Jamie Dornan has admitted he knew ‘critics would despise’ the Fifty Shades of Grey films, before he agreed to be in them.
The Irish actor, 41, confessed that, prior to accepting the role of bondage-obsessed billionaire Christian Grey, he knew the movie would be a commercial success, but that he would ‘get wrecked.’
Jamie became a household name when he starred in the 2015 movie, with sequels Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed following in 2017 and 2018, respectively.
The movie star explained how it wasn’t an instant ‘yes’ when the lead role was offered to him just five weeks before filming was scheduled to commence.
Jamie revealed that he turned to friends, family members and ‘a lot’ of fellow actors for advice on whether he should agree to star in the franchise because he was hyper aware that it came with ‘baggage’.
Aware: Jamie Dornan, 41, has admitted he knew ‘critics would despise’ the Fifty Shades of Grey films, before he agreed to be in them
Starring role: Jamie became a household name when he starred in Fifty Shades Of Grey in 2015 (pictured) with Fifty Shades Darker following in 2017 and Fifty Shades Freed following in 2018
Real talk: The actor confessed that, prior to accepting the role of bondage-obsessed billionaire Christian Grey, he knew that he would ‘get wrecked’ (pictured in 2018’s Fifty Shades Freed)
Jamie discussed being cast in the franchise during an episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast which was recorded prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike.
On accepting the role, Jamie admitted: ‘It wasn’t an instant yes by any means. It needed to be talked through…I sought counsel from friends, family, a lot of actors.’
Belfast star Jamie was not the first actor to have been offered the part, with Charlie Hunnam originally cast opposite Dakota Johnson as Anastasia Steele.
Yet when Charlie pulled out at the last minute due to scheduling conflicts, Jamie was the next star in line, with the unexpected opportunity resulting in some mixed feelings for him.
Jamie explained: ‘When I didn’t get it, I felt a bit of relief because I knew that guy is going to get wrecked here. He [Charlie] maybe felt the same.
‘Suddenly there I was, but with way less time to make a decision. I got cast five weeks before we started filming. I knew that it came with all that baggage, that the reality was it would make a ton of money and the fans would love and the critics would despise it.
‘That’s what happened with the books and that’s what we were making. We were staying truthful to the books, and we knew what that would be.’
The actor added: ‘Movies that are made for the fans that fans love can be seen as a success. I’m grateful that Dakota and I have managed to come out [in the years since] and make work that people still like and have had some of those said critics do a bit of a 180.’
Mixed feelings: The movie star explained how it wasn’t an instant ‘yes’ when the lead role was offered to him just five weeks before filming was scheduled to commence
Back in June 2022, Jamie’s co-star Dakota Johnson, 33, described the making of Fifty Shades of Grey as ‘psychotic’ and insisted the trilogy lacked the sexual intensity she envisaged when agreeing to take on her starring role as Anastasia ‘Ana’ Steele.
Speaking to Vanity Fair, Dakota also explained how making the trilogy became complicated in part because the author of the books, E.L. James maintained creative control over the film adaptations.
She said: ‘She [James] had a lot of creative control, all day, every day, and she just demanded that certain things happen.’
‘There were parts of the books that just wouldn’t work in a movie, like the inner monologue, which was at times incredibly cheesy. It wouldn’t work to say out loud. It was always a battle. Always.
Dakota said of her three film contract: ‘It just became something crazy. There were a lot of different disagreements.
‘I haven’t been able to talk about this truthfully ever, because you want to promote a movie the right way, and I’m proud of what we made ultimately and everything turns out the way it’s supposed to, but it was tricky.’
When asked if she regrets her starring role, she replied: ‘No. I don’t think it’s a matter of regret. If I had known… If I had known at the time that’s what it was going to be like, I don’t think anyone would’ve done it.
‘It would’ve been like, ‘Oh, this is psychotic.’ But no, I don’t regret it.’
Though she doesn’t regret working on the racy franchise of films, the Texan born star said that the original film she signed on to wasn’t exactly the one they ended up doing.
She said: ‘I’m a sexual person, and when I’m interested in something, I want to know so much about it.’
‘That’s why I did those big naked movies. I signed up to do a very different version of the film we ended up making.’
