Rise to Fame
An 80,000-signature petition demanded her removal from Fifty Shades of Grey before a single frame was shot. She almost turned the role down anyway. Emily Blunt had to talk her into it. Then she made the franchise a billion-dollar property and walked away with a Razzie and a BAFTA Rising Star nomination for the exact same performance. That's the paradox that launched her career: a role the internet didn't want her to have, that she didn't really want to take, that made her impossible to ignore.
In the Spotlight
Madame Web hit theaters in February 2024 with an $80 million budget, a 13% on Rotten Tomatoes, and Johnson publicly stating she'd never do anything like it again. Sony's worst Spider-Man universe opener, full stop. She has never watched it, treating avoidance as self-care. The recovery was fast: Materialists, an A24 film with Chris Evans and Pedro Pascal, pulled $108 million on a $20 million budget. She didn't need the superhero franchise.
Side Notes
Named Miss Golden Globe in 2006 at 16. Her mother Melanie Griffith had held the same title in 1975. The family tree covers four generations: grandmother Tippi Hedren in The Birds, father Don Johnson in Miami Vice, stepfather Antonio Banderas directing her film debut at age 10. Juilliard rejected her. She auditioned for Fifty Shades with a monologue from Bergman's Persona, which tells you exactly how seriously she was taking a role she didn't want.