Dakota Johnson’s Press Circuit Has Been Phenomenal

For any number of reasons, Dakota Johnson gets a lot of flak for being who she is, whether it stems from good old-fashioned misogyny or criticism aimed at her acting capabilities. The former is bad no matter how you slice it, but her work is fair game, even if I largely disagree with most negative assessments. Yeah, we all know about the delirious terribleness of Madame Web and a few other misfires—even the mere mention of the 2022 Persuasion can potentially bring mobs of otherwise mild-mannered Jane Austen enthusiasts baying for blood. It’s worth noting that neither of these misfires is Johnson’s fault, and she’s got a number of good-to-great projects under her belt. What many of her detractors may not realize is that Johnson’s a steady performer who’s delivered some great performances. What even more people may not realize is that Johnson’s absolutely hilarious.

With this weekend’s release of Materialists, a rom-com directed by Celine Song starring Johnson as an NYC matchmaker in the midst of a love triangle between a rich dreamboat played by Pedro Pascal and her financially disadvantaged ex-boyfriend played by Chris Evans, comes the volley of press junkets and the social media-fueled pit stops along the way. Granted, this publicity whirlwind has a massive harm bomb with Pascal, but it’s Johnson who’s evoked the biggest laughs. Their rapid-fire questions gig on Vogue from earlier this week is an absolute delight, especially when Johnson talks about her childhood nickname “Coquí,” the frog associated with Puerto Rico (as a PR representative, I’m obligated to inform you the pronunciation is more like ‘coe-KEY,’ certainly nothing like Pedro’s cheeky R-rated joke). Have you ever heard anyone call someone a “f**king idiot” so sweetly before? Because I sure haven’t:

The entire sit-down has an adorable ‘two besties cutting up in the back of the classroom’ vibe to it while delivering little nuggets like the fact that Johnson wound up suffering from whiplash on Fifty Shades of Grey (the jokes write themselves), which you can see at the 7:05 mark.

Johnson also managed to be self-deprecating and self-aware while suffering during her Hot Ones interview, giving us this marvelous meme-able moment:

She also made a stop on Amy Poehler’s Good Hang, where she talked about a variety of topics, including coping with stage fright. Most importantly, however, she brought her new puppy, Tokyo. Hopefully, this’ll be the start of a welcome trend:

Although I’ve known for a long time that Johnson’s got some impressive comedic chops (if you don’t believe me, go back and watch her in 2012’s The Five-Year Engagement as Jason Segel’s wild young girlfriend), being able to navigate the barrage of interviews with your sanity intact is a feat on its own, never mind cracking people up while do so. We’ll have to wait to see how the weekend box office treats Materialists, but her press certainly won’t hurt.

The Materialists is open nationwide.

Kaleena Rivera is the TV Editor for Pajiba.