When Fifty Shades of Grey was first announced it seemed that almost every young star in Hollywood was up for the lead roles. Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy) was actually cast as the male lead Christian Grey but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts. In a recent interview the actor revealed that he was having a ‘nervous breakdown’ due to his hectic filming schedule.
“I was going to finish Sons of Anarchy at like 11pm Friday night, get on the plane Saturday morning for Fifty, missing the whole first week of rehearsal and start shooting Monday morning.” Hunnam said.
Hunnam also explained his commitment to Crimson Peak would have added to his work schedule which was allegedly organised around his Sons of Anarchy schedule.
“And I was going to shoot that film, wrap that on the Wednesday and the following Monday I was going to start shooting Crimson Peak in Toronto. I just had like…frankly, something of a nervous breakdown.”
Hunnam revealed that it was a hard decision to give up Fifty Shades of Grey: “Fifty’s going to be massive, it’s going to be huge. I really didn’t want to fail on such a grand scale as I couldn’t transition from Jax Teller to Christian Grey in 48 hours. I bit off more than I could chew and it was painful. I loved the character and I wanted to do it… It was one of those damned if you do, dammed if you don’t situations”
British actor and model Jamie Dornan was eventually cast after Hunnam dropped out of the role. He will star opposite Dakota Johnson who will play Anastasia Steele in the movie. The Fifty Shades of Grey trailer is actually the most viewed trailer on YouTube for this year so far. The film is set for release on Valentine’s Day 2015.
Would you have liked to have seen Charlie Hunnam in Fifty Shades of Grey? Let us know…
Originally published September 10, 2014. Updated April 13, 2018.
