Don Johnson is opening up about his relationship with his daughter and fellow actor, Dakota Johnson. Don has admitted that he “was surprised” when Dakota followed her parents’, Johnson and Melanie Griffith’s, footsteps into the acting business, as she didn’t express any interest in acting throughout her youth.
He also admits that he was unsure that Dakota understood the cut-throat nature of the business, saying,
“We have a rule in the family that, you know, if you stay in school, you get to stay on the payroll. So, you go to college, you get to stay on the payroll. Toward the end of high school, I went to her and I said, ‘So, do you want to go visit some colleges?’ … And she was like, ‘Oh, no. I’m not going to college, no way.’ I went, ‘OK, you know what that means? You won’t be on the payroll anymore.'”
Dakota said that she was interested in becoming an actress, to which Don replied,
“Well, that’s very interesting because I’ve never seen you take an acting class. I’ve never seen you do a play.’” Though he realized later on, that, “Little did I know, Dakota was in the background watching mom and dad all those years,” he added. “She was learning her craft.”
Now, the father/mother/daughter trio (Quartet, if you include Dakota’s famous grandmother, Tippi Hedren!) represents one of the great Hollywood dynasties. On his daughter’s current career, Johnson stated recently,
“We don’t get involved in each other’s worlds, we’re father and daughter. She’s a professional, I’m a professional. I don’t know what she’d give me advice about at this point, but probably, ‘Go away, Dad’!”
Sources:
Dakota Johnson’s Dad Don Says She’s a Better Actress Than Him (people.com)
Don Johnson Jokes Daughter Dakota’s Advice Would Be ‘Go Away, Dad’ (people.com)
