Dakota Johnson Details Being Cut Off Financially From Dad Don Johnson

Dakota Johnson recalled how she had to forge her own acting career after high school when her dad cut her off as part of an ultimatum.

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Watch : Dakota Johnson Details Being Cut Off Financially From Dad Don Johnson

Dakota Johnson was fifty shades of determined to make it on her own when she officially began her acting career.

After not getting accepted into the famous Juilliard School in New York City, the daughter of actors Don Johnson and ex-wife Melanie Griffith went on to forge her own path into Hollywood, without a dime from her father.

"I didn't get in and my dad cut me off because I didn't go to college," the 35-year-old told her Materialists costar Pedro Pascal for an Elle U.K. interview, published May 14. "So, I started auditioning. I think I was 19 when I did The Social Network, and then little jobs and stuff after that."

Dakota—who made her onscreen acting debut as a child alongside her mom in the actress' then-husband Antonio Banderas' 1999 film Crazy in Alabama before appearing in a scene with Justin Timberlake in 2010's The Social Network, and years later, the Fifty Shades trilogy—remembers struggling financially after being cut off by her dad.

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"For a couple of years it was hard to make money," she told Pedro. "There were a few times when I’d go to the market and not have money in my bank account or not be able to pay rent, and I’d have to ask my parents for help."

Dakota continued, "I'm very grateful that I had parents that could help me and did help me. But it certainly was not fun. The auditioning process, as you know, is the f--king worst."

Dakota has spoken before about how she struggled to make it in Hollywood on her own after high school after her dad cut her off financially.

"He said, 'If you go to college, you still get an allowance,'" the actress said about her dad in a February 2024 Today interview. "And I was like, 'Well, I'm going to be an actress.' So he was like, 'Alright, well you're on your own. I was cut off."

Dakota said she turned to modeling to make rent money as she pursued acting. "I definitely like had moments where I couldn't afford groceries and things like that and needed to ask my mom to help me," she said. "She was the nice one."

Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for The Hollywood Reporter

Don himself has also previously shared insight into the college ultimatum. "We have a rule in the family," the Nash Bridges alum said on Late Night With Seth Meyers in 2021, "that if you stay in school, you get to stay on the payroll."

He said that toward the end of Dakota's high school career, he asked his daughter if she wanted to visit some colleges. "And she went, 'Oh, no, I'm not going to college,'" he said. "And I went, 'OK. Well, you know what that means. I mean, you won't be on the payroll anymore, and how are you gonna manage?' And she says, 'Don't you worry about it.'"

Feeling fifty shades of confused about Dakota's family ties? Look back at her family tree.

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Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson

Melanie Griffith was 14 when she first laid eyes on Don Johnson, who’s eight years older, when he was starring in 1973’s The Harrad Experiment with her mother, screen legend Tippi Hedren.

 “She fell almost instantly in love with him,” Tippi told People in 1989. “It was an adolescent crush.”

It was also another time. Melanie moved in with Don when she was 15, they got engaged when she was 18 and eloped to Las Vegas to tie the knot January 8, 1976—despite Don having admittedly been keeping company with a beauty queen the night before the wedding.

“We thought it might work better if we were married. It didn’t,” Melanie told People. “I got married in order to end the relationship.” They had the union annulled.

Robin Platzer/Images/Getty Images

Don Johnson and Patti D'Arbanville

Don spent the first half of the 1980s in a relationship with actress and Andy Warhol muse Patti D’Arbanville (who also inspired Cat Stevens’ “Lady D’Arbanville).

"I met her because I was working on a movie in New York, and I went down to Andy Warhol's factory,” Don recalled to People in 2024. "I walked in, and standing on the table stark naked was the mother of my first son. She was doing what I think was the very first cover photo shoot for Interview magazine. She was just so beautiful and captivating."

That would place their first meeting in 1973 (when Patti was on the cover on Interview, though not its first), but they didn’t get together until 1981 when, legend has it, Don went to an L.A. restaurant with then-girlfriend Tanya Tucker and left with Patti.

"She moved in that night," he told People in 1984. "And we stayed in bed for about eight days.”

Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images

Jesse Johnson

Don and Patti welcomed son Jesse Wayne Johnson on Dec. 7, 1982.

At the time, Don told People that he relayed to Patti that he “can't commit to marrying right now," while she told him, “I'm not into that either.”

The Miami Vice star, who had battled drug and alcohol addiction, credited his young family with the start of his sobriety journey.

“I walked into the breakfast room one morning," he told People in 1984. "The sun was shining, and the birds were singing, and Patti was feeding the baby. I came staggering in and sat down and looked at them, and she looked at me, and I knew that if I didn't do something, she was going to leave. So I said, 'Patti, I'm a drunk and a drug addict, and I'm going to do something about it.'”

He and Patti split up in 1985. (Patti’s been married and divorced three times since and shares three children with her third ex-husband.)

