Dakota Johnson is making her Marvel debut in Madame Web, and naturally, she had some apprehensions going in.
![A closeup of Dakota at a media event](https://cdn.statically.io/img/img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2024-01/30/11/asset/507b6132438e/sub-buzz-1686-1706615019-1.jpg?downsize=700%3A%2A&output-quality=auto&output-format=auto)
Alongside Sydney Sweeney, Dakota is starring as Cassandra Webb in the upcoming thriller, which is based in Sony’s Spider-Man universe. Set in 2003, the movie centers around Cassandra as she begins to develop clairvoyant powers and must grapple with how to use them.
![Dakota and Sydney Sweeney standing in front of the entrance of a subway station](https://cdn.statically.io/img/img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2024-01/30/12/asset/c767f99451b2/sub-buzz-1927-1706616296-1.jpg?downsize=700%3A%2A&output-quality=auto&output-format=auto)
So with it being Dakota’s first ever superhero movie, it sounds like the filmmaking process brought with it a few new experiences, from big stunts to CGI.
![](https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2024-01/30/12/asset/f4298ffa4b11/sub-buzz-1002-1706616162-1.png)
“I got to do a day of stunt driving work, and I’m really good at it, it seems!” Dakota excitedly told Entertainment Weekly in a recent interview.
![](https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2024-01/30/11/asset/ddbaa802b17a/sub-buzz-916-1706615053-1.jpg)
“I mean, I can do some really wild things with a car,” she went on. “I drove an ambulance. I drove a taxicab. I drove everything in the movie — except for flying through the air and out of a building. But other than that, I’m like, ‘Watch out, Tom Cruise.’”
![Dakota in the driver's side of a taxi](https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2024-01/30/11/asset/d0f4a5741618/sub-buzz-961-1706615157-1.jpg)
However, despite picking up the stunts quite easily, Dakota confessed that she had serious concerns about another aspect of the movie-making process.
![](https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2024-01/30/12/asset/347445eb6fb2/sub-buzz-438-1706616195-1.png)
“I’ve never really done a movie where you are on a blue screen,” she told the outlet, referring to the VFX technique commonly used in action and sci-fi movies.
![](https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2024-01/30/11/asset/f4298ffa4b11/sub-buzz-958-1706615393-1.jpg)
“There’s fake explosions going off, and someone’s going, ‘Explosion!’ and you act like there’s an explosion,” she recalled. “That to me was absolutely psychotic.”
![](https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2024-01/30/12/asset/d0f4a5741618/sub-buzz-1011-1706616215-1.png)
Because she was performing the action-packed scenes with nothing but a blue screen behind her, Dakota said that it all came down to trusting the film’s director, S.J. Clarkson — even when she was a little worried about the end result.
![dakota being filmed in the movie](https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2024-01/30/11/asset/507b6132438e/sub-buzz-1698-1706615478-8.jpg)
“I trusted her so much,” she recalled. “I was like, ‘I don’t know if this is going to be good at all! I hope that I did an okay job!’ But I trusted her.”
![](https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2024-01/30/11/asset/f4298ffa4b11/sub-buzz-980-1706615504-1.jpg)
Elsewhere in the interview, Dakota confessed that she was pretty skeptical about taking the role in the first place.
![](https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2024-01/30/11/asset/f4298ffa4b11/sub-buzz-973-1706615537-1.jpg)
“I got sent this script, and I was like, ‘I don’t know about me being a superhero,’” she said, admitting that the more she read, the more she felt intrigued by the character of Cassandra.
![Dakota smiling](https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2024-01/30/11/asset/d0f4a5741618/sub-buzz-992-1706615590-1.jpg)
“I was sort of mystified by her powers,” Dakota explained. “I felt like, ‘Oh, I really would love to see that superhero. I would love to see a young woman whose superpower is her mind.’”
![](https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2024-01/30/12/asset/e68a0ce8ce02/sub-buzz-1701-1706616239-1.png)
Opening up about how she embodied the part, Dakota said she wanted people to be able to connect with Cassandra, who is a New York City paramedic.
![](https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2024-01/30/12/asset/ddbaa802b17a/sub-buzz-972-1706616257-1.png)
“It was really important to me that she’s really human and grounded in reality, and that her life feels like, ‘Oh, I can relate to that,’” she said, before joking that, for some viewers, relating to a superhero “shooting lasers out of their eyes” might be easier said than done.
![](https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2024-01/30/11/asset/64fb02f4a988/sub-buzz-1608-1706615642-1.jpg)
“I mean, not for me,” she quipped. “I obviously do that all the time.”
![](https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2024-01/30/12/asset/507b6132438e/sub-buzz-1754-1706616325-1.jpg)
You can read the full Entertainment Weekly interview here. Madame Web hits theaters on Feb. 14.
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