Dakota Johnson comes from Hollywood royalty: her father Don Johnson and mother Melanie Griffith were both famous actors, and Griffith's mother Tippi Hedren was a star of the silver screen during the 1950s and 1960s. But in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter's "Awards Chatter" podcast, Johnson spoke for the first time about the negative experiences her grandmother had as a working actress.

Hedren is best known for her leading role in Alfred Hitchcock's 1963 horror classic The Birds. Behind the scenes, however, Hedren fended off an entirely different kind of attack: relentless abuse from the filmmaker; according to People, Hedren, now 91, wrote about being sexually assaulted by the director in her 2016 memoir.

"I think what was so wonderful about my grandmother to me and my mother was that 'I wouldn't put up with that from anybody,'" Johnson said, adding that Hedren "was always really honest and firm about standing up for herself." Hitchcock ruined her career because she didn't want to sleep with him, and he terrorized her. He never took responsibility."

Johnson broke down in tears as she described how Hedren's experience affected her view of Hollywood. She said, "In any industry, it is totally unacceptable for someone in a position of power to use that power against someone in a position of weakness. 'It's hard for me to talk about this because she's my grandmother. You don't want to imagine someone taking advantage of your grandmother."

In other words, if one admires Johnson's ability to fearlessly abuse people, it turns out to be a family trait.