Dakota Johnson is thankful for the advice she was given by her family before she made her debut in the spotlight.
The 28-year-old actress’ famous family – Working Girl star Melanie Griffith, Miami Vice pin-up Don Johnson and grandmother Tippi Hedren of Hitchcock’s The Birds fame – all passed on their experiences of life in Hollywood before the starlet began her acting career.
Grandmother Tippi famously detailed the sexual harassment she suffered at the hands of Hollywood director Alfred Hitchcock in her 2016 memoir. Hitchcock threatened to end the career of the star of his films The Birds and Marnie if she didn’t give in to his sexual demands. However, in an unprecedented move for the time, Tippi refused to make another movie with him despite being locked into a seven-year contract.
“She became an example of what to never let happen in my life,” Dakota’s mum Melanie explained to The Hollywood Reporter. “Hopefully, I’ve passed that on to Dakota – to be strong in your work and in yourself.”
Dakota said, “I was taught self-respect and grace and strength. Never before this moment did anyone in my family (explicitly) say, like, ‘Be careful.’ Sometimes, powerful men in Hollywood will try to whatever.”
And father Don, 68, who has weathered the highs and lows of life in Tinseltown, added: “There are things we have to manage (as actors)… You have times when you’re a pretty big deal, and then when you’re not such a big deal. What it all comes back to is the work and how much joy that you get out of doing it.”
Dakota reprises her role as Anastasia Steele in the concluding installment of the erotic thriller franchise, Fifty Shades Freed, in February (18).
