Recently, the “50 Shades of Grey” star shared her thoughts on the American movie industry, calling it “a bit of a mess ” and blaming its obsession with remakes.
The star slammed studio executives for often relying on a committee of people who barely watched films, leading to repetitive content meant to appease algorithms or rely on audience familiarity.
On Thursday, June 12, Dakota Johnson appeared on “Hot Ones.” While the actress was battling various spice levels of chicken wings, host Sean Evans asked for her thoughts on why Hollywood has become “so risk-averse.”
“I think it’s hard when creative decisions are made by committee, and it’s hard when creative decisions are made by people who don’t even really watch movies or know anything about them. That tends to be what’s occurring a lot,” she responded.
Johnson continued, hammering on another issue she felt made Hollywood a bit stagnant.
“I think also, when something does well, studios want to keep that going, so they remake the same things. They want to feel new things, experience new things, see new things. So I don’t know, I guess it’s all just a bit of a mess right now, isn’t it?” the star said.
Johnson shared the same thoughts on June 4 when she opened up about the underperformance of her 2024 movie “Madame Web.”
Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, the actress made it clear that she wasn’t to blame for the critical failings.
“It wasn’t my fault,” she said. “There’s this thing that happens now where a lot of creative decisions are made by committee. Or made by people who don’t have a creative bone in their body. And it’s really hard to make art that way. Or to make something entertaining that way.”
The 35-year-old revealed that for “Madame Web,” things changed along the way during production.
“It started out as something and turned into something else. And I was just sort of along for the ride at that point. But that happens. Bigger budget movies fail all the time,” she said.
Johnson’s performance in the superhero movie earned her a Razzie award for Worst Actress at the 2025 ceremony.
The film also bagged the award for Worst Screenplay and Worst Picture. Considering how badly the movie did, it is no wonder that the movie star revealed she wouldn’t take on such a role again.
“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,” Johnson told Bustle. “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?”
The film, set in Sony’s Spider-Man movie universe, was released on Valentine’s Day. It starred Johnson as Cassandra Webb, a paramedic who develops psychic powers and becomes a reluctant hero.
Dakota Johnson is working to make a difference in Hollywood, particularly through her production company, TeaTime Pictures.
During her time on “Hot Ones,” Evans asked the star if she experienced more stress working as a producer on a project.
“I really prefer it,” she said, explaining, “It’s hard to be on some jobs where I don’t have input, creative input.”
Johnson had previously told Deadline that being a producer was what she had always wanted as it allowed for more collaborations and creative freedom.
“I just wanted to be more involved, learn more and be more creative as well as be a part of the whole process of making a movie as opposed to just showing up on set and saying my lines,” she told the publication.
As Dakota Johnson navigates her career as an actress and a producer, she is also dealing with some challenges in her love life.
Recently, the “Materialists” star and Coldplay frontman Chris Martin called it quits after nearly eight years of romance.
An insider revealed that the decision to part ways wasn’t sudden, as their issues had been piling up for a long time.
“Breakups aren’t instant. They continued to break up and make up, and sometimes things would work when they were away from each other while working, because absence makes the heart grow fonder,” they said.
“But when they got back together, the little things just kept adding up. They weren’t right for each other anymore,” the insider told the Daily Mail.
According to them, Johnson’s most difficult part of the breakup was not living without Martin but not being around his kids, Apple and Moses, anymore.
