Dakota Johnson

Dakota Mayi Johnson was born on October 4, 1989, at Brackenridge Hospital in Austin, Texas, to actors Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith. Her father was shooting the film The Hot Spot (1990) in Texas when she was born. Her maternal grandparents are advertising executive and former child actor Peter Griffith, and actress Tippi Hedren. She is a half-niece of actress Tracy Griffith and production designer Clay A. Griffith. Her former stepfather is actor Antonio Banderas. Johnson has a complex family as each of her parents had children by three different people. Her six half-siblings are: Jesse Johnson (b. 1982), from her father's relationship with Patti D'Arbanville; Alexander Bauer (b. 1985), from her mother's marriage to Steven Bauer; Stella Banderas (b. 1996), from her mother's marriage to Antonio; Grace (b. 1999), Jasper (b. 2002), and Deacon Johnson (b. 2006), from her father's marriage to Kelley Phleger. Owing to her parents' occupations, Johnson spent much of her childhood in various locations with them on film sets and premieres, though she spent extended amounts of time in Aspen and Woody Creek, Colorado, where she worked during summers at the local market as a teenager. In Woody Creek, she was neighbors with Hunter S. Thompson. She attended the Aspen Community School for a time. "I was so consistently unmoored and discombobulated, I didn't have an anchor anywhere," Johnson recalled. She attended the Santa Catalina School in Monterey, California, for her freshman year of high school before transferring to the private New Roads School in Santa Monica, California. Johnson became interested in modeling at age twelve after taking part in a photoshoot with other celebrities' children for Teen Vogue, and subsequently earned an income modeling while attending high school in Santa Monica. She has struggled with depression since around age fourteen and checked into rehabilitation. She also has had ADHD since childhood. Johnson was interested in acting as a child, having spent significant time on film sets with her parents, but they discouraged her from pursuing the profession until she graduated high school. After high school, she applied to Juilliard School, performing monologues by Shakespeare and Steve Martin, but was not accepted.