Dakota Johnson Being Warned of 'Childish Bad Boy' Machine Gun Kelly, Claims Insider: They Are 'Very Different Characters'

Dakota Johnson is being warned by friends against falling too hard for Machine Gun Kelly, with those around the actress questioning whether the "bad boy" musician can offer the settled family life she wants.

As OK! readers know, Johnson, 36, has grown close to MGK, also 36, whose real name is Colson Baker, after connecting at friend Taylor Swift's wedding at Madison Square Garden in July.

Fifty Shades of Grey star previously dated musicians Matthew Hitt, 39, Chris Martin, 49, and Role Model, 29, and has now reportedly found herself drawn to rocker MGK.

A source said: "Dakota definitely has a type, and there's something about musicians that she finds incredibly compelling. She likes creative people who are confident in their own skin and don't feel they have to conform, and Colson has that in abundance. He walks into a room with this enormous personality and doesn't seem particularly concerned about whether everyone approves of him. Dakota finds that confidence attractive. But some of the people closest to her aren't looking at him through the same rose-tinted glasses. They see someone who has spent years embracing this wild, provocative rock-star persona, and they're questioning whether the characteristics that make him exciting at the beginning of a romance are necessarily the qualities Dakota will want from a partner several years down the line. They are essentially telling her he is a childish bad boy. There is definitely a feeling among friends that she needs to distinguish between somebody who is great fun to date and somebody she could realistically build the life she says she wants with. Dakota is at a point where she's openly talking about wanting children. She's not approaching relationships as though she has unlimited time to discover whether somebody shares those ambitions."

The insider added: "That's why there have been warnings not to get swept away by the chemistry. Nobody around Dakota is suggesting Colson has bad intentions or that what is happening between them isn't genuine. They clearly enjoy one another's company and there's a strong attraction. Her friends simply don't want excitement to obscure some fairly fundamental questions about what each of them wants. Colson has already lived a complicated romantic life. He's a father, he's had major relationships and he's built a career around being fiercely individualistic and free-spirited. Music remains an enormous part of his world and he appears comfortable living life on his own terms. People around Dakota aren't convinced that suddenly becoming somebody's conventional husband and settling into a quieter existence is necessarily what he's searching for. That's probably the biggest concern. Dakota seems increasingly focused on permanence, family and finding the person she can finally settle down with. Colson appears much more comfortable allowing life to happen without putting those kinds of expectations on it. Neither approach is wrong, but they could eventually discover they're heading toward completely different destinations."

According to the insider, they are "also very different characters."

"Dakota can be private, understated and quite grounded in her everyday life. Colson is naturally much more flamboyant. He likes making an entrance; he's eccentric, and there's still a rebellious streak to him. Right now, those differences probably make things more exciting because neither is dating a version of themselves. But friends wonder what happens once the novelty wears off. It's one thing for opposites to have an incredibly exciting few months together and another for them to start discussing children, marriage, where they're going to live, and how their lives would actually fit together. Nobody is suggesting Dakota is already planning a wedding or demanding some enormous commitment from him. This is still relatively new, and they're enjoying discovering what they have together. But she knows herself much better after everything she's been through romantically, particularly after such a long relationship with Chris. She doesn't want to spend years trying to turn the wrong relationship into the right one. If she realizes Colson wants freedom while she's looking for a husband and father to her future children, she's unlikely to pretend that difference doesn't matter. Her friends want her to enjoy herself, but they're also telling her not to mistake the thrill of dating a bad boy for evidence that he's necessarily her long-term person. Colson can be charming, magnetic and incredibly exciting to be around, but Dakota ultimately has to decide whether the man behind that rock-star image wants the same future she does," they said.

"For now they're having fun and seeing where it goes. The real test will come when the relationship moves beyond attraction, and they have to talk seriously about what comes next. That's when Dakota will find out whether this is another intoxicating romance with a musician or whether Colson is actually prepared to build something lasting with her," they noted.

Johnson recently told Vogue motherhood remains something she wants.

She said: "I really do. I didn't expect to be this age, and at this place in my life, but for whatever reason, that's the plan of the universe. So I would love that."

Johnson's longest recent relationship was with Coldplay frontman Martin.

They began dating in 2017 and became quietly engaged before separating eight years later.

She subsequently dated musician Role Model, whose real name is Tucker Pillsbury, before that relationship ended by June.

MGK previously had a high-profile relationship with Megan Fox, 40, with whom he shares a child.

Johnson, the daughter of actors Don Johnson, 76, and Melanie Griffith, 69, is currently promoting her new film Verity.