Towards the end of high school, Dakota Johnson told her father that she didn't want to study anymore.
There are all kinds of parents out there with their different parenting styles. Some of them prefer to go soft on their kids while some use tough love. In the end, the parenting style is successful only if that kind works on the kids. Some children crumble under parental pressure and some shine through. Some thrive when their parents are more like friends and some like to keep clear boundaries with their folks. All in all, being a parent is a lot of hit and miss, which our kids probably understand when they themselves become parents.
Dakota Johnson, 31, the daughter of Don Johnson, 71, and Melanie Griffith, 63, grew up in a loving home but her parents were no piece of cake. They had clear rules about what they would support their kids through.
The Knives Out star, 71, who is a father to five children – Jesse, 38, Dakota, 31, Grace, 21, Jasper, 18, and Deacon, 14 – from various relationships revealed that he told all of them that he would help them financially under one condition. "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," he explained on Late Night with Seth Meyers.
"Toward the end of high school, I went to [Dakota] and I said, 'So, do you want to go visit some colleges?' Or something like that. And she was like, 'Oh, no. I'm not going to college,'" he said, as per People. "I went, 'OK, you know what that means? You won't be on the payroll anymore,'" the actor told his daughter but she was unfazed. He asked her how she was "going to manage."
Dakota responded, "Don't you worry about it" but refused to give him any more answers. The proud father shared that his daughter was cast in The Social Network three weeks after their conversation. "And the rest is, shall we say, cinema history," the 71-year-old said.
She went on to star in the 50 Shades series, which made her an overnight sensation. Her father also added that she's a busy bee. "She doesn't really call me for advice," Johnson added, according to Entertainment Weekly. "She calls me to say, 'Gosh, I would see you, but I've got three pictures that I'm shooting at the same time.'"
Dakota has two upcoming films: Maggie Gyllenhaal's directorial debut The Lost Daughter and Am I Ok?, directed by Tig Notaro and her wife Stephanie Allynne. Her father is not any less busy as he is starring on NBC's Kenan, as the father-in-law of Kenan Thompson's character.
Johnson doesn't leave any opportunities to talk about his famous daughter. He called her "one of the most gifted actresses alive today," according to ET Canada. He added, "Of course I’m her father, but I can also recognize talent when I see it."
He and Griffith married each other twice and divorced twice, but they have an amicable relationship. "It’s pretty simple: when you love your children and want to share your life with them, it’s foolish to denigrate or have any animosity with their mother," he said. "Children model you more than they listen to you," he added.
And, Dakota has learned to live in a blended family also thanks to having a stepdad like Antonio Banderas. She is engaged to Coldplay singer Chris Martin and is friends with his ex-wife Gwyneth Paltrow with whom he shares two kids.
References:
https://ew.com/tv/don-johnson-dakota-johnson-confident-seth-meyers/
Cover image source: Getty Images | Photo by (L)Kevin Winter (R) Jamie McCarthy
