This article originally appeared on Usmagazine. It felt exciting and fun and weird and compelling,' he said. Now, the actor is finally opening up about why he couldn’t take part in the highly-anticipated. In fact, originally, the part went to Charlie Hunnam, who dropped out without much reason less than two months after casting news broke. 'There's just like a tangible chemistry between us. At this point, fans of 50 Shades of Grey have accepted Jamie Dornan as the popular lead character Christian Grey, but the actor had to work hard to get the role. 'I know the filmmakers and Universal are not happy.'īack in September, Hunnam seemed 100 percent on board with the sexy flick speaking with Us Weekly, although he acknowledged that attaching himself to the bestselling trilogy was 'a big commitment.' He met with director Sam Taylor-Johnson and did a reading with Johnson. Charlie Hunnam walked away from a high-profile role as kinky billionaire Christian in Sam Taylor-Johnson's upcoming Fifty Shades of Grey movie after being denied extensive script approval. For Hunnam - committed to his series and 'passion projects' in film - 'ultimately it wasn't worth it,' a third source says. Hunnam initially won the role over the likes of oft-discussed contenders like Ian Somerhalder, Robert Pattinson and frontrunner Matt Bomer. There is no bad blood.'Īdds the pal: 'While this was a tough decision, it was the right decision and he's happy he made it.' That said, The project wasn't appearing to shape up as expected. 'Charlie is very true to his craft and something like the media circus is not going to deter him from taking a role. Charlie is the lead in a massive TV series and his loyalty will always be to Sons of Anarchy, the SOA family and fans.'Īnd despite the tremendous media attention brought on by Hunnam's casting, 'this is not due to cold feet,' the second source contends. However, on 12 October 2013, Universal Pictures announced that Hunnam had withdrawn from the. It was announced on 2 September 2013 that Hunnam would play the lead role of Christian Grey in the film adaptation of E. The role of Christian Grey requires a massive time commitment, a trilogy role in which Charlie and his team were originally very aware of from the start and a major consideration in his hesitancy for taking the role. Hunnam starred as Raleigh Becket in Guillermo del Toros sci-fi film Pacific Rim, which opened in July 2013 and grossed 411 million worldwide. A second source close to Hunnam counters that the exit is 'truly due to scheduling.

Charlie hunnam 50 shades of grey