Some may have been surprised when brunette, 24-year-old Dakota Johnson was selected to play blonde, virgin, college student Anastasia Steele in the upcoming film adaptation of Fifty Shades of Grey. Johnson, on the other hand, has had her eye on the role since the beginning.

Last week, Johnson dressed up as Anastasia alongside co-star Jamie Dornan (Christian Grey) for the first time. The film does not begin production until Dec. 2, so Johnson felt strange portraying a character she has yet to rehearse.

"At first it felt like, what are we doing because we haven't done anything yet? How are we supposed to be in character when I don't even know what's going on? But then everyone chilled out, and that was good," Johnson said about the Entertainment Weekly photo shoot.

The former "Ben and Kate" star dreamt of being Anastasia since she first heard about the Fifty Shades of Grey movie. Although she had yet to read the book, she immediately e-mailed her manager begging for an audition. Next, she read the books and felt confident about her decision.

"I just really understand it," Johnson told Entertainment Weekly. "I think it's an incredible love story, and that's why it's affected so many people. Erica [author E.L. James] did a really good job of explaining how that just can happen sometimes, and you have this chemical pull to someone. Adding in the sex makes it perfect. Sometimes you feel a little bit naughty, and that's okay."

For her audition, Johnson read a sexual monologue from Ingmar Bergman's Persona, which showed Johnson just how explicit the film would be.

"They weren't, and I can't think of a better word right now, pussy footing around the subject," she said.

The young actress kept her audition a secret, but soon the whole world would know her as Anastasia Steele.

"They said 'You got the offer,' and I couldn't speak," Johnson said. "I was just so relieved. I was crying and crying. Water was literally squirting out of my eyes because I had been so stressed out, and there's this giant Doberman Pincher laying on the bed next to me and he just slowly fell asleep. It was so special and [this dog] didn't give a fuck about me and what I was going through."

Fifty Shades of Grey will be released Feb. 13, 2015.