Dakota Johnson ("Fifty Shades of Grey," "Black Mess," "Suspiria") will likely direct her first feature film from a script by an autistic actress she starred in a film with, wants to continue telling female-centric stories through her company TeaTime Pictures, avoid "toxic sets," measure the success of films by the impact on audiences rather than box office receipts, and would like to play a psychopath and action.

Asked by reporters during the press roundtable at the 59th edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF) in the Czech Republic whether she would switch from acting and producing to directing, Johnson replied, "I think I'm going to direct a feature film, a very small one, hopefully soon. And that's really close to my heart and very close to TeaTime. I'm doing it with Vanessa Burghardt, who played my daughter in Cha Cha Real Smooth. She's an amazing actress with autism."

"I always thought I wasn't ready to direct a feature film. I don't have the necessary confidence. But I feel very safe with her, I know her very well and... I just won't let anyone else do it," the star shared.

As a director, Johnson has already shot Coldplay's music video "Cry Cry Cry" and the short film Loser Baby.

What attracted her interest in choosing projects for TeaTime?

"Usually it's something that's either visually or emotionally provocative. And I don't mean that in a sexual sense. I mean it in the sense that it provokes something that's different from what you see on TV right now or on streaming platforms. A lot of them are also female characters. So these are female-driven films where the woman is different from what you see, and she's complex and nuanced, and maybe she's an antihero that you love." The projects may even feature a woman "who maybe does things that you would consider cruel, but you're really on her side because she's angry and real," Johnson explained.

The advantage of producing is that she can surround herself with people who create positive impressions of the work. "I can't waste my time on toxic sets anymore," says the actress. "With producing, that's one of the benefits."

She told reporters that from an early age she was "quite vocal" when problems arose on or off set. "Now that I'm a producer and I'm developing my own films, I get to choose all the people."

The star also called for new ways to measure the success of films. "I think the barometer for that is changing right now. It's hard to measure success based on box office numbers because they are so different," she suggested. Mentioning that "Jurassic Park - Resurgence" had "captivated" her, she said that "the way I measure success is in terms of people who felt something or it meant something to them" - or people coming up to her on the street and telling her they loved the film.

Johnson found time to meet the press before receiving the KVIFF President's Award on July 5 before the screening of her new film, "The Materialists," directed by Celine Song and also starring Pedro Pascal and Chris Evans.

The second film Johnson presented at KVIFF was the Michael Angelo Covino-directed romantic comedy Splitsville, which she also produced under her TeaTime Pictures brand, launched in 2019 with her producing partner Ro Donnelly.

Are there any character types she'd like to inhabit in the future?

"There are roles I dream of playing," Johnson says. "I'd like to play a psychopath, I'd like to do an action movie." 

Johnson also shared that "I love coming to film festivals because everyone loves movies so much, and it feels like a magical little bubble in a world full of chaos and pain." She added, "I think art can really reach people, and that's why festivals in places like this make me feel inspired and hopeful."

"At the moment it's very difficult to make films and make people believe in what you want to say. I don't think movies are going to save the world, by any means, but I think it's good to have them," the actress added. | BGNES