Celebrity3 min(s) read
Dakota Johnson shares unexpected truth behind filming 'Fifty Shades of Grey' sex scenes
Dakota Johnson has revealed a secret about her time filming the X-rated franchise Fifty Shades of Grey that may leave fans of the film's raunchy sex scenes surprised.
Johnson - the daughter of 80s megastars Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson - got her big break as Anastasia Steele in the adaption of EL James' erotic romance sensation, which sees her character enter into a BDSM relationship with an enigmatic rich man, Christian Grey, played by Jamie Dornan.
However, in a new interview, Johnson has revealed that production of the Fifty Shades films commenced under different set conditions than you would find on any film production today.
Namely, the presence of an intimacy coordinator on set for any and all intimate sex scenes.
No intimacy coordinators on BDSM franchise film set, star says
While appearing on Amy Poehler's podcast Good Hang, Johnson made the admission that she'd only ever worked with an intimacy coordinator for the first time while filming last year.
"She was really great," Johnson said. "It was so cool because I’m so used to, you know, it’s a sex scene. It’s not sexy. It doesn’t feel good."
The admission is all the more startling when you realise just how much sex is a part of not just Fifty Shades of Grey but its two sequels; Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed.
Johnson though, it seems, is aware of the irony of not having an intimacy coordinator on set for any of the BDSM scenes she shared with her co-star Dornan.
However, it's all easily explained away. Johnson told Poehler that, simply, at the time they were filming the Fifty Shades films, intimacy coordinators were not a major part of Hollywood blockbuster productions as they are today.
Dakota Johnson recalls tortured production of Fifty Shades of Grey
Johnson has spoken in the past about the struggles of filming the Fifty Shades franchise, specifically the first instalment, which not only changed stars at one point, but also had an entirely different script.
Helmed by Sam Taylor-Johnson, the first Fifty Shades of Grey film script was written by scribe Kelly Martel, who described her draft as focused almost entirely on emotion and feeling, with little-to-no dialogue in its scenes.
It was a bold re-imagining of the raunchy but panned novel series, and it attracted the talents of both Dakota Johnson, on the lookout for her big breakout role, and the original choice for Mr Grey, Sons of Anarchy star Charlie Hunnam.
"I signed up to do a very different version of the film we ended up making," Johnson recalled to Vanity Fair, explaining that when Hunnam left the production before filming began and was replaced by Jamie Dornan, author EL James took control of the set... and the script.
"[EL James] had a lot of creative control, all day, everyday. When I auditioned for that movie, I read a monologue from Persona and I was like, ‘Oh, this is going to be really special.’"