**Dakota Johnson Opens Up About Financial Struggles and Hollywood Journey**

Despite having famous parents, Dakota Johnson faced significant challenges on her path to success. The "Madame Web" actress revealed that her parents, Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith, cut her off financially when she decided to pursue acting instead of attending college. In a conversation with co-star Pedro Pascal for Elle U.K., Johnson recounted her experience.

After graduating high school, Johnson only applied to Juilliard but did not get accepted. Reflecting on the process, she described it as "awful and terrifying." Although she was supposed to be called back for a second audition, she never received the invite. However, she wasn't too disheartened, admitting, "I really didn't want to go to college," especially at a smaller institution like Juilliard.

Her father had a strict rule about financial support: it was only available as long as his children stayed in school. True to his word, Don Johnson cut Dakota off financially when she didn't pursue higher education. "I didn't get in and my dad cut me off because I didn't go to college," she said. At 19, she began auditioning and landed a role in "The Social Network."

Following her brief appearance in the 2010 David Fincher film, Dakota took on roles in "Beastly," "21 Jump Street," "The Five-Year Engagement," and "Date and Switch" before achieving stardom in the 2015 film "Fifty Shades of Grey." However, in the interim, the actress struggled financially. She described periods when she couldn't purchase groceries or pay rent and had to seek help from her parents. "I'm very grateful that I had parents that could help me and did help me. But it certainly was not fun," she shared. "The auditioning process, as you know, is the f---ing worst."

Don Johnson previously addressed his decision to cut off Dakota financially during a 2021 interview on "Late Night with Seth Meyers." He reiterated the rule within their family: "We have a rule in the family that if you stay in school, you get to stay on the payroll. You go to college, you get to stay on the payroll." He even recalled asking Dakota if she wanted to visit some colleges, to which she responded, "Oh, no. I'm not going to college."

Dakota Johnson is set to star alongside Pedro Pascal and Chris Evans in "Materialists," a romance film directed by Celine Song, which premieres on June 13.