- Dakota. - Hi.
- You're a superhero. - Yes.
- Who knew?
Who'd have thunk it? - Not me.
Not I.
- Yeah.
And the list of accomplishments of, like,
leading a billion-dollar franchise, of being an SNL
regular, being a superhero, is this the most surprising
development in your career?
- For sure, definitely.
I never thought I'd be in a superhero movie.
Did you?
- I think you're capable of anything
that you set your mind to. - Thank you.
That's kind. Thanks.
- I refuse to believe, though, that at some point
in your life, every actor has done the superhero audition,
the meeting.
That hasn't happened for you prior to ‘Madame Web’?
- No.
- Really?
- No, not that I can recall.
- No traumatic auditions, where they made
you wear a cape and Spandex?
- No.
Do they do that?
No, they don't do that. They can't.
In my fanfic about Hollywood, that's what they do.
- Right. No.
- In lieu of that, what's the most traumatic audition
story you've got for me?
What's the one that haunts you to this day?
- I got told by a creator of a show-
he told my- like, the feedback was
that I was pretentious because I shook everyone's hand-
- Yeah that's embarrass- - in the room.
- That's not a weakness.
- I was like, what?
- That I wasted their time-
- Right.
- because I was like, “Hi, I'm Dakota,” and introduced
myself and shook hands.
- And since then, have you Xed that out of your-
now, you just barely look at anybody
when you walk in a room.
- Oh, well, I've ruined his life.
- Right.
So when this one comes around-
I mean, again, fair to say the superhero comic book genre,
necessarily- not necessarily the thing you were pursuing,
but the idea of this being a little bit of a different take
was what excited you?
- Yeah.
When I-- I mean, I wasn't ever planning
on being in a superhero movie.
But I read this script, and I loved the idea
of a young woman having her superpower be her mind
and using that to alter the future so that it's a better
outcome for other people.
And she- I loved the dynamic with these three
younger women.
I like that she supports them and wants them to be the most
powerful versions of themselves and is also,
like, really annoyed by them.
I found that to be really honest.
- [CHUCKLES] Yeah, well, and I mean,
and it's also one thing- like, you know how Hollywood is-
put one female in the lead of a film.
Like, that's groundbreaking.
Wait, four women at the front of a film?
We don't do that. - Yeah.
- So that's-
- Yeah, unless it's a movie about, like, sleepovers and-
- Right.
- like, weddings, you know? - Right.
Right.
There are no sleepovers or weddings
in this spoiler alert. - No.
Well, no.
- Cassie- you referenced this.
Her power is her mind.
She's a clairvoyant.
- Mm-hmm.
- On a scale of 1 to 10, how psychic
do you consider yourself?
- I'm pretty-
I'm pretty intuitive.
- (WHISPERING) Really?
- Yeah, in an annoying way.
- In what way?
Like, do you predict results of work, of personal stuff?
- I don't know. I don't want to talk about it.
- Oh, wow. - It's going to jinx it.
- No.
- I don't want to talk about it.
- Can you predict how well this interview is going to end?
- Badly.
One of us is-
one of our careers is over, and it's not mine.
- What?
So OK, so going into this, I mean,
what percent of Marvel movies have you seen?
Let's be real.
And this isn't meant as a negative.
Like, again, just-
- Uh, 4%-
- 4%.
- which is like 15 minutes of one.
- Can you name the three Spider-Man Tom Holland movies?
- Yeah.
- Should I just go on faith? - Yeah.
- Oh.
- Spider-Man, Here He Comes.
- Here He Comes. Yeah.
- That's number one. - Yep.
- Spider-Man, And He's Back.
And the other one, the last one is...
The Goblet of Spider-Man.
- You need a vacation.
Harry, Spider-Man, and The Goblet of Man.
- Are you a Harry Potter fan?
- I love Harry Potter.
- Is that your thing?
- Totally.
I said I- I agreed to go to boarding school for one
year because I- well, I was supposed to go for four years,
but I agreed to go because I thought it
was going to be like Hogwarts.
- And you had that rude awakening.
- Rude awakening.
- Where's Maggie Smith?
