Why people love stars going 'off script'

By Nicholas BarberFeatures correspondent

The star has been promoting superhero film Madame Web with sardonic press appearances slamming the mainstream film industry, among other things – and it's winning her new fans.

A new Spider-Man-adjacent superhero blockbuster, Madame Web, is swinging its way to a cinema near you this week, so its star, Dakota Johnson, has been telling journalists everywhere how fantastic it is. Well, sort of.

More like this:

– Is this the end of the road for superhero films?

– Hollywood's most extreme actors

– Why Martin Scorsese fears for the future of cinema

Johnson may have been doing interviews and making TV appearances, but she hasn't exactly been overflowing with enthusiasm. In Entertainment Weekly, she opened up about how difficult it was to act in scenes before the visual effects had been added. "That to me was absolutely psychotic. I was like, 'I don't know if this is going to be good at all!'" In L'Officiel, she took the opportunity to slam the mainstream film industry in general. "Everyone who makes decisions is afraid. They want to do the safe thing and the safe thing is really boring," she said. And on Saturday Night Live she joked that because Madame Web featured Marvel characters and co-starred the curvaceous Sydney Sweeney from Euphoria, it was "kind of like if AI generated your boyfriend's perfect movie". Meanwhile she took the opportunity of her appearance on Late Night With Seth Meyers to dunk on her experience filming a cameo in the finale of hit sitcom The Office back in 2013, joking that it was "the worst time of her life".

Whatever the producers of Madame Web think of them, Johnson's sardonic comments have gone down well on social media – and she's not the only star who has been applauded for letting some humanity glimmer through his or her corporate facade. Hollywood A-listers are trained to be almost insanely positive when they're on the publicity trail, so anyone who lets the mask slip is seen as being refreshingly honest and subversive, whether it's Ryan Gosling looking puzzled when I'm Just Ken from the Barbie soundtrack won a Critics Choice Award, or Cillian Murphy becoming a meme for looking miserable when he was promoting Oppenheimer (even though he confessed to not knowing what a meme was). Talk shows, especially, are a chore, he admitted to The Guardian: "I do them because you're contractually obliged to. I just endure them." Of course, it's possible that these actors are carefully curating their edgy public images rather than being wholly candid, but their attitude does make a bracing change from the standard Disney- and Marvel-approved chirpiness.

The past master of this particular art is Hugh Grant, who has been magnificently cynical and self-deprecating throughout his career. When he was doing the rounds for Wonka recently, he complained about the multi-camera performance-capture technology required to turn him into an Oompa-Loompa. "I couldn't have hated the whole thing more." What's more, he added, "I slightly hate [making films] but I have lots of children and need money."

Flop tactics

It's amazing what you can get away with if you have a quick wit and an endearingly grumpy persona. Take Michael Shannon. He played the villainous General Zod in 2013's Man Of Steel, but when he was asked whether Superman would triumph over Batman in the sequel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, he deadpanned, "I'm so utterly unconcerned with the outcome of that fight. So profoundly, utterly unconcerned. I can't even come up with a fake answer." This exquisite response was perfectly in keeping with Shannon's image as an intimidating indie thespian – and it didn't stop him playing General Zod again in The Flash.

One factor was that Man of Steel had its detractors, anyway, so Shannon wasn't being too controversial by maligning the franchise. Similarly, Johnson's wry press appearances look set to be much more appreciated than Madame Web itself, given the bad reviews and low box office tracking that the film has experienced ahead of its release. Indeed, if you're in a film that has flopped, throwing it under the bus can be a shrewd way to salvage your own reputation. When the execrable Catwoman (2004), to which Madame Web has been compared, "won" four Golden Raspberries, or Razzies, including one for worst actress, Halle Berry was savvy enough to attend the ceremony and accept the trophy in person. She made a speech ridiculing the "god-awful movie", but she also brought along the Oscar she had won in 2002 for Monster's Ball. The message was that she was as relaxed about one award as she was about the other.

Speaking of cat-related catastrophes, most reviews of Cats said that it belonged in a litter tray, with special scorn reserved for the fur that had been digitally applied to the performers' bodies. Rather than defending the film, Rebel Wilson and James Corden wore cat costumes when they presented the visual effects prize at the Oscars shortly afterwards. "As cast members of the motion picture Cats," they quipped, "nobody more than us understands the importance of good visual effects."

The gag was greeted with roars of laughter on the night, but a backlash followed, with the Visual Effects Society objecting to its members being insulted. Wilson and Corden ended up seeming smug and ungrateful – which is a lesson that every Hollywood star should learn. Joke about yourself, the industry, or an iffy film, and you will come across as being delightfully down to earth. Joke about the efforts of some over-worked craftspeople, and you may well come across as being as entitled and out-of-touch as any of the celebs who tell journalists about their fantastic superhero blockbusters.

Madame Web is released internationally on 14 February.

If you liked this story, sign up for The Essential List newsletter – a handpicked selection of features, videos and can't-miss news delivered to your inbox every Friday.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7o67CZ5qopV%2BYwq3A1KucaJmiqbakuMRoaWlqZGV%2Fcn%2BMnZikp6SWequ7x6eqqKZdlruleceeqWaqlZu%2Fpr%2FHoqWgpKlitbC6xKyrZqWRma6usYywnJtlmaPBpr7Vopywq12stbp5z56mqaSVYrmwwsRmqq2Zoqh6qLvIp55mp5aberSv0aKnrQ%3D%3D