Dakota Johnson, famous for her role as Anastasia Steele in the *Fifty Shades* series, manages both her successful Hollywood career and a full family life with ease. At 34, Dakota has not only made a name for herself in film but is also learning about love and blended families.
This article explores Dakota’s rumored engagement to Chris Martin, her smooth transition into being part of a blended family, her friendship with Chris’s ex, Gwyneth Paltrow, and her thoughts on family life and motherhood. Dakota’s family history in the entertainment world adds even more to her unique perspective on life, love, and family.
Dakota Johnson, an actress, producer, and director, has been in Hollywood since childhood, starting her acting career at ten. She’s appeared in over 30 films, most notably as Anastasia Steele in the Fifty Shades of Grey series, a role she reprised in two sequels.
Dakota comes from a family of Hollywood stars. Her mother, Melanie Griffith, has over 80 acting credits in projects like Days Out of Days and Stuart Little 2, while her father, Don Johnson, has acted in over 100 projects, including Knives Out. After her parents’ divorce, both remarried. Her mother was married to actor Antonio Banderas from 1996 to 2015, and he shared a close bond with Dakota, often describing her as his family and expressing his love for her.
Dakota is the only child of her parents together but grew up in a large blended family. She has spoken about her family, saying, “I grew up in a family that was so big, and I just believe in the saying ‘Blood is thicker than water.’” Dakota values the relationships people choose as much as those they’re born into, saying that in her family, her siblings, blood-related or not, are all close and connected.
Her blended family experience has influenced how she views relationships. She believes that family bonds endure through trials, with most of her relatives being creative people. She reflected, “Even the kids, they’re extraordinarily talented people. So you just are dealing with complex people. You grow and you embrace.” Dakota cherishes her family, finding joy in its honesty and openness.
Dakota is in a relationship with Chris Martin, the lead singer of Coldplay. Rumors of their engagement have circulated, especially after Dakota was spotted wearing a ring in 2020, and again in 2021. In 2023, designer Jessica McCormack posted a photo of Dakota wearing what looked like an engagement ring. Sources say the couple got engaged a while ago but kept the news private, focusing on their bond over wedding plans.
Dakota has embraced her role as a stepmom to Chris’s children, Apple and Moses, from his past marriage to Gwyneth Paltrow. She has a good relationship with Gwyneth, who has openly praised Dakota, calling her “an adorable, wonderful person” and sharing that they are close friends. The two have even posted photos together, showing their bond.
Dakota and Chris’s relationship has brought her closer to his children. She once described her connection to them, saying, “I love those kids like my life depends on it.” She often spends time with Apple and Moses and has been spotted on family outings, like grabbing coffee or going on family vacations.
Despite the family’s nontraditional structure, Dakota feels at ease with it. Growing up in a blended family herself, she feels it’s natural. Her experiences have made her open to one day having children of her own, saying, “I’m so open to that. I really want to experience everything that life has to offer.” She sees motherhood as a “crazy, wild, and magical” experience and is ready if it happens.
Dakota’s family background has influenced how she approaches her current relationships. Her connection with Chris and his children has brought her happiness, shaping her ideas about love, family, and the future.
What Happened to Zac Efron: He Changed His Lifestyle and Now Calls a Different Country “Home”
Zac Efron has been traveling around the world frequently since he shot to fame, both for work and leisure. Still, he kept living in California, where he was born and raised. However, it all suddenly changed after he chose to spend some time abroad and he realized he needed to change the way he lived in order to find true happiness.
He lived most of his life in the United States.
Originally from San Luis Obispo, in California, Zac Efron spent the majority of his life in the United States, having grown up close to the heart of Hollywood. Despite this, his parents were never involved in the entertainment business. Still, he took his first steps into that world early on in his life. His journey in acting and singing began during his time at Arroyo Grande High School in the early 2000s, with a drama teacher playing a pivotal role in connecting him to an agent.
