Nepo baby Dakota Johnson describes asking parents for financial help during ‘hard’ acting years

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Dakota Johnson (pictured in Elle’s May 2025 issue) had her parents help pay her bills when she was a struggling actress. Tom Schirmacher

Nepo baby Dakota Johnson admits she asked her parents for financial help during her early years struggling to make it as an actress in Hollywood.

The “Madame Web” star looked back at how her famous parents — Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith — assisted in paying her bills in a new interview with Elle, published Friday.

“For a couple of years it was hard to make money,” Dakota, 35, confessed.

The “Fifty Shades of Grey” star recalled getting her parents’ help in a new interview with Elle. Tom Schirmacher
She is the daughter of Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson (seen here in 2016). Getty Images

The “Fifty Shades of Grey” star recalled moments when she didn’t have enough money in her bank account to pay her rent or buy items from the market.

“I’d have to ask my parents for help,” she shared of Griffith, 67, and Don, 75, adding, “I’m very grateful that I had parents that could help me and did help me.”

While she was lucky enough to have financial support from her parents, Dakota said that her years as a struggling actress “certainly was not fun.”

“The auditioning process, as you know, is the f–king worst,” she said.

“For a couple of years it was hard to make money,” Dakota told the mag. Tom Schirmacher
The nepo baby said she wasn’t able to pay her rent at times. Tom Schirmacher

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Her parents weren’t as willing to write her a check when she got rejected from Juilliard, the only college she applied to after graduating from high school.

“I didn’t get in and my dad cut me off because I didn’t go to college,” she said. “So, I started auditioning. I think I was 19 when I did ‘The Social Network,’ and then little jobs and stuff after that.”

Dakota notably had her first acting gig at age 10 in her mom’s movie, “Crazy in Alabama.” For years, Dakota continued to land small roles in movies like “The Social Network” and “21 Jump Street,” as well as the Fox sitcom “Ben and Kate.”

She had her big break when she was cast as the lead character, Anastasia Steele, in “Fifty Shades of Grey” in 2013 and reprised her role in the trilogy’s two subsequent films.

Dakota’s dad (seen here in 2001) cut her off after she didn’t go to college. Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
“I’m very grateful that I had parents that could help me and did help me,” Dakota (seen here with her mom in 2017) said. FilmMagic
The actress (seen here in 2024) got her big break in 2013 when she was cast in the “Fifty Shades” trilogy. GC Images

Due to the major blockbuster success of the erotic movie based on E. L. James’ novel of the same name, Dakota immediately launched into stardom and doesn’t need her parents to fund her lifestyle anymore.

She now resides in a gorgeous Malibu, Calif., mansion — a place where she feels at home.

“I like it, and I like that you are not so far away,” she told the outlet. “I also think, in my deepest truth, I feel I don’t live anywhere. I nest kind of wherever I am. If I’m in a hotel for six weeks, if I’m in a hotel for four days, if I’m in a rental, I’m like, ‘I live here now – this is my home.'”

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