They say no good deed goes unpunished. For Dakota Johnson, this seemed to be literally the case when she lost an acting job by trying to be polite to everybody at an audition.
The Fifty Shades of Grey and Splitsville actress recalled an audition experience during an interview with Hits Radio (below). Johnson didn’t name the project, but says she was told she lost out on the gig — where she had made it to the second round of a casting call — because she took a moment to introduce herself to everyone in the room.
“I had an audition once — and it was a callback — and I went into the room, and I shook everyone’s hand and introduced myself,” she said. “Then I did the scene and I left. The feedback I got [afterward] was that because I had gone and introduced myself and shook everyone’s hand, that I was ‘pompous,’ that I was ‘schmoozing’ and that I was full of myself. And I was like, ‘Well, what?’ I didn’t get the job because they said that I was ‘cocky.’ But I just had manners. It was pretty crazy.”
It’s the obvious joke to make, but: If only that role was Madame Web.
Johnson is currently promoting the U.K. release of Splitsville, which premiered at Cannes last year to glowing reviews. The indie comedy from director Michael Angelo Covino “explores the chaos following a divorce announcement, focusing on two couples and the consequences of an open marriage.” The film also stars Adria Arjona, Kyle Marvin, and Covino.
The Hollywood Reporter called it “the rare indie comedy in which style matters as much as substance” and the film is currently streaming on Hulu.
