Dakota Johnson

She’s the ultimate plain Jane and always speaks with a baby lisp

She inevitably starts crying tears of laughter on every late night talk show I've seen her on. Most celebs wouldn't lose their composure like that, so I appreciate that about her. She does seem like a goofball.

R1 she does have a tinge of her mom's voice, but it's not as overpowering or grating as Melanie's. She looks exactly like her dad though.

Kristen Stewart is a better actress than Dakota Johnson.

Stewart is better than Johnson and more bold and daring.

I don't think the Kristen Stewart comparison is fair to be honest. Kristen has been acting since she was a little girl, while Dakota didn't really start acting until after she was already an adult. She has catching up to in that regard, but I think she could easily work her way to the caliber of projects that Kristen has managed to get her hands on. The fact that Luca Guadagnino has cast Dakota in two of his films is telling.

OP = publicist

Her famous parents and their names opened the doors for her but Dakota is fairly talent free and no great talent. She strikes me as a very boring person and actress.

[quote]She strikes me as a very boring person and actress.

Me too.

She did one of those Actors on Actors with Armie Hammer and she was flirting with him the whole time and he never picked up on it.

No like.

I like both her and Kristen Stewart -- all you have to do is avoid the Twilight and 50 Shades of Gray films and they've both done solid work. DJ was a lot of fun in Bad Times at the El Royale too.

Sorry, I like her a lot. There is a genuine sweetness and easy charisma. I enjoy watching her. She is different in a very subtle way.

Both she and Melanie have a down-to-earth sensibility that belies their wealth and family legacy. I've always found both refreshing because of that. Dakota doesn't seem to have an ounce of pretense in her; can't say the same for Kristen Stewart.

Let’s face it we all can be the fact that she got to be in those 50 shades movie with that hunk

Unattractive and untalented but seems like a nice girl

With Justin Timberlake in The Social Network.

I thought she was quite good playing the Jane Birken role in A Bigger Splash.

Amen R15. My god I love him!

The Fall- I'm like should I find a serial killer hot?? Because I do!!

Incredibly boring and emotionally flat

R18 there is a great scene near the end where Tilda Swinton slaps her across the face. It's a great scene and was played well by both of them.

I thought she gave a solid, understated performance in the Suspiria remake. Not mindblowing, but good.

mmmkay

Boring and really plain-looking for an actress. Meh.

I am surprised by all the "Dakota is plain" comments here. She may not have supermodel looks (she admittedly does have a big forehead), but I think she looks good on film.

R22- I agree- And that film was so stylized, and factor in the dancing? I give her credit for trying!!

She simply has a likability factor. I enjoy her. She is comforting to me. She's natural.

And in real life, you would never know she was a wealthy daughter of actors. Her parents did something right!

I would echo the sentiment that she seems down-to-earth and natural. She genuinely possesses that quality, and not in a "look at me, I'm normal!" way like cunt Jennifer Lawrence. Dakota actually seems like a humble, slightly shy goofball. As OP said, Melanie is similar; even with all her wealth, career, and family legacy, she's always come across as a fairly normal lady who likes to smoke cigarettes and hang out at her house in Aspen.

Boring and mediocre in every sense . Silly side note i Met the actor Beau Brinkman many years ago through a friend who was at that time married to Melissa Gilbert who was very pregnat at the time and he related how they were supposed to name their baby after his grandmother Dakota Brinkman and how Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith and had ripped off the name after hearing about. He wasn't exactly angry but more bemused.

I think part of her "salt of the earth" sensibility comes from her dad's side of the family. Don Johnson was basically raised in poverty in the Ozarks and came from absolute jack shit. It is her paternal grandpa's truck she's talking about in R27s clip. Melanie, on the other hand, had a privileged upbringing, but was always a left of center in terms of her celebrity, and possesses a bit of an earthy sensibility herself. Tippi is an eccentric and was weird enough to raise lions in their house. Dakota has one hell of a colorful pedigree, at the very least.

People are going to inevitably always punish her because of who her parents are. That's just the name of the game. I do give Don and Melanie credit though for not whoring out their kids. It always seemed to me like they kept the children out of the spotlight. Dakota is the only one of Melanie's children who actually pursued acting as an adult. Her half-brother Jesse is also an actor, but not famous.

Eh, she's kind of boring, but she gets points for not being a media whore. I'd take her and the Griffith-Johnson-Banderas clan over the Moore-Willis clan any day.

Possibly one of the worst actresses ever on film.

And I have to say that after watching Melanie Griffith on Inside The Actors Studio many years ago- she is actually an extremely sensitive woman. The most intelligent? probably not. But a decent lady with a good heart. From what I have seen of her, her botched plastic surgery and the years of jokes at her expense, have probably hurt her greatly.

And I really did love her performances in Working Girl and that John Waters film. She was also good in that indie film with James Woods.

I have always thought that Melanie was terrific with the range of characters she (and more importantly her voice) are capable of playing. She did some good and interesting work in the '80s and still think she would have been a much better choice to play Suzanne in Postcards from the Edge (Meryl presents as too 'together' and was also a good ten years too old for the part, though I still like her in the film despite being miscast). I didn't want to like Dakota because of her pedigree (because while I have liked some of Melanie's performances I don't particularly care for her or any of her husbands) but she has an understated charm and prettiness that I find engaging...much more than say, Billie Lourd, who I did want to like because of her pedigree, but who I find forced and 'manic'.