- There's no nuns at Hogwarts.
Well, there's the reboot coming soon, the TV reboot.
You could be- - Of Harry Potter?
- Yeah.
You want to get in on that?
- I don't know.
- How's your British accent?
You've done British. - Yeah.
- Yeah. It's all right.
- Yeah.
- I don't know.
- And you're psychic, so you've got magical powers already.
- Mm-hmm.
- You're halfway there.
- Yeah.
- Have you ever been sorted?
- Sword-ed?
- Yeah, like, are you Gryffindor?
Are you Slytherin?
You're definitely Slytherin, obviously.
No, I'm Ravenclaw. - Are you?
- Mm-hmm.
- Great. - What are you?
- Did you say I'm definitely Slytherin?
- No, no. We're going to edit that out.
- You said that? - No, I didn't.
- That's f--king crazy.
- What are you?
Did you do the quiz-
- No, I didn't.
- on- what is it-
BuzzFeed?
- Well, there's that.
- Poppas?
- No, like MuggleNet, or Muggle World.
- Hufflepuff? - Huffle-
- You're a muggle?
- I don't- yeah, I'm-
- What?
Which house-
- I can't hear you. You're so far away.
- are you in? - I don't know.
I've never sorted myself.
- Oh.
- I'll get back to you.
- OK.
- This isn't really a spoiler for the film, but Cassie dies.
Cassie is dead for three minutes in the film.
Do you remember that?
- I was like, she does?
I haven't seen the movie.
So you- you could be right.
- She's OK, but she does die for three minutes.
- Have you ever died?
- In real life?
- Yeah.
- This interview is nuts.
- What are you talking-
what did you expect?
- I haven't died in real life. - You haven't?
That's great. - Yeah.
- Yeah. - Have you?
- No, I don't- no.
- No.
- During this interview I feel like a couple times.
- What a wild-
what a wild thing to experience, I imagine.
- Yeah.
And three minutes, that's a long time.
- That's a long time.
- I can hold my breath for three minutes.
- You want to show off right now?
- Yeah.
[INHALES]
- And then we'll do time lapse. Yep.
Oh my god!
That was crazy! - Thanks.
- Yeah.
How did you learn how to do that?
- On the set of this movie, ‘Madame Web.’
- On brand.
- Plug.
- There is- yeah.
I was going to say, there's probably-
this is more physical action than you've
had to do in any film prior to this, fair to say?
- I feel like ‘Suspiria’ was pretty physical.
- That's true.
But a different kind of acting.
I mean, are you- what's your level
of comfort right now of working with things
that are not there?
- Like on a blue screen, you mean?
- Yeah, like, are you ready for ‘Jurassic World’- you have
to run away from a dinosaur?
Or do you have that-
- Now I am, for sure.
- Yeah.
- I hadn't done that before, but-
so it took a little bit of getting used to.
But then I just let my imagination run wild.
And I was like, “This is fabulous.”
- Yeah.
- There's so much going on in my head.
- Oh, that's for sure.
- Yeah.
Yeah, I mean, now, this opens up a whole new world
of opportunities.
‘Mission Impossible,’ ‘John Wick,’ ‘Jurassic,’
action, CGI, she can do that.
- Sure.
No problem.
Piece of cake.
- Does doing, like, full-on action-
I mean, even within ‘Madame Web’ or outside of ‘Madame Web’-
intrigue you, as your career-
- Yeah. - Yeah?
- Sure. - Yeah.
- Yeah. - OK.
- Fun. - Great.
- It sucks when you get injured,
and you have to keep working.
- Right.
- But it's fun.
- Yeah.
Did you get injured on this one?
- Like, little things, you know, not a major
injury, luckily.
But like whiplash or a pulled muscle or something.
- A lot of intense driving.
How good of a driver are you, generally?
- I really enjoyed that part.
- Yeah?
- I did a lot of- well, I did a day of training,
stunt training.
And then I had the best time.
They wouldn't let me do, like, the big- like, the flying
out of the building stunt.
- Right.
- Obviously.
But everything else.
- Yeah.
Again, just trying to get you more work,
obviously, ‘Fast and Furious’ is next.
