Dakota Johnson Says ’50 Shades’ Movies Became ‘Crazy’ Due to Author’s Demands: ‘It Was Always a Battle’

Dakota Johnson Says ’50 Shades’ Movies Became ‘Crazy’ Due to Author’s Demands: ‘It Was Always a Battle’

“I haven’t been able to talk about this truthfully ever,” Dakota Johnson said while reflecting on her “weird” experience making the Fifty Shades of Grey movies

Dakota Johnson says it was a constant creative battle making the Fifty Shades of Grey movies.

The Persuasion actress, 32, spoke to Vanity Fair for the magazine’s July 2022 issue, reflecting on her sexy, star-making franchise, which began with the first movie in 2015, followed by Fifty Shades Darker in 2017 and Fifty Shades Freed in 2018. Johnson played Anastasia Steele opposite Jamie Dornan as Christian Grey in the adaptations of author E.L. James’ bestselling erotic thrillers.

Johnson said James, whose name is Erika Leonard (E.L. James is her pen name), exercised her creative control and interfered with the vision she and some other people behind the scenes had in mind.

“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,” said Johnson.

“She had a lot of creative control, all day, every day, and she just demanded that certain things happen,” the actress said of the author, who was also a producer on the film franchise. “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.”

Johnson claimed that James was upset when Charlie Hunnam backed out of playing Christian Grey in the movie due to scheduling conflicts. (He’s since 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.”)

Sam Taylor-Johnson directed the first movie, on which Dornan eventually signed on as the male lead. As Johnson recalled, “We’d do the takes of the movie that Erika 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.”

The actress described herself 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.”

But she doesn’t regret it: “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.”

Taylor-Johnson, 55, did not return to direct the next two installments, which were instead helmed by James Foley. The female filmmaker told The Sunday Times back 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.”

Actress Johnson told Vanity Fair there was a different tone on set with a male director.

“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,” she said.

“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,” added Johnson. “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.”

She continued, “Look, it was great for our careers. So amazing. So lucky. But it was weird. So, so weird.”

A rep for James did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment. Back in 2019, James told The Arizona Republic that she had “such a miserable time making the Fifty Shades of Grey movie.”