Melanie Griffith is "proud" of her daughter for landing the lead role in the
Fifty Shades of Grey movie. The 56-year-old actress is thrilled her eldest child Dakota Johnson, from her first marriage to Don Johnson, will portray Anastasia Steele in Sam Taylor-Johnson's adaptation of the erotic novel. Asked how she feels about Dakota, 23, scoring the coveted role, Melanie, who is married to actor Antonio Banderas, told gossip website TMZ.com: "Are you kidding? Of course, I'm the proudest mom ever. I'm so excited for her."
Fifty Shades of Grey author E.L. James announced that the little known actress would take on the role alongside Charlie Hunnam on her Twitter account yesterday. Dakota previously appeared in
The Social Network and had small roles in
21 Jump Street,
The Five-Year Engagement and
Beastly. It's thought producers cast Dakota because they wanted a young, up-and-coming actress to play the role of virginal Anastasia, who embarks on an intense voyage of sexual discovery with her S&M-loving boss Christian.