After he achieved success with teen flicks like the High School Musical trilogy and 17 Again(2009), he shifted into more dramatic roles in films such as The Greatest Showman(2017) and, more recently, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile(2019). It was this ever-growing filmography that allowed him to amass a net worth of around $25 million and gave him the opportunity to purchase a mansion in Los Feliz, Los Angeles, in 2013. He lived there for seven years until he no longer felt like it was the right place for him.
So, what happened to Zac Efron to make him change his mind? Keep reading to find out.
His L.A. house had everything to offer, but ultimately it wasn’t enough.
The 36-year-old actor put his Los Feliz home up for sale in December, 2020, and the listing made public the house’s astounding features. The property, which is nestled against the Hollywood Hills and located in a prestigious neighborhood filled with plenty of celebrity residents, offers breathtaking views, accentuated by walls of glass, terraces, and numerous outdoor spaces that offer panoramic vistas of the city below.
With five bedrooms and five bathrooms within its 5.455-square-foot layout, the main level includes a living area, dining room, chef’s kitchen adjoining a family room, and a master suite with a spa-like bathroom. But that’s not all!
Additionally, it has three bedrooms with bathrooms downstairs, along with a separate one-bedroom, one-bath guesthouse. It also features amenities such as a gym, media room, game room and security cameras, and the outdoor space includes view decks suitable for outdoor dining and lounging.
So, with all its potential, it wasn’t shocking that it sold in only a few months, in spite of the hefty price tag. In May 2021, the house sold for $5.3 million. Albeit below the initial asking price of $5.9 million, it still marks a profitable venture for Efron, as he paid around $4 million when he first purchased the property.
He fell in love with a different country.
In 2020, Efron made a move that had a deep impact on him — he relocated to Byron Bay, Australia. Back then, he still owned the Los Feliz mansion, so many thought it was just a temporary home. The fact that he lived out of a van, before buying a property in the Australian beachside town also led many to believe nothing much could come of the move.
However, he shot the second season of his Netflix documentary series Down to Earththere, which allowed him to spend over a year with the Aussies. Eventually, he did return to the US to enjoy quality time with his family, but it wasn’t long before he was once again on Australian ground. This time, it was to shoot Ricky Stanicky, a movie in which he co-stars with John Cena and that has yet to have a set date for its debut.
But a special situation might have sealed the deal for his ever-growing bond with the country. Shortly after he moved to Australia, Efron found love. He met Vanessa Valladares, a waitress at the Byron Bay General Store & Cafe, in June 2020. They began dating and eventually spent Christmas and New Year’s together in Australia. Although the couple has since called it quits, the relationship might have been the final trigger of Efron’s decision to move permanently from the US, as he then put his L.A. home on the market.
Finally, a source close to the actor revealed in January 2021, that Efron already considered Australia “home.”
The actor doesn’t think Hollywood is a healthy place to live in.
The actor had previously expressed his intention to move out of Hollywood, though, and it was precisely in a scene from Down to Earth. In the fourth episode, he candidly shared his desire to move away from the Hollywood scene and the lifestyle associated with it, and emphasized that it didn’t contribute in any way to a “long, happy, mentally-sound life.”
Curiously, what happened to Zac Efron also happened to Chris Hemsworth, in which both actors made the decision to move to Australia so they could distance themselves from the hecticness of Hollywood. Although Hemsworth himself is Australian, his mindset was similar to that of Efron.
In 2016, Hemsworth, known for his role as Thor in several Marvel movies, relocated his family from Los Angeles to Byron Bay. The 40-year-old similarly expressed a wish to escape the suffocating nature of being constantly surrounded by the entertainment industry. Opting for a more tranquil lifestyle, as of 2023, he and his family reside in a $20 million mega-mansion in Byron Bay’s hinterland, which they view as a healthier environment for their children to grow up in.
People often also wonder what happened to Zac Efron when it comes to his new appearance. His face changed considerably throughout the years but the drastic change isn’t down to plastic surgery. According to him, it’s because of an accident where he almost died.
Preview photo credit zacefron / Instagram, zacefron / Instagram
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