Dakota Johnson goes dramatic in ‘Our Friend’ with Casey Affleck and Jason Segel

Los Angeles — Dakota Johnson may have shocked you when the sweet-faced daughter of Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith portrayed Anastasia “Ana” Steele in the erotic romantic drama hit franchise, “Fifty Shades of Grey.” 

Now the 31-year-old actress is displaying her acting chops in dramatic vehicle "Our Friend" starring Casey Affleck and Jason Segel.

Directed by American filmmaker Gabriela Cowperthwaite, the movie tells of a terminally ill Nicole (Dakota) and her husband-journalist Matthew Teague (Casey) who has a loyal friend, Dane Faucheux (Jason) who gives up everything, moves in and lives with them for years to help in taking care of Nicole.

Dakota talks of her choice of the role, her famous parents, her friends, what she learned about herself and relationships, while Casey and Jason talk more about their roles and friendships. Below are excerpts of our conversations with three talented actors:

Dakota Johnson

Courtesy of Janet Susan R. Nepales/HFPA

From “Fifty Shades of Grey” to this dramatic role in “Our Friend.” Tell us why you chose this role?

It is an incredible story, a beautifully written script and I loved everyone involved in this film.

Your character Nicole is dying of cancer. Have you ever found yourself taking care of someone who is terminally ill?

Yeah, I have been in that situation before. It was a very challenging experience to feel helpless and you have to do everything in the world to help someone get better.

What did you learn from the film?

The main thing I learned from the film was how important it is to show up for people when they need you. That we have to be compassionate for someone.

You portrayed a mother here of two girls. Do you see yourself having children and a family in the future?

Maybe. Yes. I loved working with those kids in the film. They were a lot of fun. They were funny and sweet.

What do you think audiences will get after watching the film?

My hope is that it inspires people to be a better friend.

Do you think you have a close friend who will give up everything for you?

I don’t know. I don’t like people giving up everything for me. I don’t want anyone to do that. But I do have friends who I know will take care of me.

What were your parents' reaction when you said you were going into acting? 

I paid attention to them, to what they said of course. But I think they just knew that there was no stopping me, really.

I grew up on set and I always wanted to be a part of it. And so, the minute that I was old enough to make that decision for myself, I did. I love movies so much. And I grew up with people who love movies.

There are parts of this industry that can be difficult and tricky but it’s also beautiful and it’s incredible, so I’m so lucky to be able to do this job. Of course, my parents are proud of me.

Who is the longest friend you have had?

The longest friend I've had is [someone I've been friends with] since we were babies actually. We've grown in so many different directions throughout our lives but she is still one of my most cherished beings and I think what I've learned about being a friend is the more you can embrace people as they grow and the more you can be brave and compassionate and vulnerable then the better your relationships will be.

What are your plans for Valentine’s Day? It's just around the corner?

Wow.  Valentine's – I haven't even thought about that at all. I think I'll be working. I start shooting a movie in the beginning of February so I'll be on set.

What have you learned about yourself and about relationships?

I think relationships are the thing in your life that make you grow the most and how you give and receive love is everything. I think when you move through relationships — and different kinds, whether it's a friendship or a romantic relationship — it's like you shed certain things and adopt certain things. I think I've just become more authentic, more myself, purer.

Casey Affleck  

Courtesy of Janet Susan R. Nepales/HFPA

Have you ever experienced that type of relationship where you have a friend who is that loyal?

Definitely. There have been times in my life where I have needed my friends and they’ve pulled me up, kept me together, for sure. The older I get, the more I realize just how important relationships are in life and how important it is to fix relationships that aren’t working even if they are relationships that you don’t necessarily want to have anymore.

It’s nice to not have broken relationships. You’re married, you get divorced, at some point you want to revisit that and see if you can heal those old wounds.

You’re never going to be married again but you don’t want to carry around that kind of animosity and you really do want to have nurturing relationships in your life, I do.

They’re sort of the most important thing to me by far. And this movie is a good example I think of how if you want a friend you should be a friend. And sometimes being a friend is the best way to have a friend. It’s ok to ask for help, it’s ok to say to your friends, 'I could really use you right now.'

It’s also I think an important lesson to remember that you get a lot out of being a good friend, being there for someone else completely selflessly does a lot for your own inner life.

What are the differences in the way men and women relate today and what kind of a husband are you or were you?

Some days, I feel like marriage should be reserved for people who are past 40 because you just don't know anything about yourself when you're that young — or I didn't. I didn't know anything about me or how to treat other people, how to treat myself. 

You learn so much the older you get and the thing you probably learn the most about is how to be in a relationship with other people and so I was married for a long time. 

I was in a relationship for 16 years and there are 100 million things I wish I could go back and do differently or that she – and I bet she would say the same thing but we loved each other very much and still do and we share children and everything's fine but there's certainly a lot to learn. The next time around, if I'm – if anyone wants to ever marry me again (laughs) I think I'll do a much better job.

