In a new cover story for Bustle, Dakota Johnson is as candid as can be—and we lapped up every word. The conversation with the publication ran the gamut, from the headlines you’ve probably already read about: her largely panned film Madame Web, of which she remarked that “I probably will never do anything like it again because I don’t make sense in that world,” she said. “And I know that now.”
Following that thread, she said “But sometimes in this industry, you sign on to something, and it’s one thing, and then as you’re making it, it becomes a completely different thing, and you’re like, ‘Wait, what?’ But it was a real learning experience, and of course it’s not nice to be a part of something that’s ripped to shreds, but I can’t say that I don’t understand.”
She also touches on being a stepmom to partner Chris Martin’s kids, Apple and Moses, that he shares with ex-wife Gwyneth Paltrow, telling the outlet “I love those kids like my life depends on it. With all my heart.”
But let’s do what Johnson wants us to do and go a little bit deeper, reading past the headlines and into the meat of what she’s trying to say. Some of Johnson’s interview comments have become clickbait fodder and exaggerated, like comments she allegedly made about sleeping 14 hours a day. “I got into a funny little fight with somebody,” she told Bustle. “I was really annoyed by everyone in the world talking about my sleep schedule, and someone that I know was like, ‘But do you really sleep 14 hours a night? That’s amazing.’ And I was like, ‘Did you read the article, or did you just read the f—king headline? A—hole.’ I bit her head off.”
As is on full display in this profile, Johnson is brutally honest—well, except when she’s not. When asked by Bustle if it is ever fun to lie to the press, Johnson emphatically responds “The most fun. The most fun. Sometimes when you’re in a ridiculous situation, you just have to be ridiculous.”
She candidly touches on the downside of fame, saying of celebrity “Sometimes it’s really tough to deal with, but I also have access to incredible people, and I have the ability to impart a little bit of my experience,” Johnson said. “But I don’t want to be like that all the time. There’s a set time and place to be photographed for what I do. That’s part of my job. But to be photographed when I don’t know I’m being photographed and it’s a private moment? That feels like the most invasive, violating, horrible thing. People say that’s the price you pay when you’re famous, but I don’t believe that’s necessarily true.”
Though she grew up with two very famous parents—actors Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith—Johnson chooses to remain more private about her personal life. Of her mother, Johnson said “I was lucky that I grew up with a mom who was very open—at times maybe too open—about sexuality, but it was always like, whatever you’re into and when you want to have sex, you just let me know and we’ll get birth control. It was really healthy, and it made me feel like I was allowed to discover my sexuality on my own, which I think is such a gift.”
Of her family, “No matter how f—ked up it is, or who’s in rehab, or who’s not speaking to whom, or who’s divorcing whom, we’re family,” Johnson said. “And we are always going to be a family. It’s really real. And most of us are artists. Even in my adult life and my new family, most of us are artists. Even the kids, they’re extraordinarily talented people. So you are just dealing with complex people.” She added, laughing, “You grow and you embrace and you say, ‘F—k you and f—k off,’ and then ‘I love you, come back.’”
Johnson rarely comments on her romance with Martin, whom she has been with since 2017. He isn’t mentioned much in the article, but she did comment on watching him perform, saying “I love watching him. I could watch him every day. I don’t know how to explain it. I feel like, I don’t know…I’m watching my most favorite being do his most favorite thing.” She added that “Watching anyone who’s so good at something is sexy,” and that “When people are really good at things, it is [sexy],” before adding a caveat—“Except being a dictator,” Johnson said.
A proud stepmother thought she is, what about bearing children herself? On the subject of motherhood, Johnson said “I’m so open to that. I’ve gotten to this place where I really want to experience everything that life has to offer. And especially being a woman, I’m like, ‘What a magical f—king thing to do. What a crazy, magical, wild experience.’ If that’s meant to happen for me, I’m totally down for it. I’ve been really tripping out recently like, we’re not here for very long. There’s so much to eat up and learn and grow from and experience and feel. That includes all the pain and the suffering and feeling so helpless about the world. Most days I feel like the most useless piece of s—t. I’m sitting in this dumba—s chair, talking about this dumba—s movie, and there are people in excruciating catastrophes, and what can I do? I do have that incredible friction in myself. And then I’m like, ‘We’re not here for very long,’ so if I’m meant to be a mother, bring it on.”
And, just in case you were wondering, Johnson is a Swiftie, and her favorite album is Lover—“but I think all of her albums are really great,” Johnson said. “I just find her existence really radical in the sense of what it literally means. Not rad or cool, but radical, and I’m totally into it. She’s a fabulous songwriter. She works so hard. She is really kind to the people that love her. I’m just like, do you, girl. I support.”
And hopefully, that same kindness is extended to Johnson, too.
