The new trailer for Fifty Shades of Grey dropped Thursday night, and it's dripping with two-and-a-half minutes of sexual tension.
Dakota Johnson brings her plucky mix of self-confidence and sheer bravery to 2015's most anticipated erotic thriller. But she's adamant her parents Don and Melanie won't be seeing it. She and co-star Jamie Dornan chat to Michele Manelis.
Two weeks before the feverishly-anticipated Fifty Shades of Grey hits theatres, its burgeoning movie stars Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan are savouring their last few days of anonymity.
Unsurprisingly then, when I meet Johnson at a Beverly Hills hotel she looks visibly nervous. Not merely does this mark her outreinto leading-lady territory but she is bringing to life a most beloved and controversial literary figure - with quite a bang, in every sense.
Hollywood was shocked when Johnson - then best known for her appealing turn in a short-lived sitcom, Ben & Kate, landed the much-coveted part of Anastasia Steele ahead of established actresses and much bigger names Emma Watson and Shailene Woodley.
Though it's unknown how the movie will measure up to the E.L. James novel (the trilogy has been read by 100 million readers and tops the all-time best-selling book lists), one thing is certain - the lives of Johnson and Dornan will be forever changed come this Valentine's Day weekend.
"I don't know how people will respond but I'm going to take it all in stride." says Johnson "Not everyone loves every movie. There will be people who don't like it and that's okay," she says, shrugging her shoulders. "It's a very bizarre thing to wonder about what my life is going to be like."
The pretty, softly spoken brunette exudes an air of demureness. One might even describe Johnson as shy, a rare trait for an actress; let alone one who has made the bold choice to star in such a provocative film. Perhaps this intangible yet compelling characteristic helped her clinch the role of the innocent college student who allows herself to be seduced by billionaire Christian Grey.
Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan feature on the cover of this week's TimeOut:
Johnson most recently appeared in last year's action flick, Need for Speed, but she is most famous as the daughter of veteran actors Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson. A third-generation Hollywood actress, her maternal grandmother is Tippi Hedren, Alfred Hitchcock's famed muse and star of The Birds and Marnie.
"I think it's interesting that both my mother and my grandmother are two women who have had shocking careers as actresses and made profound statements in film." (Griffith appeared naked in Night Moves, 1975, and played a porn star in Body Double in 1984).
Growing up in the family business, was there ever a possibility she might not become an actress?
"I wasn't really capable of doing anything else. I don't have any other skills," she laughs. "I always just thought I'd be making movies because I grew up with people around me making movies." She leans forward. "But I don't always want to be considered my mother's daughter or my father's daughter."
Johnson's parents - and she resembles them both - had the star wattage of Brad and Angelina in their day. Griffith, an Academy-nominated actress (Working Girl, in 1988) and Don Johnson, best known for the 1980s TV series Miami Vice, and later in the 90s Nash Bridges, were a ubiquitous tabloid couple.
Griffith was only 14 when she met Johnson, 22, on the set of her mother's film, The Harrad Experiment. Four years later, in 1976, they married. It lasted six months. Griffith went on to marry actor Steven Bauer in 1982 whom she divorced in 1987. She then remarried Johnson in 1989, the year Dakota was born, before the pair finally broke up permanently in 1994. In 1995, Griffith met Antonio Banderas with whom she starred in Two Much. They were married from 1996 until 2014. Meanwhile, Johnson Sr has been married five times. He married his current wife, nursery school teacher Kelley Phleger, in 1999. Considering both her parents have led a turbulent romantic life and spent periods in rehab for substance abuse, their daughter appears remarkably level-headed.
Jamie Dornan in a scene from the movie Fifty Shades of Grey.
Johnson also does not succumb to the rail-thin frame most actresses feel pressured to adopt.
Refreshingly, she looks healthy. "I was brought up in an environment where I was told to be comfortable with myself. My parents instilled self-confidence in me."
There's no denying that self-confidence, or perhaps sheer bravery was a prerequisite for the erotic thriller job at hand, complete with sexual dungeon.
"I don't know where I found it but I guess that courage lives somewhere in me. I think the naked female body is the most beautiful thing and I think people get afraid of nudity. Women should be more comfortable with themselves and not ashamed of their bodies."
But even the most seasoned of actors might find performing naked, let alone the content of Fifty Shades, a little vexing. "Yes, the idea of nude scenes or sex scenes was scary and daunting, but it's nowhere as bad as the moment right before." She giggles, and in an instant she looks remarkably like her mother. "But then it gets a lot easier. I think there really was a part of me that thought that I would be totally afraid the whole way through, or I would be too nervous to let go. But that wasn't the case."
Dakota Johnson in a scene from the movie Fifty Shades of Grey.
She may be playing a submissive type in Anastasia , but Johnson took a hands-on approach to the way the more sexually explicit scenes were shot. "I wanted to know exactly what was going to be happening in those scenes, every aspect. What camera angles would be used, where everyone would be, I was very much aware of everything going on."
