“It was hard to make money” — Dakota Johnson recalls asking famous parents for money as a struggling actress

In a recent article by Elle, actress Dakota Johnson recalled her time as a struggling actress, emphasizing that her rise to fame wasn’t easy.

In a cover interview with the publication, she said that while people might assume things were easy for her because she comes from a long line of actors, she had her own fair share of struggles.

"For a couple of years it was hard to make money. 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, and 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. The auditioning process, as you know, is the f*cking worst." Johnson recalled.

Johnson comes from a long line of actors. Her father, Don Johnson, is a celebrated American actor and songwriter. Her mother, Melanie Griffith, and grandmother, Tippi Hedren, are also acclaimed actresses.

Johnson further said that she was a bad student in school and had to face the consequences of skipping classes, including being forced to leave a theatre program she had joined.

"I was bad at basic school stuff because I never learnt time management or did my homework. I enjoyed English. I was good at Spanish, I was not at math. I did visual arts, and then at one point they had a pseudo-theatre program that I was a part of, and then I got kicked out of it because I abandoned my schoolwork and started failing classes."

She further told Elle that she had applied to a famous acting school called Juilliard in New York but couldn’t get in. After that, Johnson’s father cut her off, and she began auditioning.

"It was fine, I really didn’t want to go to college. And because Juilliard felt so small – the idea of being in a classroom with the same group of people, and figuring out how to be a human in that environment, after growing up surrounded by so many different kinds of people and immersed in different cultures through travelling all over… It just felt really wrong to lock myself in one place." Johnson mentioned

"I didn’t get in and my dad cut me off because I didn’t go to college. So, I started auditioning. I think I was 19 when I did The Social Network, and then little jobs and stuff after that…"

About Dakota Johnson

Born on October 4, 1989, Dakota Johnson is the daughter of acclaimed American actors Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith. She was raised in Austin, Texas, and is also the stepdaughter of Antonio Banderas.

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According to IMDb, Johnson made her debut in 1999 with the movie Crazy in Alabama, starring her mother, Melanie Griffith, and her half-sister, Stella Banderas. In 2006, she was crowned Miss Golden Globe, which established her as a model. She has modeled for the brand Mango. She also appeared in a scene with Justin Timberlake in the 2010 movie The Social Network.

After acting in films like Goats, The Five-Year Engagement, Date and Switch, and Need for Speed, she rose to international fame in 2015 with the movie Fifty Shades of Grey, a hit that made her both famous and critically acclaimed.

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