Growing up with famous parents, Dakota Johnson has been aware of the pros and cons of being a celebrity child. She has been exposed to the limelight at such a young age, and she has seen a lot of the world that comes with the perks of living a luxurious lifestyle.
Her parents, Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson, discouraged her from pursuing acting as a profession. But the Fifty Shades of Grey star’s passion and determination motivated her to forge her own path and make a name for herself.
Dakota Johnson Talks About Living With Famous Celebrity Parents
Speaking with Elle, actress Dakota Johnson confessed the hardships of growing up in the spotlight. She lamented how there was nothing she could do to control the situation, much less stop the media from fabricating stories about her life. Johnson stated:
“I think people, especially the press, like to pick on children of famous people, and I think that’s f—king awful. Things get made up. It’s so, so sad. And there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it as a 16-year-old. You’re like… Why? What did I do?”
Her celebrity parents initially discouraged her from becoming an actress. As famous people, they knew the perils of living life in the public eye, and they did not want their daughter to suffer the same consequences. Still, Johnson knew what she wanted in life, as she told via W Magazine:
“They discouraged [me]. See how well that turned out? But I understood. They wanted me to have as much of a childhood as I could.”
When asked how old she was when she decided to pursue acting as a career, she responded:
“Nothing old. Zero old. I couldn’t wait because I grew up on set. My parents were always working with amazing artists, and I just loved it. I wanted to be a part of it so badly.”
Indeed, following her parents around on movie sets has inspired young Johnson to star in her own films as well. She enthusiastically told The Hollywood Reporter:
“Acting was always – truly always – what I wanted to do. Even when I was so little, and I would be on set with my mom, it was a deep craving to do it. I wanted to look at everybody doing their jobs. I couldn’t get enough.”
Johnson got her early start in the acting profession when she appeared in the 1999 movie Crazy Alabama. She also starred in The Social Network and 21 Jump Street, until her biggest break came in 2015 with Sam Taylor-Johnson’s Fifty Shades of Grey.
Dakota Johnson Confesses Personal Struggles Despite Privileged Life
While Melanie Griffith called her daughter’s upbringing that of a “privileged gypsy,” Dakota Johnson contested the idea that her life was not always rainbows and sunshine. She told Vanity Fair:
“I think that glamorizes it a little bit or makes it seem like everything was totally amazing all the time. My life is incredibly lucky and privileged, and the life I led growing up was remarkable — the places I went and how we lived, and what we were able to experience. But we also struggled with internal family dynamics and situations and events that are so traumatic.”
Johnson moved a lot when she was younger and attended different schools because of her father’s job. She never had a full year in school until she was 11, and for the most part, she was only being tutored. She told THR:
“I was raised by lots of people, my mom and my dad and then stepparents and nannies and tutors and friends and teachers and then friends’ parents and boyfriends’ parents. I wanted to learn from everybody. And I still am like that. I’m grateful to my parents and my crazy life.”
Johnson truly lived a crazy yet wonderful life, and amid chaos, she was able to fulfill her lifelong dream of becoming an actress.
