Dakota Johnson, famous for her role as Anastasia Steele in the *Fifty Shades* series, manages both her successful Hollywood career and a full family life with ease. At 34, Dakota has not only made a name for herself in film but is also learning about love and blended families.
This article explores Dakota’s rumored engagement to Chris Martin, her smooth transition into being part of a blended family, her friendship with Chris’s ex, Gwyneth Paltrow, and her thoughts on family life and motherhood. Dakota’s family history in the entertainment world adds even more to her unique perspective on life, love, and family.
Dakota Johnson, an actress, producer, and director, has been in Hollywood since childhood, starting her acting career at ten. She’s appeared in over 30 films, most notably as Anastasia Steele in the Fifty Shades of Grey series, a role she reprised in two sequels.
Dakota comes from a family of Hollywood stars. Her mother, Melanie Griffith, has over 80 acting credits in projects like Days Out of Days and Stuart Little 2, while her father, Don Johnson, has acted in over 100 projects, including Knives Out. After her parents’ divorce, both remarried. Her mother was married to actor Antonio Banderas from 1996 to 2015, and he shared a close bond with Dakota, often describing her as his family and expressing his love for her.
Dakota is the only child of her parents together but grew up in a large blended family. She has spoken about her family, saying, “I grew up in a family that was so big, and I just believe in the saying ‘Blood is thicker than water.’” Dakota values the relationships people choose as much as those they’re born into, saying that in her family, her siblings, blood-related or not, are all close and connected.
Her blended family experience has influenced how she views relationships. She believes that family bonds endure through trials, with most of her relatives being creative people. She reflected, “Even the kids, they’re extraordinarily talented people. So you just are dealing with complex people. You grow and you embrace.” Dakota cherishes her family, finding joy in its honesty and openness.
Dakota is in a relationship with Chris Martin, the lead singer of Coldplay. Rumors of their engagement have circulated, especially after Dakota was spotted wearing a ring in 2020, and again in 2021. In 2023, designer Jessica McCormack posted a photo of Dakota wearing what looked like an engagement ring. Sources say the couple got engaged a while ago but kept the news private, focusing on their bond over wedding plans.
Dakota has embraced her role as a stepmom to Chris’s children, Apple and Moses, from his past marriage to Gwyneth Paltrow. She has a good relationship with Gwyneth, who has openly praised Dakota, calling her “an adorable, wonderful person” and sharing that they are close friends. The two have even posted photos together, showing their bond.
Dakota and Chris’s relationship has brought her closer to his children. She once described her connection to them, saying, “I love those kids like my life depends on it.” She often spends time with Apple and Moses and has been spotted on family outings, like grabbing coffee or going on family vacations.
Despite the family’s nontraditional structure, Dakota feels at ease with it. Growing up in a blended family herself, she feels it’s natural. Her experiences have made her open to one day having children of her own, saying, “I’m so open to that. I really want to experience everything that life has to offer.” She sees motherhood as a “crazy, wild, and magical” experience and is ready if it happens.
Dakota’s family background has influenced how she approaches her current relationships. Her connection with Chris and his children has brought her happiness, shaping her ideas about love, family, and the future.
15 Facts About “Harry Potter” That Even the Most Avid Fans Have Probably Missed
The world of Harry Potter is one of the most beloved franchises across several generations. The seven books covering the captivating story of young wizards, in total, sold more than 450 million copies, and the movies grossed more than $7 billion. A part of such great success has been the detailed work of all people involved which we, as fans, can admire infinitely.
We at Now I’ve Seen Everything wanted to dive deep into this magical universe and brought you our curious finds.
1. One might think that Aunt Petunia is cooking in this scene. But she is actually dyeing Dudley’s old clothes grey for Harry’s uniform. This is only ever mentioned in the first book.
2. Number 7 on Harry’s Quidditch uniform
- Actually, the number 7 is a symbolic number in the world of JK Rowling. Moreover, Lord Voldemort has 7 Horcruxes and the last one, as we know, was Harry, which is quite symbolic too. However, the costume designer noted that the choice of this number for the Quidditch uniform is a reference to David Beckham, who played under this number a while back.
3. In the third movie, when Hermione appeared in class out of nowhere, we can actually see her time turner around her neck, which she hides in the next shot.
4. The scarves of Hermione, Ron, and Harry
- The costume designers decided to hint at the character of each person with the help of tiny detail — a scarf. If you’re paying attention, you know that each character ties it in their own way. Hermione tightens it as neatly as possible, according to the rules. Harry throws the end of the scarf over his shoulder. Ron doesn’t tie this accessory at all.
5. Although it may have gone unnoticed amidst all the chaos, in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 we get to see a reunion between Hermione and Viktor Krum.
6. As the story progresses and Harry and his friends begin to destroy the Horcruxes, you can see how Voldemort’s clothes become discolored, his eyes droop, and small lesions appear on his skin as a sign that he is getting weaker.
7. The changing costumes of Dolores Umbridge
- In the image of Dolores, it was important to outline that she has power. We see that she, like many other powerful people, is rather conservative. For example, she wears the same hairdo and sticks to the same colors. Umbridge adores the color pink but its hues change as the plot develops.
- The costume designer commented on it in the following way, “I started with a lighter pink, and then as the film developed the pinks get hotter and hotter and hotter because she’s getting more and more hysterical.”
8. Harry’s scar
In the final shot of the film, Harry’s scar is noticeably faded and barely visible. It’s the reference to the last line of the novel series, “The scar had not pained Harry for 19 years. All was well.”
9. Ralph Fiennes (Lord Voldemort) asked for a hook to be added to Voldemort’s wand so that he could move more fluidly and “snake-like” without the wand falling from his hand.
10. In the last movie, Lucius Malfoy is seen sporting a new tattoo on his neck. This is the prisoner number he was given when he entered Azkaban.
11. Gilderoy Lockhart’s wig
- In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, attentive viewers can notice that the professor of Defence against the Dark Arts, has a wig lying on his table. As we will later learn, Lockhart is a liar, who was cheating everyone and hadn’t done any feats. That is, he lies about everything and even his golden curls are fake.
12. Professor McGonagall has a secret talent.
- The Quidditch trophy from Harry Potter and the Sorcerers’ Stone not only features James Potter, Harry’s father but Professor McGonagall as well. Who would have guessed she was such a great player.
13. Hermione’s valuables.
- When Lockhart unleashes the pixies, Hermione immediately throws her books to the ground while no one else does because she knows the pixies will rip anything in plain sight apart.
14. Severus Snape and Gryffindor’s scarf
- Severus Snape is one of the most controversial characters. It’s not without reason that we see a striped scarf from Gryffindor hanging on the wall in the scene where he is killed. Perhaps he personifies the true inclination of Severus, and in due time he should have gone to Gryffindor, not to Slytherin.
- In the book, Dumbledore once says the following phrase relating to the distribution of students by faculty, “Sometimes I believe we sort too soon.” Perhaps, the professor was right. Perhaps, the scarf hanging in the closet is saying that people can change for the better.
15. As strange as it may seem, in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, a portrait of Voldemort can be seen on the side of the staircase.
What details in Harry Potter did you manage to notice only after re-watching or re-reading each one?
Preview photo credit Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets / Warner Bros. Pictures, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 / Warner Bros. Pictures
Leave a Reply