Dakota Johnson Speaks on Hollywood Challenges and Creative Pressures

Dakota Johnson has offered a candid assessment of the entertainment industry, reflecting on the challenges she faces as both an actress and a producer. Speaking during an In Conversation With session at the Red Sea International Film Festival, Johnson said she maintains a “love-hate relationship” with aspects of her career.

Addressing the audience, she described how the “shady” elements of Hollywood and the emotional demands of acting can weigh heavily on her. She noted that performance often requires her to “fight with myself to get to an emotional place.”

Johnson said her producing work has exposed her to even more of the industry’s difficult realities. “Financiers are really shady sometimes. It is heartbreaking,” she explained. “As a producer, it can be very heartbreaking. As an actress, it can be heartbreaking.” Despite this, she emphasized that both roles remain “incredibly fulfilling.”

Comparing acting and producing, Johnson said acting feels like being “in a bubble,” while producing reveals “behind the curtain, and it’s really ugly.” She added that she “doesn’t like that, but also loves it at the same time.”

Johnson’s interest in producing developed after years of watching her parents collaborate closely with filmmakers. She said she wanted to contribute more significantly to projects and create work that reflected “parts of myself and my artistry that I think other people weren’t seeing.”

Through TeaTime Pictures, the company she co-founded with Ro Donnelly, Johnson is focused on developing “mostly female-driven, human experience projects.” The banner is also supporting her feature-directing debut, A Tree Is Blue.

Reflecting on past work, Johnson highlighted The Peanut Butter Falcon as a particularly meaningful experience, recalling the collaborative atmosphere on set and the “pure” energy of co-star Zack Gottsagen.