R32 is being dramatic

I don't think of her at all. There is no there, there.

Zero talent...only got work because of who her parents are and her willingness to get naked and do the "Fifty Shades" movies when legitimate actress would

Same R34. I wanted to like Billie, but recently saw an interview with her on TV and found her to be quite juvenile; she seemed uneducated to me (even though she's not). Dakota on the other hand has always come across as quietly funny and fairly intelligent in a non-obnoxious way. Melanie is kind of the same way.

Her parentage got her work but that's irrelevant. People fucking the right person gets them work all the time. It's not a merit-based system. I've never seen anything Dakota Johnson's done, at least not that I'm aware of, and I don't find her interesting in any way. She doesn't look interesting or sexy or smart and there's just no charismatic pull.

Her stepfather had something, her father had something, her mother and grandmother had something but it appears to have flown. Dakota has nothing.

I’ve only seen her in Suspiria, and I thought she was good in that; she has a presence on screen. I was surprised because I expected her to be terrible given she’s known for those Fifty Shades movies.

How much money did she make for the 50 trilogy? Anything significant? That would be the only reason a legitimate actor would do it, but I recall something about Dakota and Jamie making peanuts and a producer saying that wouldn't change.

Per R41, didn't the 50 Shades movies make like a billion dollars worldwide? Those movies are garbage but they put plenty of cash in Dakota's pocket (in addition to putting her on the map), so I can't blame her. She got roles in two Luca Guadagnino movies right after.

She made some money with 50 Shades and good for her, but that poisoned her career forever. She was in two (horrible) Guadagnino movies because she is in his posse (Guadagnino is a huge mean girl type, quite a cunt from what i hear) but those kind of things change on a dime. She is not sexy and has no charisma. I hope she has a great agent or fucks the right people, otherwise i see no future there.

I can see Luca being a cunt, R43. He seems rather cliquey to me.

How interesting R43. I feel that she does have charisma to spare, and a wonderful, soft beauty.

Gaudagnino may indeed be a be a cunt, but you sound like one too, BITCH!

Some classic mother-daughter drama playing out on the red carpet. A lot of people ripped Dakota to shreds over this as being a spoiled brat, but I sort of can't blame her. Melanie was naked on-screen when she was sixteen years old. I think Dakota was genuinely insulted.

Luca indeed seems like a cunt. I recall watching interviews with him around the time Suspiria came out, and he came across as arrogant and imperious. Dakota always has nice things to say about him, probably because she doesn't want to spoil any future work opportunities.

Sorry, R47- I don't blame the bitch.

And I do not judge people based on 15 minute interviews.

In any 15 minute interval of this lovely life I could be viewed as Satan or Jesus himself, if I was inclined in that moment.

They should put her in a movie with KStew. Actually let's add Zoe Kazan too.

I always thought she showed some good comedic timing in this.

I refer to her as Tippi's Blanddaughter

She doesn't have the "it" factor that her mother or grandmother had, but I think she's a decent actress. They do seem like a fun, relatively normal bunch

She's was on a really funny show on FOX before those fucking 50 shades movies called "Ben and Kate." She was great in that.

I don't see anything special about her. Zero charisma. I think some people like to defend her because they feel the Fifty Shades backlash was unfair or whatever. Otherwise, I just don't get it.

Melanie seems normal now, but I heard she was pretty wild in the 70 and 80s.

She gives a great interview, but she's not much of an actress.

Without nepotism she never would have had a chance. Without FSOG, she wouldn't be booking so many major roles.

It's not her performance in those FSOG movies that keeps getting her work, it's her name. Casting someone who is the co-lead in ahit franchise, helps movies get financed.

Recently saw her in Wounds and she was pretty bad. I actually thought the film itself was effectively chilling albeit flawed. The part where she said "cunt" in a completely flat nonchalant tone when the character was supposed to be having a jealous fit was hilarious. Gurl can't act.

I just saw Wounds as well, R59. I found Dakota Johnson’s performance added to the overall creepiness of the film. But, yah she has this oddly flat affect that makes her performances inconsistent in dramatic films. However, I think her strong point is comedy and am surprised she doesn’t do more in this genre - she has great timing and “flatness” is perfect for deadpan/droll humor.

She is great in interviews. Has a kooky sense of humor and is refreshing to watch. Doesn’t seem to give a shit what people think of her. I like it.

I watched Ben and Kate too. Loved her in that. Her timing is strong.

I think Kristen Stewart is the opposite. Boring in interviews but more compelling as an actor.

OP: "I know a lot of people have/will smear her with the nepotism angle"

Uh, pointing out simply "Oh, look, there's some nepotism." isn't really a smear or an angle. It's pointing out the obvious according to the definition of a thing.

Are you one those people who think that Anderson Cooper became a world famous teleprompter reader based on his hard work and talent and it's just a HUGE coincidence that he comes from a fabulously wealthy family?

google meritocracy + myth

I can’t speak for her talent, as I’ve only seen 50 Shades which is such a joke that I’m not sure quite crosses to camp territory. BUT Dakota seems like a really cool, sweet person and I’d love to hang out with her based on her AD house tour. Very nice “humble” home with a lot of character for Hollywood standards. I’d live there In a heartbeat.

This clip of her making fun of Miranda Kerr is actually cute and funny.