What Dakota Johnson really thinks about the Nepo Baby debate

Originally appeared on E! Online

Dakota Johnson would very much like to be excluded from the "Nepo Baby" narrative.

In fact, the never-ending discourse surrounding famous families is what made the "Fifty Shades of Grey" star, daughter of Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson, want to take part in the "Saturday Night Live" Nepo Baby roast when hosting the show in January.

"When that first started, I found it to be incredibly annoying and boring," Dakota Johnson said on the Feb. 7 episode of "Today" about the debate, which arose on social media a few years ago amid the rise of fame of many celebrity children who became adults.

Calling the issue "lame," the 34-year-old added, "So the opportunity to make fun of it, I jumped at."

After all, the sketch saw Please Don't Destroy members Martin Herlihy and John Higgins—whose respective dads are notable comedy writer Tim Herlihy and producer Steve Higgins—and Johnson battle for the ultimate Nepo Baby insult.

But while she's game for some self-deprecating jokes about her family collections, she has been open about carving her own path in Hollywood. The "Madame Web" star recalled how she was cut off financially after high school after she chose to follow in her parents' acting footsteps rather than go to college.

Photos: Dakota Johnson's Best Looks

"He cut me off," Johnson said about her dad. "He said if you go to college, you still get an allowance. And I was like, 'Well, I'm going to be an actress.' So he was like, 'Alright, well you're on your own. I was cut off."

So, she turned to modeling to make rent money as she pursued acting. "I definitely like had moments where I couldn't afford groceries and things like that and needed to ask my mom to help me," she said. "She was the nice one."

Don Johnson previously shared insight into his college ultimatum he gave his kids. (In addition to Dakota, his only child with Melanie, he's also dad to Jesse Wayne Johnson, 41, Atherton Grace Johnson, 24, Jasper Breckinridge Johnson, 21, and Deacon James Johnson, 17.)

"We have a rule in the family that if you stay in school, you get to stay on the payroll," the "Nash Bridges" alum noted on "Late Night With Seth Meyers" in 2021. "And towards the end of high school, I went to her and I said, 'Um, so, do you want to go visit some colleges or something like that?' And she went, 'Oh, no, I'm not going to college.' And I went, 'OK. Well, you know what that means. I mean, you won't be on the payroll anymore, and how are you gonna manage?' And she says, 'Don't you worry about it.'"

But as Don revealed, Dakota's dedication quickly paid off as three weeks later, she landed a role in David Fincher's 2010 movie "The Social Network." And five years later, she made her debut in the "Fifty Shades of Grey" film trilogy, which marked her breakout role.

"And the rest is," Don said, "shall we say, cinema history."