Emily Blunt persuaded Dakota Johnson to accept the lead role in the 'Fifty Shades of Grey' trilogy

• Dakota Johnson asked Emily Blunt if she should accept the lead role in "Fifty Shades of Grey."
• Johnson was initially concerned that the trilogy would pigeonhole her, she told THR on Wednesday.

Emily Blunt convinced Dakota Johnson to accept the lead role in the "Fifty Shades" trilogy, the latter said during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday.

After Johnson impressed producers Mike De Luca and Dana Brunetti with her performance in the 2010 film "The Social Network," the pair considered her for another one of their projects, Sam Taylor-Johnson's 2015 adaptation of E. L. James' novel "Fifty Shades of Grey."

Johnson read the script, auditioned, and received an offer for the role of Anastasia Steele.

"I couldn't talk about it to anybody. Nobody in my family knew," the 32-year-old actress, whose parents are Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith, told the publication.

So, she sought advice from Blunt, her friend and "Five-Year Engagement" costar.

"I was cast [and] I remember I spoke to Emily Blunt, and I was like, 'Should I do this trilogy?'" Johnson recalled.

At the time, she had doubts. She knew more exposure and opportunities would come from being the face of a box-office hit, however she was nervous that it might move her further away from the types of roles she ultimately wanted to play.

The actress recalled telling Blunt that she wants to have "a really special career."

"I want to make a certain kind of film. And I know that this is going to change things," Johnson said.

The "Devil Wears Prada" actress reportedly responded: "Fucking do it if it feels right. Just do it. Always do what you want to do.'"

Years later, Blunt admitted that she's never actually watched the "Fifty Shades" trilogy.

The full-circle moment arrived in 2020, when she costarred in the romance "Wild Mountain Thyme" opposite Jamie Dornan, who played Christian Grey in the "Fifty Shades" movies. While promoting her film, Blunt told Entertainment Tonight that Dornan was "relieved" she had not watched him as Christian.

"I just said, 'I'm so sorry. I've never seen those films.' And he goes, 'I am very relieved,'" Blunt said, continuing, "I'd seen Jamie on 'The Fall' and I'd seen him in 'Private War,' and that was it really. So I didn't have any sort of perception of him being this, you know, whatever Christian Grey was."

Johnson stands by her decision to portray Anastasia, a role she reprised in the trilogy's subsequent films "Fifty Shades Darker" (2017) and "Fifty Shades Freed" (2018).

"I haven't been pigeonholed into anything," she told The Hollywood Reporter, adding, "I guess I could have gone in a certain direction, but that's just not what I was interested in."

Johnson went on to appear in films such as "A Bigger Splash," "Black Mass," "Suspiria," and "The Peanut Butter Falcon." She's also been cast in upcoming projects including "The Lost Daughter" and "Persuasion."