Did she ever have second thoughts once she took on this juggernaut of a potential franchise? "I was hesitant because of the enormity of it and the awareness of it, but I think I was more intrigued by the love story and the content that won me over."
Despite a healthy attitude towards the female anatomy and her unfazed approach to sex, it's amusing that she ends the interview on this note: "I'm excited that it's finally coming out but my parents are not going to see this movie," she laughs. "And neither is my grandmother."
Earlier that morning I chatted to Jamie Dornan, who arguably had the easier task of the two actors. He said, "I was very aware of the books but I hadn't read them. And when it comes to the world of BDSM (bondage and discipline, sadism and masochism), I have to admit that I wasn't privy to it."
Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan in a scene from the movie Fifty Shades of Grey.
Dornan is a Calvin Klein model from Belfast who appeared in Sofia Coppola's film Marie Antoinette, the TV series Once Upon a Time, and stars in the BBC crime drama series, The Fall, alongside Gillian Anderson.
He is the son of an obstetrician father; his mother was a nurse who tragically died of pancreatic cancer when he was 16. His grandparents on both sides were Methodist lay preachers. A passionate rugby player growing up, Dornan also dabbled in acting during his high school years. Suffice it to say, Belfast is not exactly a breeding ground for would-be movie stars and Dornan moved to London after dropping out of Teesdale University.
Today Dornan looks unrecognisable in a full-grown beard. Could he be practising for the near future in which travelling incognito may be necessary?
"Well, maybe there needs to be some reminder that I'm not Christian Grey and so the beard has something to do with that," he laughs. "But there's also a laziness involved."
There was much furore over the sudden departure of Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy) who dropped out of the starring role just four weeks before the start of shooting before Dornan stepped in and ... ahem, took the reins. Hunnam reportedly pulled out because of personal issues and admitted recently to Entertainment Weekly that when he initially accepted the role he "made a rookie mistake" and "bit off more than I could chew". He was referring to the relentless media circus that has surrounded the project and the havoc it would wreak on his personal life.
Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson in a scene from the movie Fifty Shades of Grey.
Presumably, Dornan has a stronger stomach for such life-altering realities than his predecessor. Notably, he has had some experience with the downside of fame when he was in a relationship with the paparazzi-plagued Keira Knightley from 2003 to 2005. Now married to singer-songwriter Amelia Warner, they are parents to a daughter born in November 2013.
"Our baby was 3 days old when we started filming, so you can only imagine how sort of mad that time was," he recalls. So after a hard day's filming in the Red Room, Dornan would return to home to his domestic duties. "Yes. Relaxing after the day meant changing diapers and having a little baby vomit on my shoulders. Then of course, waking up four times a night," he laughs. "It was pretty full-on."
What was it really like for him to film the more controversial scenes?
"Well, the sex scenes are choreographed, of course, it's not just a free-for-all, and that's comforting because you know your parameters." Although director Sam Taylor-Johnson has belaboured the point that it was a closed set, Dornan is candid about the realities of such environments. "It was uncomfortable for Dakota. She was in very vulnerable positions, and she was naked. And the thing about a closed set, there are still more people in a room that you would ever see when you're actually having sex." He laughs. "It's still strange."
Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson in a scene from the movie Fifty Shades of Grey.
Once Dornan jumped on board, he did acquaint himself with the world of BDSM. "It's exploring a side that isn't in the public domain that often, and BDSM hasn't had a platform on such a ground level before. I think there are more people into that world than we thought or even the idea that people maybe aren't willing to practise that in their lives but are intrigued enough to want to read about it." A frown appears on his tanned, unlined face. "But I do get a bit defensive about the story itself because there is an actual love story behind it."
Playing a modern-day Adonis brings its own pressures and insecurities and even those who can include "underwear model" on their resume are apparently not exempt from insecurities.
"I have massive hang-ups about my physical appearance," he admits. "I was a very skinny kid and when I see an image of myself, all I see is this skinny kid and I don't like it. And Christian Grey is such a fantasy. He's unfathomable, like a superhero in a way. No one is like him. He gets described as the epitome of male beauty, well that doesn't exist, though I guess George Clooney is pretty close," he jokes.
"But this character is not a real thing so in a way that takes the pressure off, because I am just the guy that they deemed to be the closest thing for that character. I can't possibly live up to everybody's idea of what that is."
Dakota Johnson in a scene from the movie Fifty Shades of Grey.
What does Dornan think of the worldwide Valentine's Day weekend release? "I think if you are with your girlfriend or wife and she wants to see Fifty Shades of Grey, there may be a benefit from taking her to see it when you get home." He smiles.
"But for me personally, I don't think my wife and I will be watching it on Valentine's night."
Who: Jamie Dornan and and Dakota Johnson What: Fifty Shades of Grey When: At cinemas from today