You portray a journalist in this film. If you had the opportunity to be a journalist for a day, what subject would you want to cover and write about?

My mom was a teacher when I was growing up and I spent a lot of time in her classroom and obviously in all my own classrooms, and for many years I thought I was going to be a teacher.

When I look around at all of the problems in our society there's not one that is not somehow related to education. There's not one problem that is not somehow made worse by the fact that this country has got one of the worst educational systems in the world and there's absolutely no reason why and so I would probably write about that.

Could you talk about your friendships?

I was just saying how much I have learned about relationships as I, in the last like 10 years of whatever sort through marriage and through other friendships and through being a parent, just getting older, seeing your kids have friends. 

You don't really get to know much about the world until you're sort of, I don't know, out of your '30s maybe. So I've learned to truly treasure my friendships.

I feel like there's something that I remember my mom's best friend once had a saying that old friends are the bread of life's leaven, that those are the things that, at the end of a life of hard work and experience and good luck and bad luck — that at the end, the thing that you're left with is your good friends. The power of that is nowhere more evident than in this story with these guys who in the worst time in their life they have Jason Segel come along and help get them through this.

I've had some great friends in my life. I've lost friends. I have then gone back and repaired relationships with friends and people from my past and so I care a lot about it and, you know, it's who we are. 

Humans are complicated and tricky and relationships can be tricky too knowing when to try to make them work, when to move on, how to show up, when to show up and one of the things that I remember, you know, that I try to remember when thinking about friendship is that, you know, if you want a friend, be a friend. If you need a friend, go find someone else who needs a friend and be a friend to them. 

It isn't something you should expect.  It's something you should give, so I think this movie does a nice job of honoring that.

Who is the longest friend you have ever had?

The other night, I had 3 friends over here sitting around a tiny little backyard fire and they were people that I'd known — one of them since I was 4 years old, another one was the best friend of mine I met when I was 12 or 13. So I am lucky enough to have friends that go all the way back to the very beginning.

Jason Segel

Courtesy of Janet Susan R. Nepales/HFPA

Have you ever experienced a friend just like your character?

My best friend is still my best friend since I was 12 years old. His name is Brian. He’s a doctor in Connecticut now. And so yes, I’ve had that kind of friendship with him.

I think, what I reflected on from the movie though from playing this part is that very often I think we are better friends in our own minds than we are in action. And so I think even just going through telling this story I’ve started calling my friends more, trying to be more present, trying to be in action who I think I am in my head.

Being a friend is a very precarious relationship because you don’t know if you are overstaying or not. Do you have a sixth sense about that with yourself or other people toward you?

I err to a fault on thinking it’s time to go. I’m thinking I’ve overstayed my welcome. Not all of us but some of us feel that way, we don’t want to impose.

And what was interesting about this story is I’ve realized that that thing that I think is protecting the other people that’s actually protecting me from feeling embarrassed and it’s preventing me from being a really present friend.

I’ll often think, 'oh I’m not going to call. I’d probably be interrupting their day.' And then no one’s calling anybody. And so especially over the pandemic playing this part really made me reflect, 'am I in practice who I think that I am in my head?' And I wasn’t. So I’m trying to be more present.

How was it working with Dakota and Casey?

Dakota and I have known each other for a long time and so what was really wonderful about that was that playing the friendship part was very easy.

I had never worked with Casey before and Dakota and I had done comedy together so we had a shorthand in that way.

Casey and I had never worked together and we have different acting styles and being challenged to be as honest as Casey is willing to be on screen and to show off as little as Casey is willing to show off…sometimes Casey is seemingly doing nothing and it’s not until you see it where you’re like, oh he was doing everything, he just doesn’t feel like he has to show off. I learned a lot from that.

Tell me a little bit about friendship with men and women in your life and how different and how important they are.

They’re both very important. I’m going to answer this question very honestly. I think that there was a great equalizer for me. At 33, I stopped drinking and I think at that moment, the only thing that became important about relationships was authenticity and conversation because you’re not hiding behind the joy of a few drinks and nothing’s getting numb, you are very present at all times.

And so you’re just aware of whether or not…the only thing that can be fulfilling about the interaction is the actual interaction. And so to me, male or female, I’m just like, is this honest? That’s really all they boil down to, to me now.

I think underneath all that distinction I’m just, does this person care about me and is this conversation honest?

During this pandemic and lockdown, what did you learn about yourself?

What has been really interesting about this time is that you collect all this stuff in your life:  People, things, ideas for just in case...you hold on to them, and then I think this year just in case...happened, and you got to see what you actually used. Like, I don’t need four different sized colanders, I just need one. 

I don’t need those six other friends who, actually, aren’t really that present in this time when we all need each other. I don’t need this fear.  I don’t need this extra 15 pounds.  There is a lot that, I realize, I was holding on to that I didn’t need, so this year has been about, honestly, setting my life up to be happy. I just want to be happy. — LA, GMA News