Dakota Johnson reveals famous parents didn't allow her to pursue acting as a child KiMi Robinson, USA TODAY October 23, 2025 at 11:25 PM 0 Despite being born into a family of Alisters, Dakota Johnson's foray into Hollywood wasn't as smooth as you might think.
- - Dakota Johnson reveals famous parents didn't allow her to pursue acting as a child
KiMi Robinson, USA TODAY October 23, 2025 at 11:25 PM
0
Despite being born into a family of A-listers, Dakota Johnson's foray into Hollywood wasn't as smooth as you might think.
The daughter of "Working Girl" actress Melanie Griffith and "Miami Vice" star Don Johnson, Johnson grew up on various film sets and was highly influenced by classic movies, especially the likes of "Mary Poppins" and "Home Alone."
She "always wanted to be an actress and be a part of what the people around me were doing," Johnson, 36, told Vogue Germany in an interview published Tuesday, Oct. 21, in German. Yet she "was never allowed to act in movies as a kid."
With the exception of acting alongside Griffith and half-sister Stella Banderas in 1999's "Crazy in Alabama," which was directed by her stepfather Antonio Banderas, Johnson "wasn't allowed to work properly until I graduated from high school," she recalled.
Melanie Griffith (from left), daughter Dakota Johnson and Don Johnson attend the after-party for the New York premiere of "How To Be Single" at the Bowery Hotel on Feb. 3, 2016, in New York City.
Johnson has previously opened up about the humbling start to her acting career. Though she'd auditioned for a spot at The Juilliard School — the only college to which she'd applied — she wasn't accepted, and as a result her father "cut me off."
"So, I started auditioning. I think I was 19 when I did 'The Social Network,' and then little jobs and stuff after that," she told "Materialists" costar Pedro Pascal in an Elle UK interview published in May. "For a couple of years, it was hard to make money. There were a few times when I'd go to the market and not have money in my bank account or not be able to pay rent, and I'd have to ask my parents for help."
She continued, "I'm very grateful that I had parents that could help me and did help me. But it certainly was not fun."
Her grandmother, "The Birds" actress Tippi Hedren, told Vogue in 2017 that "I didn't push Melanie into films, and she didn't push Dakota. I think neither of us is the type to push."
Dakota Johnson was a vision in blue at the Zurich Film Festival, and her jaw-dropping, see-through Gucci gown stole the spotlight. Here, Johnson poses at the opening green carpet for the 21st Zurich Film Festival on Sept. 25, 2025, in Zurich, Switzerland.
" data-src=https://ift.tt/C3hd85p class=caas-img data-headline="Dakota Johnson stuns at Zurich Film Festival in sheer lace Gucci gown" data-caption="
Dakota Johnson was a vision in blue at the Zurich Film Festival, and her jaw-dropping, see-through Gucci gown stole the spotlight. Here, Johnson poses at the opening green carpet for the 21st Zurich Film Festival on Sept. 25, 2025, in Zurich, Switzerland.
">Dakota Johnson was a vision in blue at the Zurich Film Festival, and her jaw-dropping, see-through Gucci gown stole the spotlight. Here, Johnson poses at the opening green carpet for the 21st Zurich Film Festival on Sept. 25, 2025, in Zurich, Switzerland.
" src=https://ift.tt/C3hd85p class=caas-img>
Dakota Johnson in a sheer lace Gucci gown.
" data-src=https://ift.tt/qndfCyW class=caas-img data-headline="Dakota Johnson stuns at Zurich Film Festival in sheer lace Gucci gown" data-caption="
Dakota Johnson in a sheer lace Gucci gown.
">Dakota Johnson in a sheer lace Gucci gown.
" src=https://ift.tt/qndfCyW class=caas-img>Dakota Johnson speaks with the press at the opening green carpet for the 21st Zurich Film Festival.
" data-src=https://ift.tt/IvWHlPc class=caas-img data-headline="Dakota Johnson stuns at Zurich Film Festival in sheer lace Gucci gown" data-caption="
Dakota Johnson speaks with the press at the opening green carpet for the 21st Zurich Film Festival.
