Dakota Johnson had her first star turn in “Fifty Shades of Grey,” the 2015 erotic film based on the novel by E.L. James. In it, she plays Anastasia Steele, a college student who begins a BDSM relationship with a handsome billionaire. Now, Johnson, 34, continues to explore the intricacies of women’s sex lives in last month’s “The Disappearance of Shere Hite.”
Johnson—who reportedly has a net worth of $40 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth—narrates the IFC Films documentary about Hite, a feminist sex educator who rose to fame in the 1970s with the publication of her groundbreaking book “The Hite Report,” which compiled findings from her surveys of thousands of women about their sex lives. Hite eventually received so much backlash from men and some critics that she moved to Europe to get out of the spotlight.
Johnson said she’s long been fascinated by Hite: “She was hyper-intelligent and eloquent and presented quantifiable data that gave insight into female sexuality and the female orgasm. And she was blotted out of history.”
This month, Johnson put Hite and her work into “100 Years of Design and Decency,” the exhibition she helped curate at Miami’s new Museum of Sex through her role as co-creative director of sexual wellness brand Maude.
Johnson, the daughter of Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith (and granddaughter of Tippi Hedren), grew up in a Hollywood family. These days, she lives in Malibu, Calif., with her partner, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin. Here, she discusses why she enjoys baths in the middle of the day and what she learned about screen presence from her mom.
Here are a few things Dakota Johnson revealed to WSJ. Magazine…
On what time she wakes up on Mondays, and the first thing she does:
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I don’t have a regular [wake-up] time. It depends on what’s happening in my life. If I’m not working, if I have a day off on a Monday, then I will sleep as long as I can. Sleep is my number one priority in life.
On how many hours a night she aims for:
I’m not functional if I get less than 10. I can easily go 14 hours.
On breakfast and coffee:
I am not really a breakfast person, but I have coffee as quickly as I can. I love an oat milk flat white.
What do you do for exercise?
I work out five days a week. I do a lot of hot yoga and Pilates and body weight training.
Do you meditate or journal or otherwise practice mindfulness?
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I meditate every day, twice a day. I do transcendental meditation. I’ve been really into breathwork recently and that’s been helping me a lot with anxiety.
On what she learned by co-curating the exhibition “100 Years of Design and Decency” at the Museum of Sex in Miami, through her brand Maude:
Most interesting and also maybe the most alarming is just how we’re still fighting to talk about sexual wellness. I’m excited for this exhibition to spark conversations around how we approach it.
On the most unusual artifact she came across during her exhibition research:
Honestly, I think about the vibrators that were made [in the 1920s and ‘30s]. They’re called “cure-alls,” or they’re marketed as a full body or face [massager] and look like they are meant to work on cars. I’m like, “Oh, my God, their poor vaginas.”
On what she does for self-care:
I will get in a bathtub at any moment, any time of the day. If in the middle of the day, I’m like, “Oh God, what is this world?” I’ll get in the bathtub. I find water really grounding.
On what she’s learned from her parents about things like screen presence and confidence:
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Both of them are very confident people and very special on camera. My mom is such a specific person. She’s so different to watch on screen—she’s got this real sparkle in her eyes. You’re like, “What is she thinking?” I’ve always appreciated that she doesn’t give it all away. So maybe that—a little bit of mystery.
On the one thing she has to do herself and would never delegate:
I have to pack my own suitcases. I know that sounds like a really ridiculous thing to say, but I travel so much.
On her and her family’s holiday traditions:
My family doesn’t really have holiday traditions. We’re kind of free-flowing in that department. We’re all very good at not applying stress to each other to show up or behave in a certain way, which I think is really nice. The holidays are stressful and especially with the world and the state that it’s in, just being quiet and spending time with people you love and make you feel good is better than forcing traditions that feel stressful.
On her most prized possession:
My dogs. I have a Jack-Russell-terrier-mutt mix. He’s 16 years old, and I’ve had him since he was 10 weeks. And then I have a five-year-old German shepherd.
On the one piece of advice you’ve gotten that’s guided her:
The news cycle is pretty much only 24 hours.
Read the full article here.
Photo: Emily Knecht via WSJ. Magazine.
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