Dakota Johnson is stepping behind the camera for her directorial feature debut, and she’s making it clear: the vibes have to be immaculate, or she’s not showing up.
In a candid conversation with Variety at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (where she’s receiving the festival’s President’s Award) Johnson opened up about her long-gestating transition to directing, her partnership with actor Vanessa Burghardt, and her refusal to tolerate toxic work environments.
Johnson, best known for roles ranging from 50 Shades of Grey to Cha Cha Real Smooth and Madame Web, says her directorial debut is deeply personal. “I don’t have the confidence [to direct], but with her [Burghardt], I feel very protective… I just won’t let anybody else do it,” she said. “That’s the real answer.”
Burghardt, who is autistic and co-starred with Johnson in Cha Cha Real Smooth, is collaborating with Johnson on the project. And for Johnson, the creative bond between them is the key that unlocked her readiness to direct.
Setting the Tone on Set as Producer
As a producer and founder of TeaTime Pictures, Johnson is growing increasingly vocal about the importance of healthy, collaborative filmmaking environments. She’s drawn a firm boundary: no more toxic sets.
“If there’s not a healthy collaboration, if it’s not a good match, then it’s not a good match. We don’t move forward,” Johnson said. She emphasized the importance of kind, respectful working relationships and dismissed the old-school notion that dysfunction breeds creativity. “We all know what a toxic set is by now.”
Her comments come at a time when industry professionals are increasingly re-evaluating how they define success, and sustainability, on film sets. Her message: artists can be expansive, passionate, and even intense, but that doesn’t give anyone license to be cruel or domineering. She believes in the “best idea wins” philosophy, driven by mutual respect instead of egos.
Redefining Success in a Changing Industry
When asked how she defines success in today’s industry, Johnson pointed to shifting benchmarks. Box office is no longer the holy grail, especially in a fractured, streaming-dominated landscape. “Honestly, it’s a success just getting a movie finished,” she said. “It’s really hard to make movies right now and to get people to believe in what you want to say.”
She celebrated both the mega-hit status of Jurassic World Rebirth and the indie buzz around Materialists, her recent film with Pedro Pascal and Chris Evans. To Johnson, success is about connection, about whether audiences feel something, whether a film lingers.
Filmmakers, especially in the indie space, will hear echoes of their own experience here: the uphill battle of financing, gatekeeping, and the increasingly rare alchemy of creative control. Her take aligns closely with Garvescope’s ethos: filmmaking as hard-won art and is best looked at as something bigger than a commercial gamble.
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Next Projects and Dream Roles
On the horizon, Johnson just wrapped filming Verity, a psychological thriller adaptation for Amazon MGM, and she’s already teasing another high-profile project in development. Though she stayed tight-lipped on the details, she did share her dream roles: “I want to play a psychopath,” she said. “And I’d love to do an action film.”
For an actor who’s lived through the eye of the franchise hurricane (Fifty Shades, Madame Web) and found her footing in indie drama and production, the directorial debut feels like a natural evolution. And if Johnson gets her way, it’ll be one driven by empathy, artistry, and a set culture that actually respects the humans making the art.
In other words: fewer jerks, more joy. And maybe a little psychopathy…on screen, of course.
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