Dakota Johnson on Growing Up With Famous Parents

In an interview with Vogue Germany, Dakota Johnson—daughter of Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson and stepdaughter of Antonio Banderas—said she grew up on film sets and always felt destined to be an actress. She acknowledged the “incredible upsides” of being a so‑called “nepo baby” but described parts of her childhood as “really quite scary,” recounting people aggressively trying to reach her mother and the invasiveness of public scrutiny. Johnson warned that accepting that level of attention as normal can lead to psychological complexes and said constant moving made it hard to make and keep friends. She said her parents largely kept her from working professionally until after high school, though she had a small role in Crazy in Alabama and later served as Miss Golden Globe before taking on modeling and agency deals. Overall she framed her upbringing as mixed—painful and intrusive at times, but balanced by significant advantages and a lifelong immersion in filmmaking.