Dakota Johnson reflects on Hollywood’s dark reality: ‘It is heartbreaking’

Dakota Johnson’s arrival brought glitz and glamour to the Red Sea International Film Festival in Saudi Arabia, and now, the Hollywood star is adding a dose of reality to her stylish appearance.

During the “In Conversation With” series at the ceremony celebrating cinema, the Materialists actress opened up about the “shady” practices in Hollywood while discussing a host of subjects related to her career.

“Financiers are really shady sometimes. It is heartbreaking. As a producer, it can be very heartbreaking. As an actress, it can be heartbreaking,” she spoke at the festival.

She went on to note that despite the challenges, both acting and producing can feel “so incredibly fulfilling”, expressing her gratitude for being “able to do both.”

Dakota further revealed that while her initial desire to become a producer stemmed from observing her parents, actors Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith, “engage with filmmakers and producers and collaborators”, she now plans to “make movies about women and people that are going through some sort of evolution internally or externally.”

“I’m learning more now how to choose what’s right for me,” she added about her acting career. “I think I’ve definitely been persuaded to do some things in the past that I realized, in retrospect, weren’t right for me. But that’s also part of the experience, and I’m lucky to have a job.”

Dakota Johnson chose her collaborations with Luca Guadagnino, 2015’s A Bigger Splash and 2018’s Suspiria, as two of her favourite projects from her filmography, admitting that she could work with the Italian filmmaker “forever”.