Dakota Johnson says it was “like mayhem all the time” working with Fifty Shades of Grey author E.L. James

July 15, 2022

Photos: @dakota.johnson @fiftyshadesmovie

“She (E.L. James) had a lot of creative control, all day, every day, and she just demanded that certain things happen,” says Dakota Johnson of Fifty Shades of Grey author E.L. James. “There were parts of the books that just wouldn’t work in a movie, like the inner monologue, which was at times incredibly cheesy. It wouldn’t work to say out loud. It was always a battle. Always.”

Dakota Johnson opened up about how crazy and weird it was to shoot the film franchise of Fifty Shades of Grey.

The 32-year-old actress spoke with Vanity Fair for its July 2022 issue regarding how Fifty Shades of Grey author E.L. James wanted full creative control of the films and interfered with the vision of the franchise’s film directors Sam Taylor-Johnson and James Foley.

Johnson played Anastacia Steele opposite Jamie Dornan as Christian Grey in the adaption of E.L. James’ bestselling erotic thrillers in 2015 (Fifty Shades of Grey), 2017 (Fifty Shades Darker) and 2018 (Fifty Shades Freed).

Johnson, who was also the producer of the franchise, revealed: “It just became something crazy. There were a lot of different disagreements. I haven’t been able to talk about this truthfully ever, because you want to promote a movie the right way, and I’m proud of what we made ultimately and everything turns out the way it’s supposed to, but it was tricky.

“She (E.L. James) had a lot of creative control, all day, every day, and she just demanded that certain things happen. There were parts of the books that just wouldn’t work in a movie, like the inner monologue, which was at times incredibly cheesy. It wouldn’t work to say out loud. It was always a battle. Always.

“We’d do the takes of the movie that James wanted to make, and then we would do the takes of the movie that we wanted to make. The night before, I would rewrite scenes with the old dialogue so I could add a line here and there. It was like mayhem all the time.”

According to the actress, James was upset when Charlie Hunnam backed out of playing Christian Grey in the movie due to scheduling conflicts.

Hunnam said that exiting the project was “the worst professional experience of my life” and the “most emotionally destructive and difficult thing that I’ve ever had to deal with professionally.”

Jamie Dornan signed on as the male lead of the film with Sam Taylor-Johnson as director.

However, Taylor-Johnson, did not return to direct the next two installments, which were instead helmed by James Foley.

The female filmmaker said this in 2017 about clashing with James’ vision: “I like everyone — and I get really confused when they don’t like me. I was so confused by E.L. James. I don’t understand when I can’t navigate a person, when there’s no synergy. … With the benefit of hindsight would I go through it again? Of course I wouldn’t. I’d be mad.”

Johnson was somehow disappointed when Taylor-Johnson didn’t come back to direct the two other films.

“Sam didn’t come back to direct after the first movie, and, as a female, she had brought a softer perspective. James Foley came on to direct, and he’s an interesting man. It was different doing those bizarre things with a man behind the camera. Just a different energy.

“There are things that I still cannot say because I don’t want to hurt anyone’s career and I don’t want to damage anybody’s reputation, but both Jamie and I were treated really well. Erika is a very nice woman, and she was always kind to me and I am grateful she wanted me to be in those movies.

As weird and crazy as it was, Johnson doesn’t regret playing Anastacia: “I describe myself as a sexual person and when I’m interested in something, I want to know so much about it — that’s why I did those big naked movies. However, I signed up to do a very different version of the film we ended up making.

“I don’t think it’s a matter of regret. If I had known at the time that’s what it was going to be like, I don’t think anyone would’ve done it. It would’ve been like, ‘Oh, this is psychotic.’ But no, I don’t regret it. Look, it was great for our careers. So amazing. So lucky. But it was weird. So, so weird.”

Back in 2019, James told The Arizona Republic that she had “such a miserable time making the Fifty Shades of Grey movie.”

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:

Chris Hemsworth says naked butt scene in new Thor movie was a “kind of a dream of mine.”

The Big Bang Theory star Kaley Cuoco, now divorced from Karl Cook; dates actor Tom Pelphrey

Jury finds former “America’s Dad,” Bill Cosby guilty of sexually assaulting a teen in 1975

Riverdale actor Ryan Grantham pleads guilty to second-degree murder of his mother and a plot to kill Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

BTS members to embark on solo careers

FOLLOW US ONLINE:

Facebook: facebook.com/pikapikashowbiz

Twitter: twitter.com/pikapikaph

Instagram: instagram.com/pikapikaph/

YouTube: youtube.com/pikapikashowbiz