Dakota Johnson's 'Fifty Shades' Pubic Hair Confession Clashes With Cinematographer's Claim It Was Added Later

Dakota Johnson says she grew her pubic hair to play Anastasia Steele in the first Fifty Shades of Grey film. She said Steele was supposed to have never had a wax, and that viewers saw Steele fully nude from the front. Johnson made the confession on Hot Ones Versus, a YouTube show, instead of eating a hot wing.

Johnson's account appears to conflict with what Seamus McGarvey, the film's cinematographer and head of the camera team, said in 2015. McGarvey said Johnson wore a patch over her groin and his team added the hair later, during editing. The film made $569.7 million (about £430 million) worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo.

Johnson's Hot Ones Versus Reply

First We Feast, the food channel behind Hot Ones, put the episode on YouTube this month, days after Johnson turned 37. Anne Hathaway refereed a contest between Johnson and Josh Hartnett, and all three star in Verity, a Colleen Hoover thriller in US cinemas. Johnson plays Lowen Ashleigh, a struggling writer. In one round, Hathaway asked each player for their most embarrassing way of getting ready for a role, as shown in the episode below.

'I grew my pubic hair,' said Johnson, as Hathaway and Hartnett burst out laughing. Johnson also mentioned Madame Web before specifying that the full-frontal nudity referred to the first of the three Fifty Shades films. Hathaway then asked whether Johnson had wanted to use a merkin, a small hairpiece that actors can wear over the groin during nude scenes. Johnson replied no, and the game moved on. Under the show's rules, the player who eats more wings loses, so every honest reply helps.

The Crew's Account in 2015

McGarvey described the shoot in a New York Times feature on 1 March 2015 about how film and television sex scenes are made. 'Dakota had kind of a patch that went over her pubic area,' the cinematographer told the newspaper. He called adding the hair in post-production, the editing stage after filming, surreal, though not a career highlight. He said the crew also cast a body double for shots of Johnson's bottom.

Sam Taylor-Johnson, the film's director, gave a third account to HuffPost Live days before its release, calling Steele's pubic hair 'a conscious choice'. The choice came from a very funny talk with Johnson, the director said. The two discussed how Steele's look should change as the story moves on. Taylor-Johnson tied that change to E. L. James's novel. The director left before the sequels, which reached cinemas in 2017 and 2018.

What Remains Unanswered

The accounts could all hold if Johnson grew her hair and a patch covered her in some takes. None of the three comments, as quoted, says which scenes it describes. Box Office Mojo also credits two more cinematographers on the film, Kramer Morgenthau and Roger Vernon.

Johnson is promoting Verity this month. Coverage of her remarks has brought back advice from gynaecologist Holly W. Cummings that there is no medical reason to remove pubic hair. Johnson's earlier Hot Ones interview in June 2025 ended with her saying she wouldn't be back. The Versus format brought her back 16 months later.