Although she ultimately says she’s “proud” of it, Dakota Johnson described making the first 50 Shades of Grey film as a “psychotic” experience.
The actor opened up to Vanity Fair about the behind-the-scenes drama of the movie, which spawned two sequels. She played Anastasia Steele opposite Jamie Dornan‘s Christian Grey.
“If I had known at the time that’s what it was going to be like, I don’t think anyone would’ve done it,” Johnson admitted. “I signed up to do a very different version of the film we ended up making.”
She laid blame on a “combo” of the directors and “the author of the books,” E.J. James.
“She had a lot of creative control, all day, every day, and she just demanded that certain things happen,” Johnson said.
“There were parts of the books that just wouldn’t work in a movie, like the inner monologue, which was at times incredibly cheesy. It wouldn’t work to say out loud. It was always a battle. Always.”
She explained, “We’d do the takes of the movie that Erika [E.L.] wanted to make, and then we would do the takes of the movie that we wanted to make. The night before, I would rewrite scenes with the old dialogue … It was like mayhem all the time.”
Overall, she called the making of the project “psychotic,” but added, “No, I don’t regret it.”
Johnson clarified, “Look, it was great for our careers. So amazing. So lucky. But it was weird. So, so weird.”
She also threw cold water on rumors that she was feuding with her on-screen lover, Dornan, off-screen. “There was never a time when we didn’t get along,” she said. “I know it’s weird, but he’s like a brother to me. I love him so, so, so much.”