With director Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s Our Friend now playing in select theaters and On Demand thanks to Gravitas Ventures and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, I recently got to speak with Dakota Johnson about being part of such an inspiring movie. If you haven’t seen the trailer, Our Friend is based on the Esquire article “The Friend: Love Is Not a Big Enough Word” by Matthew Teague and is about a family (Johnson and Casey Affleck) dealing with terminal cancer and the close friend (Jason Segel) that moves in to help them out. I recently watched the film and thought it was incredibly well done and featured terrific performances from everyone in the cast. In addition, as someone that has lost a number of close friends the past few years, the film was a beautiful reminder about the intricacies of friendship and the importance of making each day count. Our Friend also stars Jake Owen, Gwendoline Christie, Cherry Jones, Isabella Kai, and Violet McGraw.

During the interview, Johnson talks about why she wanted to be part of this project, what it was like filming in the real town where the story took place with the people that knew her character watching them film, the way the film weaves in levity even though it’s dealing with something serious, and more. In addition, she talks about working with David Fincher for one day on The Social Network, how she’s been picking her recent projects like Suspiria, The Peanut Butter Falcon, and Bad Times at the El Royale, and answers a fun question from his Five-Year Engagement director Nicholas Stoller.

Check out what she say to say below and further down is exactly what we talked about and the official synopsis.

Dakota Johnson:

• Nicholas Stoller wanted to know if it was harder to do drama or acting against a turkey puppet voiced by Brian Posehn?
• What does she remember about working with David Fincher on The Social Network early in her career?
• How has she been picking her recent projects like Suspiria, The Peanut Butter Falcon, Bad Times at the El Royale?
• How did she get involved in Our Friend and what made her want to be part of it?
• What was it like filming in the real town where the story took place with the people that knew her character watching?
• How Our Friend weaves in a lot of levity even though it’s dealing with serious subject matter.

Here's the official synopsis:

Our Friend tells the inspiring and extraordinary true story of the Teague family—journalist Matt (Casey Affleck), his vibrant wife Nicole (Dakota Johnson) and their two young daughters—and how their lives are upended by Nicole’s heartbreaking diagnosis of terminal cancer. As Matt’s responsibilities as caretaker and parent become increasingly overwhelming, the couple’s best friend Dane Faucheux (Jason Segel) offers to come and help out. As Dane puts his life on hold to stay with his friends, the impact of this life altering decision proves greater and more profound than anyone could have imagined.