SNL and Dakota Johnson Take You to the Weirdest ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ Press Junket
With Dakota Johnson guest hosting, last night’s SNL had no shortage of 50 Shades of Grey jokes. For her part, Johnson seemed equally bemused and embarrassed by her controversial new hit, rolling with whatever the show threw at her and always coming out looking far better than her naysayers expected. Her ability to make fun of herself and the film that has turned her into an overnight movie star really came together in the only sketch of the night that required her to play herself.
The sketch finds Johnson at a press junket for the film, sitting in a hotel room, taking part in countless interviews and answering the same questions over and over again Thankfully, she only has one more interview. But her interviewer (played by Kyle Mooney) is in the fourth grade. And he’s already seen 50 Shades of Grey several times. And he has a whole bunch of really awkward questions about the movie and its depiction of an S&M sexual relationship.
Johnson effectively plays the “straight man” to Mooney, who really nails the whole “young kid asks a whole bunch of really inappropriate questions” schtick. Even when the jokes don’t hit as hard as they should, Johnson’s willingness to parody herself and Mooney’s bizarre delivery make up for it. If this starring-in-erotic-dramas thing doesn’t work out for Johnson, she probably has a pretty decent comedy career ahead.