Dakota Johnson reflects on the challenges of growing up in a famous family

Dakota Johnson acknowledges the “incredible upsides” of being the daughter of Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson.

Dakota Johnson also admits that their celebrity status brought challenges during her childhood. In a cover story for Vogue Germany, the 36-year-old actress recalled instances when fans would

Aggressively approach her mother while they were out, such as at the supermarket. “When I was little, there were times when it was really quite scary”, Johnson said. She added that normalizing such experiences at a young age could lead to personal complexities and that living in the public eye  often felt invasive and painful.

Growing up with a family deeply rooted in the film industry her grand mother is Tippi Hedren and her step father was Antonio Banderas. Johnson noted the difficulties of making friends while frequently on the move. “I always accepted it: This is what we do. It’s in our blood”, she stated.

Johnson made her acting debut at age 9 in Banderas’ poorly received film Crazy in Alabama, thanks to her mother. However, she was not allowed to pursue acting seriously until after high school. At 17, she was named Miss Golden Globe 2006, a title previously held by her mother in 1975. This ambassadorship was discontinued by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association in 2022.

By 18, Johnson had leveraged her famous lineage to sign with IMG for modeling and later with the William Morris Agency for acting. She credits her mother with instilling confidence in her body image, which helped her embrace glamorous red carpet looks. “If you’re not told from a young age that you’re perfect and smart and special, it can really break you”, Johnson reflected.

Recently, Dakota Johnson announced her upcoming feature directorial debut with the coming-of-age drama A Tree is Blue, is set to begin filming next month in Los Angeles. The project which has a budget of $10million, stars Charlie XCX, Jessica Alba and Vanessa Burghardt and centers on an autistic teen.

Johnson previously directed a short film, Loser Baby in 2024 and music video for Cold Play.

Additionally, she stars as ghostwriter Lowen Ashleigh in the upcoming film adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s novel Verity, which is scheduled for release in US theaters on October 2, 2026. Before gaining fame in the Fifty Shades trilogy, Johnson caught the industry’s attention with her role as Amelia in David Fincher’s 2010 drama The Social Network.

Recently, Dakota ended her on-and-off seven-year relationship with Chris Martin, the frontman of the British band Coldplay.