Dakota Johnson Once Couldn’t Pay Rent — And Had To Call Her Famous Parents For Help

Before Fifty Shades of Grey and Madame Web, Dakota Johnson had moments when she couldn’t even pay her rent. And yes — she sometimes had to call her famous parents, Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson, for help.

In a candid chat with her Materialists co-star Pedro Pascal for Elle, published May 14, Dakota got real about how hard things were when she first started chasing her acting dreams. “I think I was 19 when I did The Social Network, and then little jobs and stuff after that,” she said, reflecting on her early career.

After not getting into Juilliard and choosing not to attend college, Dakota says her parents cut her off financially; a decision that led to some humbling experiences. “There were a few times when I’d go to the market and not have money in my bank account or not be able to pay rent,” she admitted.

Pedro, 50, asked if that phase was scary, and Dakota, now 35, didn’t sugarcoat it. “The auditioning process, as you know, is the f—— worst,” she told him after saying, “I’d have to ask my parents for help — I’m very grateful that I had parents that could help me and did help me. But it certainly was not fun.”

Though she’s Hollywood royalty — granddaughter of The Birds icon Tippi Hedren and former stepdaughter of Antonio Banderas — Dakota says her family wasn’t eager to see her join the business. During a conversation with W Magazine in 2022, she shared, “They wanted me to have as much of a childhood as I could.”

Still, Dakota was hooked on acting almost from birth. “Nothing old. Zero old,” she said when asked when she caught the acting bug. “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.”

Now, Dakota and Pedro are gearing up to charm audiences in Materialists, a new romantic comedy directed by Past Lives director Celine Song. In the film, Dakota plays Lucy, a modern-day matchmaker whose own love life gets messy after she meets a charming stranger named Randy (played by Pedro) — only to run into her ex John (played by Chris Evans) the very same night.