Dakota Johnson has revealed some behind-the-scenes turmoil from Fifty Shades of Grey—and no, she wasn’t talking about Jamie Dornan.
In a new interview with Vanity Fair, Johnson described the filming process for the franchise as “mayhem,” in part because of the creative control held by the book’s author, E.L. James, whom Johnson refers to as Erika. “I signed up to do a very different version of the film we ended up making,” Johnson said. Specifically, Johnson revealed that James wanted to keep protagonist Anastasia Steele’s “incredibly cheesy” inner monologues in the movie, even though they “wouldn’t work to say out loud.”
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“It was always a battle,” the actor said. “Always.” The cast ended up doing multiple takes of each scene, one to fit James’s vision, and another for “the movie that we wanted to make.” Hmm, might have to go back and rewatch, and guess what ended up in the final cut.
“There were a lot of different disagreements,” Johnson said. “I haven’t been able to talk about this truthfully ever, because you want to promote a movie the right way, and I’m proud of what we made ultimately, and everything turns out the way it’s supposed to, but it was tricky.”
Still, it seems that while there were artistic disagreements, on a personal level, there’s no bad blood. “Erika is a very nice woman, and she was always kind to me, and I’m grateful she wanted me to be in those movies.” As a legit fan of the movies, I am also grateful for that.
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However, rumours that Johnson and Dornan don’t get along have been greatly exaggerated, at least according to Johnson. “He’s like a brother to me. I love him so, so, so much,” the Cha Cha Real Smooth star said of her former costar.
Overall, Dakota Johnson sees the experience, which catapulted her to international fame, as a positive one. “Look, it was great for our careers,” she said. “So amazing. So lucky.” She doesn’t regret signing up. “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,” she said. “It would’ve been like, ‘Oh, this is psychotic.’ But no, I don’t regret it.”
This story originally appeared on GLAMOUR US.