Dakota Johnson says she had initial worries about new superhero movie Madame Web

Dakota Johnson has admitted that she felt some aspects of the forthcoming Marvel film, Madame Web, were “absolutely psychotic” when filming.

The actor, best known to many for starring in the Fifty Shades films, will take the lead in the new superhero movie, playing a clairvoyant named Cassandra Webb.

Directed by Jessica Jones executive producer SJ Clarkson, the film marks Johnson’s first project in the superhero genre, following her work in comedies and dramatic romances.

In a recent interview, Johnson, 34, shared some frank feelings about this change of pace and recalled working with a blue screen for special effects.

“I’ve never really done a movie where you are on a blue screen, and there’s fake explosions going off, and someone’s going, ‘Explosion!’ and you act like there’s an explosion,” Johnson told Entertainment Weekly.

“That to me was absolutely psychotic. I was like, ‘I don’t know if this is going to be good at all! I hope that I did an OK job!’”

“But I trusted [Clarkson],” she continued, adding that she and the director were in constant contact to keep track of which scenes were real, versus those imagined by Cassandra.

“She works so hard, and she has not taken her eyes off this movie since we started.”

Elsewhere in the chat, the Suspiria star also revealed her discovered talent for stunt car driving while on set.

“I got to do a day of stunt driving work, and I’m really good at it, it seems!” Johnson said.

“I mean, I can do some really wild things with a car. I drove an ambulance. I drove a taxicab. I drove everything in the movie – except for flying through the air and out of a building.

“But other than that, I’m like, ‘Watch out, Tom Cruise.’”

Madame Web also stars Euphoria actor Sydney Sweeney as Julia Cornwall Carpenter, who eventually becomes Spider-Woman.

Back in 2022, Sweeney spoke about her first time meeting Johnson, who she’s a huge fan of. “I was a little nervous,” Sweeney said during a red carpet interview.

“I have to say – I snuck 50 Shades of Grey in high school. My parents didn’t let me watch it and I watched it. So I’m a huge fan of her. She’s so hot.”

The cast also includes Isabela Merced, Emma Roberts, Adam Scott, Celeste O’Connor, Tahar Rahim, Mike Epps and Zosia Mamet.

Madame Web is out in UK cinemas on 16 February.