Dakota Johnson has admitted to having concerns about her blue screen work in Madame Web, saying filming those scenes felt "absolutely psychotic," but she trusted SJ Clarkson's direction.
In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Johnson opened up about her on-set experience filming Sony Pictures' forthcoming Marvel film Madame Web. The actress revealed she has never worked with blue screens for special effects before, and the process made her question certain aspects of her performance.
"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 said. "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 okay job!'
"But I trusted [Clarkson]," Johnson added, noting that she regularly checked in with the director throughout the shoot. "She works so hard and she has not taken her eyes off this movie since we started."
Clarkson contacted Johnson about the role in 2021, but Johnson admits she was initially hesitant about boarding the project. She wasn't sure about suiting up to play Madame Web (aka Cassandra Webb, someone traditionally depicted as an elderly mystic in the comics) until she discovered more about the character.
"I got sent this script, and I was like, 'I don't know about me being a superhero,'" Johnson said of her first reaction before delving further into the script. "I was sort of mystified by her powers. I felt like, 'Oh, I really would love to see that superhero. I would love to see a young woman whose superpower is her mind.'"
Talks of Johnson joining the cast emerged in 2022 before she officially signed on to star in Madame Web's title role. Johnson explained that she enjoyed the challenge of getting to grips with the character and honing her skills to pull off the performance, which led to her finding a talent for stunt driving work.
"I got to do a day of stunt driving work, and I'm really good at it, it seems!" she 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 Sydney Sweeney as Julia Carpenter/Spider-Woman, while Tahar Rahim stars as the Spider-Man-like villain, Ezekiel "Zeke" Sims. Celeste O'Connor plays Mattie Franklin/Spider-Woman, and Isabela Merced is Anya Corazon/Araña, who will swing into action when the film hits theaters this February.
Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on X @AdeleAnkers.
