Dakota Johnson

Even when it’s at its best, modern SNL is rarely shocking. Funny, strange, silly and clever, sure. But shocking? Nah. The show doesn’t seem to set out to offend every week. So when the show broke out a fake commercial that depicted 50 Shades of Grey star and guest host Dakota Johnson joining the radical terrorist group ISIS, jaws rightfully hit the ground. Who approved this? And could they start approving more sketches?

With Dakota Johnson guest hosting, last night’s SNL had no shortage of 50 Shades of Grey jokes. For her part, Johnson seemed equally bemused and embarrassed by her controversial new hit, rolling with whatever the show threw at her and always coming out looking far better than her naysayers expected. Her ability to make fun of herself and the film that has turned her into an overnight movie star really came together in the only sketch of the night that required her to play herself.

Modern SNL has one of the strongest female line-ups in the show’s history, so it’s always a pleasure when the writers give this group of extremely funny ladies a chance to shine together. This sketch is a weird one because it feels like such an odd and specific concept that must have been a real pain in the butt to pitch in the writer’s room, but the execution is simply sublime: a group of women start being brutally honest with the people in their lives and immediately celebrate to the impossibly catchy sounds of Sara Bareilles’ “Brave.”

Now that SNL’s big 40th anniversary special lies behind us, with the God of Thunder in our future, this coming Saturday will whip SNL back into shape with the expert help of 50 Shades of Grey star Dakota Johnson. Preview our first post-40 SNL installment with all the Christian Grey references you can handle in the latest promo!

SNL had itself an understandably busy weekend with all the 40th anniversary festivity, but February 28 will see the longrunning NBC sketch comedy series whipped back into shape, and appropriately so. 50 Shades of Grey star Dakota Johnson will take the stage on February 28 as our first post-40 SNL host, and those bondage jokes are a-comin’.

Based on the best-selling novel by E.L. James, ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ comes with its baggage packed and our expectations loaded. James’ source material is, inarguably, poorly-written, with nearly-to-entirely offensive characterizations of both its leading lady and the kink community. But ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ pulls off the seemingly impossible, elevating James’ material to something more nuanced and human. And that’s largely due to the performance of Dakota Johnson, who carries the weight of all that baggage and our expectations on her back, so to speak.

Christian Grey is an unusual guy. He’s the world’s most eligible billionaire bachelor and an enormously powerful businessman. He’s an avid jogger, an exceptional piano player, and a licensed helicopter pilot. He also really like the color gray. He wears gray suits and ties, drives a gray car to his gray office building (which is called Grey House) under gray Seattle skies, where his assistant dresses in—you guessed it—gray. (For the record, his office chairs are white but the couches are gray too.) And, oh yeah, he’s into kinky sex, including bondage, spanking, and domination.

The upcoming 'Fifty Shades of Grey' feature might not be everyone's cup of sexy tea, but leading lady Dakota Johnson would like to at least attempt to change the minds of potential viewers who don't think that anything—yes, anything—can be sexy with the right attitude. On last night's 'Tonight Show,' Johnson was tasked with reading off a series of decidedly unsexy lines, including stuff about Chapstick (?) and sweatpants (?) in an attempt to make them alluring.

It doesn’t matter if the film’s press tour is going badly, or if stars Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson possibly have no chemistry whatsoever (or compared shooting sex scenes together to arduous, uncomfortable work). ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ is going to be an enormous hit when it opens this weekend regardless, and in this climate, enormous hits get sequels whether earned or demanded or not.

‘50 Shades of Grey’ doesn’t hit theaters until February 13, but Universal is already looking out for you in the future. They really just want to make sure you’re happy, you know? With that in mind, the studio has announced that the ‘50 Shades’ sequels, based on the novel trilogy by E.L. James, are already in the works.