Now, you can drive your-
- Maybe.
- car out of a skyscraper or something.
- What number movie are they on, like 11?
- Yeah.
- See, you're a big fan.
- Is it 11?
- Yeah, they did- yeah.
- Actually? - Yeah.
- You're so proud of yourself. - I am.
- [LAUGHING] - Thrilled.
I'm in it.
I'm already in it. - Exclusive.
In your own mind.
You know, I don't know how to drive,
if you want to teach me how to drive one of these days.
- Do you really?
- I never got a driver's license.
- Because you are from New York?
- Yeah, and I'm a barely functioning adult.
- And you're a big baby. - I'm a big child.
- Yeah.
- The movie takes place in 2003.
- Mm-hmm. - OK.
Take me back.
By my math, Dakota-
- Yeah.
- you were 13 going on 14 in 2003.
- I was, yeah.
- OK.
- Yeah.
What were you into?
What were you obsessed with- bands, music, movies, people?
- I was into-
I guess when I was 13, I was, like, really into Nirvana-
- Yeah, fun.
- and, like, Blur and Radiohead music.
Movies?
That was right around, I think, when ‘10 Things
I Hate About You’ came out.
Was it? - It sounds about-
- It might have been a little earlier.
- A little earlier, probably.
But it was- it was still around.
- That was, like, my vibe. - Really?
- Mm-hmm.
- Heath Ledger, the whole- - Yeah.
- Yeah.
- I loved him.
- Yeah.
Did you ever meet Heath?
- I never met him.
- I think about that a lot.
- Do you?
- I feel like we would have been friends.
- Aw, why do you say that?
Just like-
- I don't know.
You know some people, you're like,
oh, I feel like I'd be friends with that person.
- Yeah.
Other things that happened in 2003, just to orient you,
- ‘Lord of the Rings’ came out.
- Yes.
Loved ‘Lord of the Rings.’ - Did you?
- Yeah. - OK.
- Yeah. - Yeah.
Which is your favorite of the fellowship?
- The big one.
- Yep.
- Trying to see how much I could get away with that.
- Yeah, not very much.
- Not far.
- Also, in 2003, Britney was-
remains- huge.
Britney Spears factors into this film.
There's some lovely Britney Spears music in this.
- There's Britney.
There's a fabulous Beyoncé poster.
- Yes.
Is music a part of your creative process?
Like, do you create playlists for characters?
- Yes. - You do?
- Yeah, for every movie.
- So what was on the playlist for ‘Madame Web’?
- A lot of Blur.
- Music of the year.
- I felt like because it's 2003, Cassie-
and she's a bit older than the girls in the movie-
I felt like she's really holding on to the '90s,
and that was, like, her real time
because her clothes and everything is kind
of brought over from that era.
So The Cranberries.
- Mm-hmm.
- So you're listening to that, like, before you come on set-
- Yeah.
- just to, like, get like a, this is where I'm at.
- Yeah.
- Here's something I discovered.
I don't know if you realize this.
Like, back in the day, they always said Will Smith
was the king of, like, July 4.
Like, his movies opened on July 4.
- OK.
- You're the queen of Valentine's Day.
- I wish I had a sash or a crown for you, or a tiara.
- Me too.
I would love a crown.
- Do you know how many major movies you've had
open, like, on Valentine's Day or right around Val-
- A few, I think, right? - All the ‘Fifty Shades.’
- Right.
- ‘How to be Single.’
- Right.
- I think this is, like, the 6th or 7th one.
- Congratulations.
- Thank you.
- I don't know who can compete.
- I don't know either.
But I like this piece of information about me.
- You are-
- I like Valentine's Day.
- You're a fan. - Yeah.
- You're a romantic.
- Yeah.
- I love love.
Are you going to be celebrating Valentine's
Day by seeing ‘Madame Web’?
That's obviously the way to do it.
- Yep, I will be there- - Yep.
- in the movie theater. - As you should.
- Front row, just watching myself.
- Are there any other holidays you want to corner the market
on, like a Easter, Arbor day?
Or are you satisfied with Valentine's Day?
- I feel good about Valentine's Day.
