‘Fifty Shades Darker’ Sex Scenes Made Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan Best Friends

While 2015’s Fifty Shades Of Grey was far from a critical triumph, the fact that it went on to gross $571 million at the box office back in 2015 meant that a follow-up was always going to happen.

That arrives in the shape of Fifty Shades Darker next Friday. But this time around there will be more of a spark between the leading actors Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson, both of whom were nominated in the Worst Actress and Worst Actor categories at the Golden Raspberry Awards for their previous performances as Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele.

That’s because the pair have now admitted that due to the intimate surroundings that they found themselves in during shooting they’ve fast become best friends. Dakota Johnson made this admission to NBC’s Today, admitting that if there had been any problems between them then production would have been awful.

“I think we were kind of forced into being best friends… Thank God as well, because if we didn’t get along it would be really, really awful.”

Jamie Dornan was just as glowing in his description of Dakota Johnson, confessing that the duo have now developed a “unique friendship” that is probably based a little bit more on trust than most others.

“I couldn’t have said it nicer myself… It’s a very unique friendship. It’s a friendship that’s built on maybe more trust than other friendships need to be because of the situations we have to through with each other.”

Of course, Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson didn’t just sit down with Today to promote Fifty Shades Darker. They also talked to ET Online at the world premiere for Fifty Shades Darker in Los Angeles, and it was during this discussion that Jamie Dornan was able to give a little more insight into why their on-screen patter might not have been so impressive in the first film.

“I was only cast five weeks before we started filming the first movie, and that’s when I met Dakota [Johnson] for the first time. [Now] it’s been three years, [and] Dakota and I are very close. We’ve got a great sort of love and respect for each other. We’re great friends and I think that makes it easier, you know? So it’s definitely more comfortable.”

During the same discussion with the website, Dakota Johnson also admitted that because of their experiences on Fifty Shades Of Grey, filming the sequel “was definitely not as petrifying as the first time.”

“It never gets [easy], but because we’ve become so close it was a lot easier to make [the scenes} special.”

But when things did get a little intensely intimate during production, Dakota Johnson explained that the duo actually have a “pre-game ritual” to help them through any potential problems.

As you might have guessed it involves drinking a lot of booze and eating plenty of mints to provide confidence and avoid being stinky.

“Shot of whiskey [and] mints. He does pushups and I just lay there and drink whiskey.”

As the Inquisitr previously reported, during her recent promotional efforts for Fifty Shades Darker Dakota Johnson admitted that her performance as Anastasia Steele in the frisky franchise does come with is issues, as it has provoked some people to cross the line with their questions to her.

“The other day I had someone ask me what my favorite sex toy was, which is like…inappropriate. I was like, ‘That’s an inappropriate question. …I can’t answer in the right way. I said, ‘I don’t have one. Let’s move on.’ But then the headline was like: ‘She Doesn’t Have One Favorite Sex Toy.’ I can’t win! I either hate sex toys—so why am I doing this movie?—or I love them and I’m a sex fiend.”

[Featured Image by Universal Pictures]