15 Things You Didn't Know About 50 Shades' Dakota Johnson

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In early February, the sequel to one of the worst movies of 2015 will come out. We're talking, of course, in case you missed the title or clicked this by mistake, about Fifty Shades Darker; the second installment in the Fifty Shades of Grey series. The first story told the tale of Anastasia, an innocent girl who falls in love with a rich dude, Christian Grey, after he introduces her to the wonderful world of roughness in the bedroom.

Of course there's more to it than that but when you get rid of the bad dialogue and the fake emotion, the story is a simple one. The second book deals with some complications in their lives and relationship, but it's more of the same, and if you're a dude, the story is a waste of time. Furthermore, if you're a dude who has any experience on the internet, you know you can find much better nudity than this movie has to offer in around eight and a half seconds.

But there are plenty of men out there who do owe the Fifty Shades series a tip of their metaphorical hat (or a tip of something else, perhaps?). We're talking, of course, about any dude whose wife, girlfriend or friend with benefits read the books or saw the movie, and then became a freak. It didn't happen in all cases, but just about any guy knows someone (or has first hand experience) that this franchise made women, at least some (and in some cases temporary) become more adventurous.

If there is a saving grace for the movie (from a male perspective), and a reason for a man to sit through it other than potential for kinky, sexy time afterward, it's Dakota Johnson. She's great looking, and you get to see most of her in these films, and it's pretty great. Here are fifteen things you didn't know about this hottie, along with a few hot pictures.

15. Body Doubles in the First 50 Shades Film

For the vast majority of the steamier scenes in the first film, Dakota Johnson was in front of the camera taking care of business. She has said that the sex scenes weren't particularly hot for her, rather she was just making sure to follow the script and choreography. But there was one scene during which there was a body double. It was the scene in which Ana was being whipped and the double was used so that there would be no marks on Johnson's body in case more takes of other scenes had to be done.

She also has a number of tattoos on her body that had to be hidden with makeup during shooting. Her tattoo on her butt would have been difficult to cover up, so a butt double was used for a close-up shot.

14. Has No Shame

One has to imagine, for all the film's faults, Fifty Shades of Grey would be a daunting task for any young actress to film. It is basically as close to p*rnography as you can get without a full-on money shot. In interview after interview, miss Johnson has said that she has had no problem doing anything required of her for the series (thus far). Her character requires a decent amount of acting range, but also the willingness to appear without anything on, which is something many actresses swear they will never do. Not our girl Dakota though, who said in an interview before the first film came out "I don't have any problem doing anything. The secret is I have no shame". Anything, you say?

13. Family of Actors

Her maternal grandmother, father, and mother are all actors, as are her step-father and a couple of siblings. Her grandmother is Tippi Hedren, who has been acting since the early 196os. Her mother, Melanie Griffith, is a well known Hollywood name, boasting a career of over forty years. Her father Don Johnson was on Miami Vice and Nash Bridges back in the 80s and 90s respectively, and won a Golden Globe Award for his work on the former. Her parents split up and of course, her mother had to go shack up with another actor. We know him from Desperado and The Mask of Zorro: Antonio Banderas. Her half-brother Jesse Johnson acts, and her half-sister Stella Banderas has had a few minors roles.

12. Famous Exes

The first of her known celebrity relationships was Jordan Masterson. A small-time actor, he is the younger brother of That '70s Show's Hyde; Danny Masterson. Jordan has had a few memorable roles including a supporting character in The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Greek and Last Man Standing. He and Johnson dated from 2011 until 2014. During the last year of their relationship, she was rumored to have been dating Benedict Cumberbatch, but we still don't know whether that actually happened. They were spotted eating together a couple of times, so of course that means they must be doing the nasty on a regular basis (sarcasm intended).

More recently she was in a relationship with Welsh singer Matthew Hitt. They were together from 2014 until mid 2016 but apparently broke up because of conflicting schedules which caused them to see each other very rarely.

11. Took a Break from Acting After Her First Performance

Her first official acting role was in Crazy in Alabama back in 1999. This flick is considered a drama/comedy, but the story was heavily centered around dark and unpleasant themes of spousal abuse and segregation in the South during the 1960s. It was not a hit by any means and flopped hard at the box office (bringing in about $2 million against a budget of $15 million). It was directed by her stepdad Antonio Banderas and starred her mother, so she naturally got the part playing one of her mother's on-screen kids.

After this however, she went back to a somewhat normal life, finished school and didn't do anything big on screen again until 2010's The Social Network.

10. Her Modeling Career

Taking a look at her, we can tell she's modeling material. She has great facial features (not that kind of "facial", you animals, but good on you if you made a joke after seeing that word), a thin, fit body, and stands just over 5'7 which is a decent height for a model. She has worked as a model since 2006 (age 17). Some of the brands she's represented include MANGO jeans, back in 2009 and more recently Australian line Wish, which was in 2011 and 2012. Her primary work has always been acting, but we have nothing but nice things to say about her work as a model.

9. Her Other Roles

So, you want to see more of Dakota Johnson? Well, you're in luck, she's actually worked on a few other solid films and briefly starred in a television show. Before Fifty Shades of Grey she played Amelia in The Social Network, for which she and the rest of the cast shared some awards for their performances. She played undercover cop Fugazy in 21 Jump Street and Anita in Need for Speed. The TV show in which she starred was Ben and Kate, but it was cancelled after just a season. Later in 2015 she played Whitey Bulger's girlfriend Lindsay in Black Mass. While her performance could be lost among the others, particularly Johnny Depp's terrifying portrayal of the Bostonian gang leaders, she was very convincing while playing this role.

