After Dakota Johnson decided college wasn’t for her, she was financially cut off by her father, fellow actor Don Johnson.
“I didn’t get in [to The Juilliard School] and my dad cut me off because I didn’t go to college,” Dakota, 35, told Elle UK in a profile published on Wednesday, May 14. “So, I started auditioning. I think I was 19 when I did The Social Network, and then little jobs and stuff after that.”
Dakota is the daughter of Doctor Odyssey star Don, 75, and ex Melanie Griffith, who also each have multiple children from other relationships. As for Dakota, she was so set on following in her parents’ acting footsteps that she didn’t feel the need to apply to other schools besides Juilliard in New York City.
Instead, Dakota stayed in Los Angeles and started hustling for roles and auditions.
“For a couple of years, it was hard to make money,” she admitted to Elle. “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.”
Dakota added, “I’m very grateful that I had parents [who] could help me and did help me, but it certainly was not fun. The auditioning process, as you know, is the f***ing worst.”
Don previously shared that he maintains a family rule that his children can only stay “on the payroll” if they are enrolled in school.
“We have a rule in the family that, you know, if you stay in school, you get to stay on the payroll,” he said on a 2021 episode of Late Night With Seth Meyers. “So, you go to college, you get to stay on the payroll. Toward the end of high school, I went to [Dakota] and I said, ‘So, do you want to go visit some colleges?’ Or something like that. And she was like, ‘Oh, no. I’m not going to college.’”
He continued, “I went, ‘OK, you know what that means? You won’t be on the payroll anymore.’”
When Don initially asked Dakota how she would manage her finances on her own, she replied, “Don’t worry about it.” Dakota booked her debut role in 2010’s The Social Network three weeks later.
“And the rest is, shall we say, cinema history,” Don recalled at the time of his daughter, who went on to star in projects such as 50 Shades of Grey, Madame Web and the upcoming The Materialists. “She doesn’t really call me for advice. She calls me to say, ‘Gosh, I would see you, but I’ve got three pictures that I’m shooting at the same time.’”
