I Want What They Have: Dakota Johnson and Role Model

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Photo: Getty Images

Love is a many-splendored thing, especially when you’re gawking at it from the outside. In this column, we examine the celebrity couples who give us hope for our own romantic futures as we try to learn what we can from their well-documented bonds.

I’ll be honest—when I first heard that Dakota Johnson and Role Model were dating, I felt like I was being given a cognitive function test. (“And is this…Role Model in the room with us right now?”) But now that I’ve spiritually moved on from Johnson’s previous relationship with Chris Martin—recall that I also wanted what they had, especially given Johnson’s habit of going out for barefoot, blended-family coffee runs with Martin’s daughter, Apple—I’ve realized that this is my new favorite celebrity relationship.

Just this past weekend, Johnson and Role Model (a.k.a. Tucker Pillsbury, a.k.a. Emma Chamberlain’s ex-boyfriend; oh, what a tangled web we weave!) were seen out and about several times. On Friday, they canoodled in Los Feliz—a neighborhood of Los Angeles that almost seems designed for celebrity makeouts—and then, on Sunday, they were spotted together getting coffee. Did they spend the entire weekend together? Did they part ways on Saturday to shower and nap and text their friends about each other, then reunite the next day? I have so many questions, and absolutely none of their answers are remotely my business!

As it happens, no less an authority than Johnson’s mother, Melanie Griffith, has weighed in on her daughter’s budding relationship with Role Model. On Sunday, DeuxMoi posted a (mildly creepy) video of Griffith calling Role Model “fabulous,” and if you happen to have a slightly mean mom of your own, you know that kind of endorsement is hard to come by unless the younger musician you’re dating actually happens to be a) cool and b) nice to you. I mean, our moms want the best for us, right? They have no interest in cosigning a doomed situationship!

The Materialists star and the “Sally, When the Wine Runs Out” singer were first spotted hanging out in LA in December, but this weekend yielded some rare PDA. I very much hope that this is only the start of Johnson and Role Model’s dalliance going legit, and I also hope that I’m seated next to them at Little Dom’s soon, because the nonfiction book about the Hollywood blacklist that I’m forcing myself to read at the moment is, in fact, deathly boring, and I could use some overheard celebrity intrigue to liven up my next solo date night.