Dakota Johnson—We All Need to Be More Like the ‘Madame Web’ Star

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It’s no secret that some actors dislike press tours. And once you put down your sad violin for their hardships, you can see why. The questions can be boring and redundant (not, of course, those from Glamour). The schedule can be packed and grueling. You have to smile and grit your teeth through photo op after photo op, nod along in every interview.

Most actors have to play along with the game, never showing their annoyance or fatigue, to keep from being labeled difficult or ungrateful, an asshole if they are a man and a diva if they are a woman. Unless, of course, you have both the unbridled confidence and the warm cocoon of nepo-baby-dom that leave you free to do and say whatever you want. In other words, unless you are Dakota Johnson.

Over the past few years, Johnson, 34, has become known for two distinct things in the popular imagination. She has successfully shed her breakout role as Anastasia Steele in the Fifty Shades of Grey films, collecting enough prestige IMDB credits (The Lost Daughter, Cha Cha Real Smooth) to be respected as a Real Actor. Then there’s her public persona: the acerbic, witty, deadpan, Ellen-ruining, lime-lying Dakota that has, in her own way, become America’s sweetheart.

It may be that Johnson is the perfect celebrity for our current time. She draws our intrigue by being mysterious in a way that so few actors are these days (she barely posts on Instagram, and when she is spotted by the paps, it doesn’t seem to be a set-up). She doesn’t chase fame in an uncouth way (the privilege of being a third-generation nepo baby) and always seems to be a bit bored by the entire Hollywood ecosystem. In an age when everyone—not just celebrities—is constantly curating the best version of themselves for public consumption on social media, the idea that we could be getting a genuine window into how a famous person actually feels is refreshing and fun.

The press tour for Johnson’s latest project, Madame Web, may be her finest work yet. The film’s reviews have been less than great (it’s currently at a rough 13% on Rotten Tomatoes, though some critics have praised Johnson’s performance). But the public’s reviews of the performance Johnson gives while promoting the film are excellent.

It seems every day there’s a new viral clip, tweet, or meme about Johnson’s often hilarious and deadpan responses to some interview question or commentary. For example, how did she feel about her small role on the perennially memed millennial staple sitcom The Office? She hated it. Can she, the star of a related-to-Spider-Man superhero film, name three of the Spider-Man movies that Tom Holland starred in? No, but she will, with just a hint of a smirk, name three ridiculous sounding titles. What about her experience working with her three young female Madame Web costars? “It was so fun having them around. The three of them really bonded and then there was me,” Johnson told Entertainment Tonight.

Johnson also doesn’t hesitate to let an interviewer know how she really feels about their question if it displeases her. When one Huffington Post reporter tried to get her to comment on a meme mocking the film’s trailer, she called his bluff, essentially waiting for him to admit that the reason the meme was funny was it was making fun of the movie she was now promoting.

“What a silly thing,” she finally said.

Or, the whole nepo baby thing.

“If you’re a journalist, write about something else. That’s just, like, lame,” Johnson told Today.

As for the film itself? Well…Johnson told The Wrap, amid the flood of bad reviews, that the final script was far different than the one she signed up for.

“There were drastic changes,” Johnson said with (the publication noted) a laugh. “And I can’t even tell you what they were.”

I mean, is that not shade? You can’t tell me that’s not shade.

What may be the most delicious part of Johnson’s persona, though, is that while we all spin out over her constant viral moments, she has enough clout, and I’d assume inner peace, to seem not to care about what everyone is saying about her. She may be the rare public figure who doesn’t read the comments.

“Yesterday my best friend told me something that I said was on the internet again, and I was like, What now?” she said in the same Entertainment Tonight interview.

Of course, Johnson is only able to act this way because of who she is. When she infamously took down Ellen Degeneres, many people noted that only someone whose family had been in Hollywood since the 1950s could have the freedom to not play the likability game, and that still rings true today. Part of the reason why nepo babies grind our collective gears so much is they don’t have to jump through the same hoops and grease the same palms to find success as us normies do, and Johnson’s lineage provides her a certain ability to not play the game. She has now crafted a persona as a lovable, tell-it-like-it-is heroine, but for someone without her connections, the entire enterprise may have been a nonstarter.

However, rather than feel jealous or bitter, I say we should all feel inspired. After all, who hasn’t felt like rolling their eyes at the ridiculousness we all have had to perform in order to get ahead? Maybe in 2024, in the middle of everything, we should all just give less of an F and start saying how we really feel. After all, it’s working for Johnson, one viral clip at a time.

Stephanie McNeal is a senior editor at Glamour and the author of Swipe Up for More! Inside the Unfiltered Lives of Influencers.