">Dakota Johnson speaks with the press at the opening green carpet for the 21st Zurich Film Festival.
" src=https://ift.tt/IvWHlPc class=caas-img>
From left: Doris Fiala, Dakota Johnson and the festival's artistic director Christian Jungen at the 21st Zurich Film Festival.
" data-src=https://ift.tt/RBdQevz class=caas-img data-headline="Dakota Johnson stuns at Zurich Film Festival in sheer lace Gucci gown" data-caption="
From left: Doris Fiala, Dakota Johnson and the festival's artistic director Christian Jungen at the 21st Zurich Film Festival.
">From left: Doris Fiala, Dakota Johnson and the festival's artistic director Christian Jungen at the 21st Zurich Film Festival.
" src=https://ift.tt/RBdQevz class=caas-img>Dakota Johnson's jewelry detail
" data-src=https://ift.tt/nmrGyA4 class=caas-img data-headline="Dakota Johnson stuns at Zurich Film Festival in sheer lace Gucci gown" data-caption="
Dakota Johnson's jewelry detail
">Dakota Johnson's jewelry detail
" src=https://ift.tt/nmrGyA4 class=caas-img>
Artistic Director of the ZFF Christian Jungen awards Dakota Johnson the Golden Eye Award during the "Splitsville" screening.
" data-src=https://ift.tt/0EPTS8y class=caas-img data-headline="Dakota Johnson stuns at Zurich Film Festival in sheer lace Gucci gown" data-caption="
Artistic Director of the ZFF Christian Jungen awards Dakota Johnson the Golden Eye Award during the "Splitsville" screening.
">Artistic Director of the ZFF Christian Jungen awards Dakota Johnson the Golden Eye Award during the "Splitsville" screening.
" src=https://ift.tt/0EPTS8y class=caas-img>
1 / 17Dakota Johnson stuns at Zurich Film Festival in sheer lace Gucci gown
Dakota Johnson was a vision in blue at the Zurich Film Festival, and her jaw-dropping, see-through Gucci gown stole the spotlight. Here, Johnson poses at the opening green carpet for the 21st Zurich Film Festival on Sept. 25, 2025, in Zurich, Switzerland.
Why Melanie Griffith's fame was 'really quite scary' for Dakota Johnson
Johnson had an unconventional childhood, partially due to her parents' jobs taking her around the world. But she also had to contend with their fame and their private lives becoming tabloid fodder.
"When I was little, there were times when it was really quite scary, and people would aggressively and physically try to get to my mom when we were just going to the supermarket or something," she told Vogue Germany. "If you accept that as normal as a little kid, it can lead to a lot of complexes."
"And then, of course, the fact that you're in the public eye and the world knows about your private life in a way that's very invasive, rude and painful," she continued. "So, yes, there are downsides, but there are also incredible upsides — like with everything."
Johnson previously told Vogue in 2017 that she'd started going to therapy at the age of 3. "The whole shebang," she said. "All the help you can get."
The "Madame Web" star "traveled with my parents and with a tutor until I was 10 years old," she said in the Elle UK profile from May. "I went to a bunch of different schools all over and we lived in Spain for quite a while, because my mom and Antonio were married."
She spent the last three years of high school at New Roads School in Santa Monica, California, where her classmates allegedly brought in press clippings about her famous parents. Johnson joined a "pseudo-theatre program" at the private college preparatory school, but she was later "kicked out of it because I abandoned my schoolwork and started failing classes."
"I think people, especially the press, like to pick on children of famous people, and I think that's ... awful," she told Elle in 2014. "Things get made up. It's so, so sad. And there's absolutely nothing you can do about it as a 16-year-old. You're like ... 'Why? What did I do?'"
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dakota Johnson reveals she wasn't allowed to act until she graduated
Source: "AOL Entertainment"
Source: VoXi MAG
Full Article on Source: VoXi MAG
#LALifestyle #USCelebrities