Steve Granitz/WireImage

Jesse is a musician and actor. He made his onscreen debut in a 2001 episode of his dad’s long-running cop drama Nash Bridges, while his most recent credit is a guest spot on Don’s latest TV hit Doctor Odyssey.

Jesse grew up in Aspen, Colo., and, while he got a degree in theater from Occidental College in Southern California, his numerous ski trip pics on Instagram indicate he’s still a fan of the snow and his big family.

He is also the guitar-playing singer for the band Blame Baby, whose sound he described to Rock Wired as “rock music that evokes a time when things were a little simpler and more straightforward.”

Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images

Melanie Griffith and Steven Bauer

Melanie met Scarface actor Stephen Bauer making the comedy She’s in the Army Now and they were married from 1983 until 1987.

While she hasn’t had as much to say about their marriage, which produced son Alexander, the exes remained amicable and even cozied up at the premiere of Dark Tourist together in 2013.

“All three of them are my friends,” Melanie told People in 2020 of her, by then, three ex-husbands. “I love them with all my heart.”

Melanie Griffith/Instagram

Alexander Bauer

Alexander Griffith Bauer was born Aug. 22, 1985, and lived primarily with his mom in Los Angeles after his parents divorced.

He’s more private than some of his siblings, but he’s been spied at many a family gathering—including the Johnson-centric ones—and while he’s done some writing and acting, he’s mainly worked on movies behind the scenes as a grip.

“Happy National Sons Day,” Melanie wrote on Instagram in 2021, captioning a photo of Jesse and Alex. “These extraordinary guys … I love you both so much.”

Barry King/WireImage

Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson (again)

Like moths to a flame, Melanie and Don got back together…eventually.

It was his idea to offer Melanie a guest spot as a high-class madam on Miami Vice in 1987, and they started dating again, off-and-on. The off time included Don romancing Barbara Streisand and Melanie seeing an investment banker—but in 1988, Don helped Melanie get sober, encouraging her to check into Hazelden Foundation in Minnesota that May.

“He’d been trying to have me go to Hazelden for about two years,” she told People in 1989. “That makes me sound like I was shooting up or something. But it doesn’t take that when you’re an alcoholic. One drink is poison.” Don, having been in AA since 1983, “was there for me all the way.”

Melanie was pregnant when they wed again on June 26, 1989.

“We’re just like an Ozzie and Harriet family down here,” Don told People, which noted that Alexander lived with them and Jesse was a frequent visitor. To which Melanie added, “Everybody wants a girl.”

Dave Allocca/Starpix/Shutterstock

Dakota Johnson

Dakota Mayi Johnson was born Oct. 4, 1989.

And she’s been rolling with that Hollywood life ever since, making her movie debut in 1999’s Crazy in Alabama (starring her mom and directed by her then-stepdad Antonio Banderas) before building up steam under her own name with the Fifty Shades saga, A Bigger Splash, How to Be Single, Suspiria and Madam Web.

She has said that she finds the nepo baby conversation “incredibly annoying,” mainly because going into one’s family business is pretty commonplace.

“I started auditioning,” she recalled in 2025 to Materialists costar Pedro Pascal for Elle. There were dry spells and then, yes, "I’d have to ask my parents for help,” she shared. “I’m very grateful that I had parents that could help me and did help me. But it certainly was not fun. The auditioning process, as you know, is the f--king worst.”

Melanie and Don divorced in 1996, but she remains close to them, her stepmom, her ex-stepdad and all of her half-siblings—who are simply brothers and sisters to her, full stop.

“I was raised by lots of people, my mom and my dad and then stepparents and nannies and tutors and friends and teachers and then friends’ parents and boyfriends’ parents,” Dakota told The Hollywood Reporter in 2021. “I wanted to learn from everybody. And I still am like that. I’m grateful to my parents and my crazy life because the only reason I am the way I am is because of how I grew up.”

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Dakota Johnson and Chris Martin

Dakota has been dating Chris Martin since 2017 and they share a home in Malibu.

While they’re so private they attract more breakup speculation than ring watch, they tend to make a comment or get themselves photographed together just in time to quash rumors.

From one blended family to another, the actress has thrived as another mom figure in the lives of Apple Martin and Moses Martin, Chris’ children with ex-wife Gwyneth Paltrow.

“I love those kids like my life depends on it,” Dakota told Bustle in 2024. “With all my heart.”

Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images

Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas

Melanie and Antonio Banderas were both married (the Spanish actor to Ana Leza since 1987) when they met making the 1995 comedy Too Much. By the following year, both were divorced and they married each other in London on May 14, 1996. Daughter Stella arrived four months later.

Their union unraveled in June 2014, the pair saying in a statement they had decided to divorce in “a loving and friendly manner honoring and respecting each other, our family and friends and the beautiful time we have spent together.”

