Dakota Johnson has an interesting interview with Bustle, and my first thought was “wow, quick turnaround from Madame Web bombing at the box office.” While she does get into the Madame Web catastrophe, the point of this interview is Dakota promoting her production company and her new book club, TeaTime Book Club. It’s yet another side-gig for Dakota, and it feels like she’s trying to go for the Reese Witherspoon route of starting a production company and book club to find properties to buy and produce. Dakota is not online and she would rather be sitting in her beach house reading a good book or spending time with artists and her family. Some highlights from this Bustle piece:
She’s a beach person: “I live way out by the beach, out in Malibu. I need to be in nature. I can be out at my house and not see or speak to another human for days on end, and I feel wonderful.”
Her book club is different: “There are a lot of people who do things like I do and they have book clubs, and I was always like, Oh, the way that I read books, it’s so different. I want to fall down the rabbit hole every time I read… to invest in the book, invest in the language, invest in the references. Like, Oh, what is that piece of art she’s talking about? Who’s that musician?” I’ve found in book clubs that you’re just kind of on your own. You watch someone like me have a conversation with the author, but I don’t feel invested in that.”
Press tours are ridiculous: “Publicly… all that stuff is ridiculous. It’s hard for me to fake it. It’s hard for me sometimes to go along with the silliness of doing a press tour. I had the LA premiere for Madame Web and then went to Mexico City. I had pneumonia and was on steroids and the nebulizer and doing all these little things, and I was really, really sick and felt horrible. I looked horrible. I was like, Ugh. And then the movie came out and it was… Like, I can’t take any of it seriously at all. I dunno.
The critical reaction to Madame Web: “Unfortunately, I’m not surprised that this has gone down the way it has. It’s so hard to get movies made, and in these big movies that get made — and it’s even starting to happen with the little ones, which is what’s really freaking me out — decisions are being made by committees, and art does not do well when it’s made by committee. Films are made by a filmmaker and a team of artists around them. You cannot make art based on numbers and algorithms. My feeling has been for a long time that audiences are extremely smart, and executives have started to believe that they’re not. Audiences will always be able to sniff out bullsh*t. Even if films start to be made with AI, humans aren’t going to f*cking want to see those.
Her thoughts now that ‘Madame Web’ is over: “It was definitely an experience for me to make that movie. I had never done anything like it before. I probably will never do anything like it again because I don’t make sense in that world. And I know that now. But sometimes in this industry, you sign on to something, and it’s one thing and then as you’re making it, it becomes a completely different thing, and you’re like, Wait, what? But it was a real learning experience, and of course it’s not nice to be a part of something that’s ripped to shreds, but I can’t say that I don’t understand.
On the Puriteens questioning the need for sex scenes in movies: “I feel like people get up in arms about things just to be up in arms about things. This culture of hating — it’s so boring. Because you know those people who are like, “Why is there a sex scene in it?,” are going to go home and watch p0rn. If there’s a sex scene that feels gratuitous and out of context, then yeah, say that. But if it’s part of the story and it makes sense, what are you going to say? It’s also like, can everyone just f*cking relax and stop judging each other so hard? Everyone’s doing their best. I mean some people are not. Some people are really doing their absolute worst and we see you.
Being in love with a musician: “I love me a musician. I think it’s talent. I think it’s the way that they see the world. But I think it really depends on the musician. I’ve known some sh-tty ones. I love watching [Chris Martin on stage]. I could watch him every day. I don’t know how to explain it. I feel like, I don’t know… I’m watching my most favorite being do his most favorite thing. When people are really good at things, it is [sexy.] Except being a dictator.
She refers to Chris’s kids as her stepkids: “I think as long as you’re not hurting anyone physically, emotionally, psychologically, do you. I like that people are exploring existence and how to relate to other people. My stepson had a friend who was saying that at her school, some kids are identifying as cats. And I was like, OK, good for you.
Being a stepmom: “I love those kids like my life depends on it. With all my heart.”
She loves to lie in interviews: “The most fun. The most fun. Sometimes when you’re in a ridiculous situation, you just have to be ridiculous.
I was prepared to hate on her Madame Web answers, but she handled that really well. She telegraphed all of that during the publicity tour as well, that the thing she signed up for was not the thing which was made. Too many cooks in the kitchen, too many executives putting their two cents in, etc. Some of MW’s failure will fall on Dakota’s shoulders, but she won’t own it solely. A lot of people made a lot of bad decisions.
As for the rest of it… it’s interesting that she refers to Chris’s kids as her stepkids! We’ve known for a while that Dakota and Gwyneth are fine with each other, and Dakota and Apple Martin have been photographed together too. I can’t imagine what it’s like to navigate all of that. I also wonder if Chris will be mad that Dakota talked about him in an interview. She usually avoids all of that.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, Backgrid.