Dakota Johnson applauded by Madame Web fans for stoic responses in ‘awkward’ interview

New Marvel star seemed none the wiser to internet commentary about one of the film’s lines

Dakota Johnson has been praised for her stoic responses in an interview for her forthcoming film, Madame Web.

The actor will soon star in Marvel’s newest superhero caper as a woman named Cassandra Webb who acquires special powers after an accident.

While promoting the film, Johnson, 34, spoke to HuffPost UK in an on-camera interview, during which she was asked about her response to a “viral” line from the trailer.

Reading the quote back to Johnson, the journalist asked: “Do you remember? It was the line that said: ‘He was in the Amazon with my mum when she was researching spiders right before she died.’”

However, the 50 Shades of Grey star was none the wiser to the jokes and memes that the line spurned online, and did not seem to understand why people would find it particularly funny.

“Why did that go viral?” she asked flatly.

When the reporter explained that the reaction may have come from viewers being entertained by hearing the line out of context, the actor remained confused.

Dakota Johnson has a straight-faced response during Madame Web interview (TikTok / HuffPostUK)

“Somebody brought this up and I have no idea what it’s about. Isn’t any sentence out of context, out of context?

“What a silly thing,” she added.

Johnson then repeated the so-called viral line from the film, before sharing her take: “That seems like a basic storyline to me – but maybe I’m just underneath it.”

The clip, which was posted on the publication’s TikTok account on Wednesday (7 February), has been spreading quickly across social media, with fans either cringing at the exchange or celebrating Johnson’s refusal to buy into a joke made at the film’s expense.

“I’m with Dakota, I literally don’t get it,” reads one comment.

“Oooh she mad, this is awkward,” said another fan, while a different commenter offered: “She really doesn’t seem likeable here.”

One TikTok user argued that this technique is one best avoided by journalists, noting: “This is one of those cases where it’s not productive to bring up a viral meme to the actor in question because the joke’s on how bad the script is and it puts her in an uncomfortable position.”

Meanwhile, another defended the actor for not going along with the joke: “Why is everyone saying she’s not likeable? If she’s not vibing with the question she doesn’t have to laugh, she’s not rude or anything.”

Earlier this year, Johnson admitted that she felt some aspects of the movie were “absolutely psychotic” when filming.

“I’ve never really done a movie where you are on a blue screen, and there’s fake explosions going off, and someone’s going, ‘Explosion!’ and you act like there’s an explosion,” Johnson told Entertainment Weekly.

“That to me was absolutely psychotic. I was like, ‘I don’t know if this is going to be good at all! I hope that I did an OK job!’”

Madame Web is out in UK cinemas on 14 February.