Dakota Johnson clarifies Suspiria therapy comments

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Back in April of this year, we passed along a fun little story that said, after filming director Luca Guadagnino's remake of Dario Argento's SUSPIRIA, star Dakota Johnson needed to go to therapy. And today we have word via EW that Johnson is changing her tune a little bit and saying that she was not psychoanalyzed, and filming the remake was the most fun, most exhilarating, and the most joyful experience that it could be.

Dakota Johnson :

First of all, I was not psychoanalyzed and I hope I never will be. I find sometimes when I work on a project and — I don't have any shame in this — I'm a very porous person and I absorb a lot of people's feelings. When you're working sometimes with dark subject matter, it can stay with you and then to talk to somebody really nice about it afterwards is a really nice way to move on from the project. My therapist is a really nice woman.

She then adds:

It was the most fun and the most exhilarating and the most joyful that it could be. It's mischievous and play[ful] and I love it more than anything. It wasn't that this film sent me to a ward, I just have a lot of feelings.

For those of you out there that don't have steel-trap memories, Johnson originally made the therapy comments during a conversation with Elle magazine about scents and coconut oil, saying:

…no lie, f*cked me up so much that I had to go to therapy.

She also described the working conditions:

We were in an abandoned hotel on top of a mountain. It had 30 telephone poles on the roof, so there was electricity pulsating through the building, and everyone was shocking each other. It was cold as shit, and so dry. The only thing that helped was dousing myself with oil every night. Now I can’t get enough.

Guess things weren't as bad for her during filming as we originally thought. I still haven't – for some God forsaken reason – seen this remake (although it's literally on the top of my must-see list), so I can't speak to how intense her role looks from the outside. That said, I've heard some bits and pieces from various people who have seen the movie that it was super-intense at times, so I'm still holding out hope that it screws ME up – if only a little.

Guadagnino's remake stars Dakota Johnson as

Young American dancer Susie Bannion, who arrives in 1970s Berlin to audition for the world-renowned Helena Markos Dance Co. When she vaults to the role of a lead dancer, the woman she replaces breaks down and accuses the company's female directors of witchcraft. Meanwhile, an inquisitive psychotherapist and a member of the troupe uncover dark and sinister secrets as they probe the depths of the studio's hidden underground chambers.

Guadagnino directs the remake from a screenplay adapted by David Kajganich (THE INVASION) based on the original script penned by Argento and Daria Nicolodi. Johnson's co-stars include Tilda Swinton, Mia Goth, Angela Winkler, Ingrid Caven, Elena Fokina, Sylvie Testud, Renée Soutendijk, Christine LeBoutte, Fabrizia Sacchi, and Malgosia Bela, along with Jessica Harper and Chloë Grace Moretz. The film is now playing at a theater near you. Do you plan on checking out this remake in theaters? Did you catch a screening this past weekend? Let us know below! After that, snag a copy of Argento's original classic on Blu-ray RIGHT HERE.