Dakota Johnson's interview with Letterman turned awkward when she asked him 'Are you my dad?'
Dakota Johnson, the star of 'Fifty Shades of Grey', made David Letterman blush during their chat about her mother, Melanie Griffith, who is a big fan of Letterman. "On the way here, my mom told me to tell you that she loves you. She really meant it," said Johnson. Letterman said, " "I know. And here's something I will tell you. Your mom used to come on the show all the time. And I really loved your mom." Dakota responded, "She brought you handcuffs one time. Are you my dad?" A surprised Letterman could only say, "I just..." It seemed like Melanie and Dave had quite a friendship! Both Dakota, 25, and Letterman, 67, laughed at the joke. Dakota quickly cleared things up, saying, "I know who my dad is." Letterman replied, "Of course, Don Johnson," and Dakota confirmed it.
She also shared a funny story about how her parents almost named her Ruby. "My dad thought 'Ruby Johnson' sounded like a stripper's name," she explained. Both laughed, but Dakota joked, "Look at my career! [A stripper name] could've worked out!"— referring to her nude scenes in 'Fifty Shades of Grey'. Letterman also asked about Charlie Hunnam, who was originally cast as Christian Grey but left the project in 2013. Dakota admitted, "That was a confusing moment," and explained, "I think it was [that] his schedule conflicted. He was...busy." Letterman then pointed out that it might have been worth it for Hunnam to find time for a movie that earned nearly $250 million during its opening weekend. Dakota responded, "I don't think he knew that was gonna happen. Whoops!"
Dakota has also made other bold statements. In an interview with Glamour U.K., she admitted to taking some interesting keepsakes from the Fifty Shades of Grey set. "I stole lots of the underwear – they were comfortable," Vanity Fair reported. Given what we learned about her mom's playful side, it's not hard to imagine Melanie being proud of Dakota's daring personality. She also discussed her film 'Fifty Shades of Grey' and spoke about the auditioning process saying, "The first few auditions I did a monologue from persona which was really random but kind of the same vibe and then the rest of it was just reading with a lot of really handsome men." Then David asked her "Did they did they get a look at my audition tape," to which she playfully replied, "We considered you we really did, they said you were so good."
In recent months, Dakota Johnson has been active both personally and professionally. In January 2025, she and her partner, Chris Martin, were spotted visiting the Siddhivinayak Temple in Mumbai, India. This visit came shortly after they attended a Coldplay concert in the city, putting to rest previous breakup rumors, as per Just Jared. On the professional front, Johnson attended Saturday Night Live's 50th anniversary special in February 2025. She wore a black, one-sleeved Gucci gown fastened with delicate gold hardware and a bodysuit underneath, allowing the brave slit to travel up to her hips, Vogue reported. Additionally, Johnson discussed her experience working with Justin Timberlake on 'The Social Network'. She admitted having "preconceived notions" about Timberlake because of his boy band background but found him to be "lovely and kind" during their time on set, as per Instyle.