Dakota Johnson eyes directorial debut, wants safer sets and bold female roles

Dakota Johnson has her sights set on a bold new chapter—directing her first feature film. The actor, known for roles in "Fifty Shades of Grey", "Suspiria", and "Cha Cha Real Smooth", revealed at the 59th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival that her upcoming project will be an intimate collaboration with autistic actress Vanessa Burghardt, with whom she previously shared the screen.

"I think I will direct a feature, a very small one, hopefully soon. And it's really close to my heart and very close to TeaTime. We're making it with Vanessa Burghardt, who played my daughter in Cha Cha Real Smooth," Johnson told reporters, adding, "She's an incredible autistic actress."

Though she has previously directed the Coldplay music video "Cry Cry Cry" and the short film "Loser Baby", Johnson admitted that she has long questioned whether she was ready to take on a feature. 

"I've always felt that I'm not ready to direct a feature. I don't have the confidence," she said. "But with her, I feel very protective… I just won't let anybody else do it."

Her production company, TeaTime Pictures—launched in 2019 with partner Ro Donnelly—focuses on stories that are "female-centric", "provocative", and "different". 

According to Johnson, that doesn't mean they're sexualised but rather emotionally or visually challenging, often portraying complex women who defy traditional tropes. "Maybe an anti-hero that you love," she said, referring to characters who may "do things that you would deem atrocious, but you are really on her side because she's angry."

For Johnson, producing offers a creative refuge from what she describes as industry toxicity. "I can't waste time on toxic sets anymore," she said. "With producing, that's one of the perks." Now, with greater control, she curates her teams carefully. "Being a producer and developing my own films, I can choose all the people."

She also criticised the outdated metrics by which Hollywood often measures success. "It's hard to measure success based on box office numbers now, because it's so all over the place," she said, pointing to the success of "Jurassic Park Rebirth" as an outlier. For Johnson, "the way I measure success is [in terms of] people who felt something or it meant something to them."

Johnson, who received the Karlovy Vary festival's President's Award this year, presented two of her latest films—Celine Song's "Materialists" (co-starring Pedro Pascal and Chris Evans) and "Splitsville", a romantic comedy directed by Michael Angelo Covino and produced under her TeaTime banner.

As for future roles, she's ready to embrace something darker and more dynamic. "I would love to play a psychopath, would love to do an action film," she said with a smile.

Her passion for cinema, both as an art form and as a force for connection, was evident throughout the conversation. "I love coming to film festivals, just because everyone loves movies so much, and it feels like a magical little bubble in a world full of chaos and pain," she said. "I think art can really reach people."

Still, she's realistic about the challenges. "It's really hard to make movies right now and to get people to believe in what you want to say," she admitted. "I don't think movies will save the world, by no means, but I do think it's nice to have them around."

Johnson's Hollywood lineage—she is the daughter of Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson, and granddaughter of Tippi Hedren—has shaped her career, but she's carving her own space through bold choices, honest stories, and a growing influence behind the camera.

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