I like Christmas, as well.
Christmas is a nice-
- We need, like, a nice holiday-
- I've never done a Christmas movie, a holiday movie.
- It's like a nice family thing, where you're,
like, part of the family.
This is why I'm not a writer.
- Me and my producing partner actually
came up with a Christmas movie idea the other day.
- You want to pitch it?
- I don't think I should because it's pretty good.
- OK.
You can waste the bad ideas on me,
but not the good ones because this one might
actually have some stuff.
- Yeah, then- yeah, and then you're going to take it.
And then- - Yeah, that's my style.
- you won't be doing MTV interviews anymore.
- Oh, do you want to take over my job?
- Sure. - We'll switch places?
- Sure.
- Here's- wait.
This is a fun fact that I discovered.
And I'd never known this in our past conversations.
You applied to Juilliard.
And you memor- your monologues were
Shakespeare and Steve Martin?
- (EMBARRASSINGLY) Mm-hmm.
- What was the Steve Martin monologue?
- I don't remember.
- Aw.
- It was from one of his plays.
You know, he's such an amazing human.
- Oh, it wasn't, like, ‘The Jerk.’
It wasn't, like, a- - It wasn't from ‘The Jerk.’
It was from a play that he wrote.
- OK, so it wasn't, like-
- He's an incredible playwright-
- Sure.
- and musician, and just, like,
all-around extraordinarily talented person.
- Yeah.
- I think if I ever met Steve Martin, I'd lose my mind.
- He's one of those smart- yeah, he can do anything.
Like, he's- - Yeah.
- comedy, but also just as a writer, and yeah.
- Yeah, but he-
I wish I remembered.
I could figure it out somehow.
But yeah, it was that, and then it was a Juliet monologue.
And- - How did that go in the room?
How did that go over?
- Well, suffice to say, they did
not accept me to Juilliard.
- Who's laughing now?
- I don't think they understood the Steve Martin.
They were like, what the f--k is this?
But I thought it was a cool choice for an 18-year-old.
- I think so. That's why I brought it up.
- But you know that when you audition for Juilliard,
they will randomly ask you to sing?
- Oh, now- did you know that at the time?
- No, I didn't.
- That must have been a rude awakening.
- It was.
It fully was.
- What did you sing?
- Well, ‘In Rainbows,’ the Radiohead album,
had just come out that year, like right before-
I think it had come out in December.
And it was, like, right around my audition.
So I was only listening to that album-
only- because I'm like-
I was the hugest Radiohead fan in high school, and still.
But I- they were, like, can you just sing?
And I was like, “Sorry, what?”
And I was like, “Sure,” and just started
whining "Nude" by Radiohead.
Maggie-- this is Maggie Gyllenhaal's favorite story
of mine because I think she likes to imagine me just,
like, squealing "Nude" by Radiohead,
which is like the most unsingable
song for anyone else to sing.
And they were like, you can go, freak.
- Door.
- Get out of here.
- We were thinking Sondheim, not Radiohead.
- Yeah. Fully.
I did not- I didn't- it was a bad day.
- Last thing- I'll let you go.
Any tattoo updates?
Did you commemorate ‘Madame Web’ with a tattoo?
Did you-
- No, I don't do that. Do I?
- I have a tattoo matching with Jessie Buckley.
- [GASPS] I love Jessie Buckley.
- And Maggie from ‘The Lost Daughter.’
- I love that.
- I haven't gotten a hold of Olivia Colman's body
to ink her up again yet, but-
- Right.
- I will.
- Wait, did you actually tattoo them?
- No. - No.
- But I did tattoo Olivia.
- You tattooed Olivia Colman?
- Yes, I did. - What?
- Yeah.
- She has a permanent mark on her body, thanks to you?
- Yes.
- What is it?
- It's- well, I don't know.
Maybe she- I don't know if she wants to-
- Right. - I don't know.
- OK.
- It's my name on her ass cheek.
- She's going to do the same for me after this.
Dakota, congratulations on ‘Madame Web.’
- Thank you.
- It's good to see you, as always.
- Thanks for having me.
Sorry about the interview.
- I can say the same.