What Dakota Johnson's Relationship With Jamie Dornan Is Really Like

In a world where passion meets the silver screen, the "Fifty Shades of Grey" franchise surely takes the cake. Starring dynamic duo Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan, these book-to-film adaptations, first released in 2015, quickly became a global phenomenon. Johnson and Dornan's on-screen chemistry brought the passionate characters to life, and it's hard to imagine that we could've seen Emilia Clarke on our screens instead, had she not turned down the role.

"Fifty Shades of Grey" captivated audiences with its steamy narrative, but it turns out that no matter how real those NSFW scenes appeared, there was nothing real about Johnson and Dornan's romantic chemistry. In fact, Johnson revealed to Vanity Fair that their off-screen relationship is close, but certainly not in that way.

"There was never a time when we didn't get along. I know it's weird, but he's like a brother to me," the "Wounds" actor said. "I love him so, so, so much. And we were really there for each other. We had to really trust each other and protect each other." There were three "Fifty Shades" films released over the years: "Fifty Shades of Grey," "Fifty Shades Darker," and "50 Shades Freed." Due to their extensive time in intimate scenes, Johnson said that there was no choice but for them to be a team.

The "Fifty Shades of Grey" movies explore the complicated and um, passionate relationship between student Anastasia Steele and businessman Christian Grey. As the franchise's leads, Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan  had to learn to trust one another in order to get through the intense yet awkward love scenes. "We were doing the weirdest things for years, and we needed to be a team," Johnson explained to Vanity Fair. They made their boundaries clear on-set, recalling that they would say, "'We're not doing that,' or 'You can't do that camera angle.' "

This is no surprise, as apparently there is nothing sexy about sex scenes. Often surrounded by a room full of crew members and intimacy coordinators, actors filming love scenes are indeed performing. When it came to filming these scenes, Johnson spoke about how she and Dornan had to truly be on the same page in order to create their characters' chemistry. In real life, the "Heart of Stone" actor is married to Amelia Hart, with whom he shares three daughters.

"There were no inhibitions, and it was very honest, very trusting," Johnson said of the intimate scenes with Dornan. "There's no makeup. There are no clothes to tell you a bit about the story. There's no jewelry to give you a clue about social status. So it becomes purely about the performance."

Even though their salaries for the film were surprisingly low, Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan didn't regret making the racy films. The franchise surely boosted their careers, as the two were relatively unknown actors before the first installment hit theaters. Reflecting on the triumph of the "Fifty Shades" series, Dornan candidly acknowledged the film's impact on his career and life, emphasizing its undeniable financial success as it broke box office records in 2015.

"Look, put it this way: it's done no harm to my career to be part of a movie franchise that has made more than $1 billion. Every working actor would say the same thing," Dornan admitted in an interview with British GQ. But despite these acknowledgments, Dornan's sentiments still had a lingering issue: the films being a punchline among critics. "...I take issue with the whole thing being just a bit of a joke. Everyone involved worked as hard as they could on those films, including myself."

Johnson's sentiments are similar, even though she admits that the process of filming was still strange, no matter how comfortable they were with each other. "Look, it was great for our careers. So amazing. So lucky. But it was weird. So, so weird," she told Vanity Fair.