferring to the private New Roads School in Santa Monica, California.[11]
Johnson became interested in modeling at age twelve after taking part in a photoshoot with other celebrities' children for Teen Vogue,[12] and subsequently earned an income modeling while attending high school in Santa Monica.[5] She has struggled with depression since around age fourteen[13] and checked into rehabilitation.[14] She also has had ADHD since childhood.[15] Johnson was interested in acting as a child, having spent significant time on film sets with her parents, but they discouraged her from pursuing the profession until she graduated high school.[16] After high school, she applied to Juilliard, performing monologues by Shakespeare and Steve Martin, but was not accepted.[5]
Career[edit]
1999–2014: Beginnings[edit]
In 1999, Johnson made her film debut in Crazy in Alabama, where she and her half-sister Stella Banderas played daughters to their real-life mother, Melanie Griffith. The film was directed by her ex-stepfather, Antonio Banderas. In 2006, she was chosen as Miss Golden Globe 2006, where she served as the first second-generation Miss Golden Globe in the Globes' history.[17][18]
Personal life[edit]
Johnson was previously involved in long-term relationships with musician Noah Gersh[21][73] and actor Jordan Masterson.[74][75] She dated Matthew Hitt, the lead vocalist of Welsh indie rock band Drowners, intermittently for almost two years until 2016.[5][76][77] She has been in a relationship with Coldplay's vocalist Chris Martin since October 2017.[78][79] They reside in Malibu, California. They are engaged.[80]
Johnson is a tattoo enthusiast[81][82] and has been named a brand ambassador for luxury fashion brand Gucci.[83][84] In November 2020, it was announced that she had become an investor and co-creative director of Maude, a sexual wellness brand.[85]
In 2018, she collaborated with 300 women in Hollywood to set up the Time's Up initiative to protect women from harassment and discrimination.[86]