We hardly flinch these days when a best-selling novel series makes a buzz, because we just know Hollywood can’t resist taking a bite of whatever’s hot in any industry. It’s always surprising, though, to discover that people involved in large scale projects may not share general public enthusiasm. In the case ofFifty Shades of Greystar and leading ladyDakota Johnson,she revealed in an exclusive interview toVanity Fairthat she did not have the best time working on the adaptation of the best-selling erotica series.
During the interview, Johnson revealed that working with novel series writerErika L. Jameswasn’t the best experience, and that the author got to pick and choose how some aspects of the filming and script would play out – a perk that probably came with the position of producer she held in the movie.
“She had a lot of creative control, all day, every day, and she just demanded that certain things happen. There were parts of the books that just wouldn’t work in a movie, like the inner monologue, which was at times incredibly cheesy. It wouldn’t work to say out loud. It was always a battle. Always. When I auditioned for that movie, I read a monologue from ‘Persona’ [the Ingmar Bergman classic from 1966] and I was like, ‘Oh, this is going to be really special.’ ”
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Johnson also revealed that James’ demands made the team work around the clock to put together several versions of the same scene, sometimes re-written by the actor herself – who is not credited as a screenwriter in the movie. Johnson rewrote scenes based on playwrightPatrick Marber’s (Closer) script revisions – which were ultimately scrapped by James afterCharlie Hunnam(Sons of Anarchy) dropped out of the project.
“We’d do the takes of the movie that Erika wanted to make, and then we would do the takes of the movie that we wanted to make. The night before, I would rewrite scenes with the old dialogue so I could add a line here and there. It was like mayhem all the time.”
Last but not least, Johnson brings to attention the fact that, a lot of times, actors sign on to projects that completely change form as production starts to unfold. Most times, they are bound by contracts and not being producers doesn’t give them the clout to refuse certain changes they know will harm the final project.
“I signed up to do a very different version of the film we ended up making. […] I was young. I was 23. So it was scary. It just became something crazy. There were a lot of different disagreements. I haven’t been able to talk about this truthfully ever, because you want to promote a movie the right way, and I’m proud of what we made ultimately and everything turns out the way it’s supposed to, but it was tricky.”
TheFifty Shadestrilogy grossed over a billion dollars worldwide, against an average $50 million budget for each entry. Aside from Johnson, the movie also starredJamie Dornan,Eloise Mumford,Luke Grimes,Marcia Gay Harden,Rita Ora,Victor Rasuk, andMax Martini.