8. Thoughts on Her Character

Because nobody, least of all militant feminists on the internet, can see anything these days without belching up some misguided "opinion", Dakota Johnson came under some indirect fire for portraying Ana in this series because some bloggers (whose only interaction is likely with their own feline companions) deemed that character to be anti-feminist.

There's no question that the story involved some over the top behavior by Christian and their relationship is rocky to say the least, but Johnson and E.L. James (who wrote the damn series) have said that Anastasia is a powerful character who comes out of her shell as the story goes on, with Johnson adding that she'd like to be an influence that makes women proud to do what they want with their bodies without shame. We couldn't salute this crusade any harder.

7. Fifty Shades Swept the 2016 Razzies

This isn't so much a Dakota Johnson factoid, but more a reflection on the way her most famous role was received. For those who care not for the Golden Raspberry Awards, they are the annual awards show that goes in the opposite direction of the Oscars, celebrating the year's worst in film. The first movie in this series received five "awards" at the 36th Golden Raspberry Awards, including a tie for Worst Picture of the year (shared with Fantastic Four), Worst Actor, Worst Actress, Worst Screen Combo, and Worst Screenplay. The Razzies are not a topic often spoken of with actors who receive them, and nobody has bothered to ask Dakota what she thinks of that honor. We're not surprised.

6. The Red Room of Pain

Throughout the history of film there is a multitude of interesting little stories that come out of the shooting process. Looking at the Indiana Jones franchise, during Raiders of the Lost Ark, when Indy shoots the swordsman, the scene was intended to be a long, drawn out sword battle, but Harrison Ford had the runs so the scene was modified. In Fight Club, when Edward Norton and Brad Pitt first fight in the bar parking lot, Norton really punches Pitt in the ear, as instructed by the director; so that the latter's response would be real.

In similar fashion, Johnson did not see the finished "Red Room of Pain" until the scene was shot, so that her look of awe and surprise would be natural. In contrast, Jamie Dornan spent a while familiarizing himself with the room so that he would seem comfortable while shooting in it.

5. Does She Hate Her Co-Star?

The quick answer to this is "no". When the first movie came out and even during the filming process, there were rumors swirling around the tabloids that Johnson and co-star Jamie Dornan, hated each other. There were also rumors that they were hooking up in real life. Both actors have said that these rumors are ridiculous. In part, the gossip started after it was suggested that the two have awkward on-screen chemistry. This is up for debate, and whether or not it's true, lack of chemistry doesn't automatically translate into hatred behind the scenes, and vice versa.

Ultimately, they have said complimentary things about each other, and both have admitted that obviously things can get heated (not that way) on set, but any fights they've had during the production process have been normal for actors; they're passionate, emotional people.

4. Her Rehab Story

Sure, she grew up with famous parents and was always comfortable (fed, clothed, etc) throughout her childhood, but things were not always perfect for Dakota while she was growing up. Her teen years in particular, were somewhat nightmarish at times. She was bullied extensively at one point, around age 17 and had a brief stay in rehab. There has been some speculation over what substance(s) she was having trouble with, but she says that her main problem at the time stemmed from kids at school harassing her over things they would read about her famous parents in tabloids.

Her stay in rehab was a short one (just thirty days), but every now and again a site will come up with some story about how she's a former addict and blow the whole thing out of proportion like she's Lindsay Lohan and Amanda Bynes all rolled into one. That's not the case.

3. She's Rumored to be Lesbian or Bisexual

We've discussed how quite literally any rumor about a celebrity can get published and here is one more. Despite her famous male ex boyfriends, there are a few sources that like to say she's into both genders or just girls from time to time. This isn't a problem obviously and consenting adults should be able to shack up with whoever they want without receiving the euphemistic third degree. While the rumors have been on and off for ages, they most recently resulted from Johnson being spotted hanging out with model/actress Cara Delevingne. Now, if there were pictures of the two of them making out or fooling around on a balcony somewhere, the rumors would have some legitimacy, but in this case they look like they're out having an entertaining girls' night. Johnson was also linked to Rita Ora last year. Basically, if she's in public with another woman, they must be screwing each other, right?

2. Tattoos

As we said earlier, makeup was used to cover up her tattoos while filming. Ink on a woman can be a polarizing topic for men, with some who think tats are sexy, and others saying tattoos on a woman ruin a beautiful thing. We have chosen a side and think tats on a female body are hot (well, this writer, anyway). Dakota has birds on her right shoulder (very elegant, we might add), "Acta Non Verba" ("actions not words" in Latin), something we can't identify behind her ear, "Amor" on the back of her neck, and "Look at the Moon" on her right foot. Finally, in white ink, she has "LIGHTLY, MY DARLING" (from Aldous Huxley's Island). These last two are relatively recent.

At this point, it is unclear what her bum tattoo is. I know, we apologize, we're dying of curiosity too.

1. Things She Took Home from the Set

For most of us, the kind of movie memorabilia we'd like to have are things like Luke Skywalker's lightsaber, Indiana Jones' hat and whip, or even a sword or axe from Lord of the Rings movies, but Dakota Johnson had very different ideas when she snatched (no pun intended here) a few items from the set of the kinky Fifty Shades of Grey film (and this was just the first movie of the series). She took a flogger and several pairs of underwear. We can use our imagination to figure out what the flogger is for, but when asked why she took the pairs of panties, her answer was something to the effect of them being far too comfortable to leave behind. No one is arguing with that, Dakota.

Sources: IB Times, Boomsbeat, ET Online, IMDB, ABC, Bustle, Inquisitr, Daily Mail