Dakota Johnson is an actress with famous parents. In modern parlance, she is a “nepo baby.” And while she may be one, she’s not interested in talking about it, as she finds the entire conversation boring, likely because she understands her situation, and doesn’t see it as worth continually reporting on.
Johnson recently hosted Saturday Night Live, ahead of the Madame Web release date next week, where the actress did one sketch with the comedy group Please Don’t Destroy, which included a joke about the nepo baby idea. Speaking with Today, Johnson says she jumped at the chance to make fun of the whole nepo baby thing because she finds the whole topic annoying. She explained…
When that first started, I found it to be incredibly annoying and boring. If you’re a journalist, write about something else. That’s just lame. So the opportunity to make fun of it I jumped at it.
Dakota Johnson is the daughter of Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith, as such, she technically is a “nepo baby” based on what the term means. Being the daughter of actors very likely gave the actress opportunities she wouldn’t have had otherwise, even if nobody actively did anything to try and make those opportunities happen. This happens a lot when family members end up working in the same industries, not just acting.
Dakota Johnson does mention that her father cut her off financially when she decided to pursue acting full-time. Don Johnson apparently wanted her to go to college, and so did not support her choice not to do so, so Johnson did have to make her own way financially. Any assistance her name gave her was completely out of her control.
This is, of course, the opposite of the SNL sketch, in which Johnson and the Please Don’t Destroy guys roast the hell out of each other before calling a “nepo truce,” indicating that nepo babies are some sort of shadowy cabal with magic powers. Which, to be fair, is sort of what a lot of the media giving the idea oxygen seemed to imply. Check out the bit below.
@nbcsnl Please Don't Destroy - Roast
♬ original sound - Saturday Night Live - SNL
A number of stars with famous parents, and famous children, have shot back at the nepo baby concept. Some believe that having famous parents doesn’t do anything to increase opportunities for the children. Some are hyper-aware that they did have increased opportunities, even if there was nothing they could do about it. Some, like Hailee Beiber, have embraced the nepo baby title.
Actual nepotism is when somebody gets opportunities that they don’t deserve or don’t qualify for because of family, and nobody is arguing that Dakota Johnson isn’t a good actress. Johnson's new film, Madame Web is part of the 2024 movie release schedule and marks the actress' debut in the superhero movie genre.