Just as she did with Don, Melanie stayed close to Antonio, who’s been with partner Nicole Kimpel since 2015.

“I'm a very good friend of my ex-wife. I don't have anything against her,” Antonio told Fox News Digital in 2023. “She's a wonderful woman and I still respect and support that idea that everything that happened between her and me for 20 years was beautiful."

"Of course,” he added, “we had our bad moments. But the thing that I will remember forever is those beautiful moments that we had together. And one of those beautiful moments has to do with our kids and the family."

And when he travels to L.A., he added, the first thing he does is call Melanie.

"We go for dinner, we just get together, the whole entire family,” Antonio said. “And so that is very important. Not only to us but to the rest of the family.”

Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images

Stella del Carmen Banderas

Stella Del Carmen Banderas was born Sept. 24, 1996.

Antonio told Fox News that his model daughter, who also started the fragrance brand Lightbound in 2021, had an “intellectual approach to cinema.”

"She's doing short movies, she's directing, she's studied acting and she's going to start directing some commercials too,” he shared. “And I think she's going to end up directing movies.” (Incidentally, father and daughter went on to costar in a Mercedes commercial that ran in Europe.)

And now she’s planning a wedding: Stella got engaged to entrepreneur Alex Gruszynski in August 2024, the bride-to-be sharing the news in a post captioned, “I get to hang out with my favorite person on earth forever!!!!!!!”

In congratulating the happy couple, Melanie wrote on her Instagram, “He asked…. On bended knee… she said yes…Stella and Alex are engaged to be married…Their love story began in pre-school! True love, deep love!”

Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

3 Generations 

Dakota, grandma Tippi, mom Melanie and sister Stella chicly coordinated at the 22nd Annual ELLE Women In Hollywood Awards in 2015.

Eric Charbonneau/Le Studio/Wireimage

Don Johnson and Kelley Phleger

Don met Kelley Phleger—a nursery school teacher and former girlfriend of current California Gov. Gavin Newsom—at a birthday party for then-San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown in the mid-1990s and were first romantically linked in 1997.

They tied the knot April 29, 1999, at the Bay Area home of oil family heir Gordon Getty and have been together ever since.

“It’s kindness, trust and respect, and we have that with each other,” Don told People in 2024. “We’re lovers and friends and it’s fun. She’s an amazing woman.”

Marking their 26th wedding anniversary on Instagram, Kelley wrote, “I look back on our Memories that began this day 26 years ago and I would not change a DAY! You and I together have faced it all and nothing has ever stopped our Bond of Love. We have raised a family in a big beautiful family and never been more blessed and so we continue on together hand in hand.”

Don Johnson/Instagram

And life has mellowed for the actor since his Miami Vice days, when the production had to hire 24/7 security and he couldn’t go outside without being mobbed by women aching to get close to Sonny Crockett.

“Work-life balance is an interesting thing as an actor because movies eat your life. Television shows eat your life,” Don told People. “Luckily, I’m at a place where I can pick and choose roles, and sometimes I often prefer the supporting role because I still get joy out of what I do, but I don’t want to work those long hours and be away from my family.” 

Andrew Toth/Getty Images for The Mark Hotel

Atherton Grace Johnson

Don and Kelley’s first child together, Atherton Grace Johnson, was born Dec. 28, 1999.

She made the occasional appearance with her parents as a kid, but otherwise led a regular kid life growing up in Santa Barbara, Calif., before studying photography at USC.

In 2019, Grace made her Met Gala debut with Dakota and walked her first runway for the Christian Cowan x The Powerpuff Girls show. She has since modeled for Bello magazine, walked for Gucci and appeared in a music video for brother Jesse’s band.

"My relationship with Dakota is a mix because she is not just my sister, she is my best friend,” she told Glamour Spain in 2019 of her most famous sibling. “For a long time, regardless of the age difference, she has always treated me as an equal.”

Eric Charbonneau/Le Studio/Wireimage

Jasper Johnson

Jasper Breckenridge Johnson was born June 6, 2002.

He played basketball in high school in Santa Barbara (his dad has drawn attention on Instagram to how tall his sons are), and his bio on his NCSA recruiting page reads, “My parents have never missed a game and support me every step of the way.”

Don Johnson/Instagram

Aside from hoping to hoop in college, he added, “I intend to major in business and graduate with a 4-year degree and pursue a career in that field.”

Don Johnson/Instagram

Deacon Johnson

Son Deacon James Johnson rounded out the family (this generation, anyway) on April 29, 2006, making Don feel, according to his rep at the time, “over the moon times six.”

His Instagram, like Jasper’s, is private but he does have “Sb usc” in his bio, a hint to where he’s attending college.

And Deacon’s nickname among his loved ones is Chap, as in his mom writing on his birthday, “Happy 19th Chap ! Deacon James we love you and we couldn’t ask for a better YOUNGEST ! You’re the Dude!” 

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