Dakota Johnson was interviewed by her “Materialists” co-star Pedro Pascal for Elle UK and spoke about being cut off by her father, actor Don Johnson, when she did not get into Juilliard. Johnson did not have a college back-up plan, nor were the acting roles she was able to book at the time big enough to make her financially sound.
“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,” Johnson said. “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,” she added. “The auditioning process, as you know, is the fucking worst.”
Applying to Julliard was also a nightmare for Johnson, who described told Pascal: “That fucking process was so awful and terrifying. When you get accepted for an audition, it’s a two-day long chorus-line thing. You’re supposed to get called back for a second audition, and I didn’t. It was fine.”
“I really didn’t want to go to college,” she said. “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 traveling all over… It just felt really wrong to lock myself in one place.”
Johnson and Pascal star with Chris Evans in “Materialists,” the new romance drama from “Past Lives” Oscar nominee Celine Song. A24 is releasing the film in theaters June 13.
