How Dakota Johnson Really Feels About Fifty Shades Of Grey

Over the years, Dakota Johnson has rarely been afraid to speak her mind in the press. Whether she's opening up about co-stars accused of misconduct or her own celebrity parents, few subjects haven't been broached by the Hollywood star and "Madame Web" lead. And now she's opening up about a major moment in her career — "Fifty Shades of Grey."

Considered her breakout performance, Johnson explained in a recent interview how she kept her true feelings about the popular erotic film franchise under wraps for fear of looking bad. "I haven't been able to talk about this truthfully ever, because you want to promote a movie the right way," Johnson told Vanity Fair during a profile. "And I'm proud of what we made ultimately and everything turns out the way it's supposed to, but it was tricky." 

This trickiness, as she describes it, has to ultimately do with her performance as Anastasia "Ana" Steele alongside Jamie Dornan's Christian Grey and how different the film franchise wound up becoming compared to what she had initially signed up for. 

Ultimately, Dakota Johnson doesn't regret playing Anastasia Steele (a role that nearly went to one of the stars of "Game of Thrones") in the "Fifty Shades of Grey" franchise. However, while speaking with Vanity Fair, the actor opened up about a variety of issues she had with making the notorious films, a crucial one being, "I signed up to do a very different version of the film we ended up making." 

Asked what the main issues were for her, Johnson cited a variety of contributing factors, including the studio and author of the book series, E.L. James, who apparently had a strong vision for how the films should be made. According to Johnson, scenes would be reshot multiple times, and then once director James Foley came on board for "Fifty Shades Darker" and "Fifty Shades Freed," replacing "Fifty Shades of Grey" director Sam Taylor-Johnson, the vibe changed. "It was different doing those bizarre things with a man behind the camera," she told Vanity Fair. "Just a different energy. 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." 

All of that said, Johnson did also add, "both Jamie [Dornan] and I were treated really well. [E.L. James] is a very nice woman, and she was always kind to me and I am grateful she wanted me to be in those movies."

Asked if she had any regrets in the end, Johnson said, "No. 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."