ELLE caught up with 24-year-old Dakota Johnson whose first major starring role in a feature film is getting a lot of attention. Johnson stars as Anastasia Steele in Fifty Shades of Grey, the big screen adaptation of the bestselling mommy porn book series, which finds an innocent young woman caught up in a sexual relationship with a billionaire who has unusual sexual proclivities. And in addition to her sexy ELLE photo shoot, Johnson (daughter of Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson) spoke to ELLE’s Stephen Rodrick about taking on the lead role in the much-anticipated release:
Dakota Johnson on having the chops and sexual honesty needed for the role of Anastasia Steele in Fifty Shades of Grey:
“I don’t have any problem doing anything. The secret is I have no shame.”
On what interested her most while reading Fifty Shades of Grey:
“Reading the book, I found myself more interested in the ways they were breaking each other down emotionally than the sex scenes. I think there’s a part of a woman that wants to be the thing that breaks a man down.”
Dakota Johnson on what it’s really like to grow up having famous parents:
“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?”
The ELLE issue featuring Dakota Johnson on the cover, along with the interview, hits newsstands on February 18, 2014. It will be available for download digitally on February 11th.