23-Year-Old ‘Ben and Kate’ Star Dakota Johnson on Playing a Mother: “It makes me feel old”

Dakota Johnson was definitely able to relate to her role as a sibling in FOX’s sitcom Ben and Kate.  She was less ready for portraying a mother.

“It makes me feel old,” the 23-year-old told The New York Post.  “It’s nice to get home at the end of the day and not have a kid.  I was even mentally prepared for playing a mom.  This is the kind of thing where I get to have a really different sort of relationship with my kid.  The characters are friends.  That’s so different from what you see on TV.  It’s usually the mom yelling at the kid and the kid’s getting into trouble.”

Johnson, the daughter of actors Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith, has enjoyed working with her costar Nat Faxon. “When we’re doing a lot of improv-ing, it’s sometimes weird to rein it in,” she said.  “We’re really good at playing off each other.  And I can tell what’s coming.” Read more

New Fall Shows Reviewed: ‘Partners’, ‘Ben and Kate’, ‘The Mindy Project’ & ‘Animal Practice’

Partners: SKIP IT

There are always a few shows that make TV viewers question who greenlit the production.  Partners is one of those comedies that has everyone asking how-the-heck-did-this-make-it-to-the-air?  Everything about the CBS sitcom is derivative—from the writing to the premise of an odd couple partnership.  We expected a lot more from the creators of Will and Grace than a cheesy retread of a gay/straight friendship show.

Ben and Kate: TUNE IN

This FOX sitcom about a free-spirited brother and his responsible sister doesn’t exactly scream innovative, but the acting in this series provides a funny, oftentimes heartwarming take on sibling relationships.  The casting for Ben and Kate is spot on—from Lucy Punch (Dinner for Schmucks) as a hilarious British waitress who offers consistently bad advice to the utterly adorable Maggie Elizabeth Jones (We Bought a Zoo) who can deliver a punch line like even the funniest of adult actors. Read more