Dakota Johnson has come a long way since her Fifty Shades of Grey days. She has two highly anticipated flicks on the 2025 movie calendar, has become a fashion staple, and continues to make a name for herself. But every shining star trips up now and again, and Johnson revealed one of those clumsier moments happened behind the scenes on Saturday Night Live next to Lorne Michaels. The goofy response he had to her tumbling into a set piece suits him well.
The anecdote arose during her time on Late Night with Seth Meyers (where she was wearing a stunning sheer mesh dress). The actress chatted about her first experience at the annual French film festival, including the pressures, but confessed that her biggest fear on any carpet (or beyond) is falling. The 35-year-old confirmed that she fell during Cannes, but also during SNL as a guest, watching alongside Michaels himself. In her words:
I'm obsessed with SNL. So I go and watch and sit where Lorne sits…. I went out front with Lorne to watch Weekend Update because sometimes [he is] like, 'Come and watch on the floor,' which is, like, the coolest thing ever. And then I took, like, a tiny step backwards, and I completely knocked over and fell into an entire set piece, and it was like [explosion sound].
This just makes Dakota Johnson all the more relatable to me. As someone who has tripped (and hurt herself) on the sidewalk, I feel this deeply. Sometimes, somehow, some of us can just find ourselves on the ground. Admittedly, though, I’ve never bitten it with a full-fledged live audience expecting comedy in the room!
But maybe the goofiest and most poignant person to respond was the SNL head himself. The Daddio alum went on to share his short but quippy response:
[Lorne] was like, ‘You were there, and then you weren’t there.'
Hopefully, the Cannes and the 30 Rock flop are both behind her, and it's the only fall she endures this year. But with the upcoming Materialists and the Cannes-premiered film Splitsville, both await national releases and press tours. So we’ll have to wait and see just how well she does for the upcoming A24 movie and the Neon film.
I’d also love to know Lorne Michaels’ side of Dakota Johnson taking out the big set piece. Truly, I think many of us would like to know a lot more Studio 8H material, especially now that the wrapped historic 50th season has ended. Catching all of the SNL content with my Peacock subscription will have to do, though, until the next story like Johnson’s arrives.
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