14 DAY TRIAL // Jamie Dornan is bringing his rugged charm to the latest edition of Details magazine, in a gorgeous spread and accompanying interview meant to promote his role in “Fifty Shades of Grey” and season 2 of the hit series “The Fall.”
Among the things he discusses is his fear that one of the fans of the original trilogy of books, penned by E.L. James and devoured by millions of people from across the globe, might attempt to kill him on the red carpet at the film’s premiere in February.
No joke.
Fan reaction to the film could be surprising
Dornan has said before that, when he agreed to play the role of Christian Grey in the film, he had no idea of the kind of large shoes he’d have to fill, as far as fans were concerned. He never imagined his casting would generate the reactions it did and he learned immediately that he and everyone else involved in the project risked upsetting the fans by not doing justice to the source material.
Since then, he’s come to terms with the fact that some fans would be upset by the film no matter what, if only because they expect to see the version they imagined on the big screen, which is impossible.
One of these fans, Dornan fears, might take things to the extreme.
“I almost don't want to put this out there into the ether, but I fear I'll get murdered, like John Lennon, by one of those mad fans at the premiere. Because a lot of people are very angry that I'm playing this character. And I'm a father now, and a husband. I don't want to die yet. And when I do get murdered, people will say, ‘God, isn't it haunting how he did that interview in Details magazine and predicted his own death on the red carpet?’,” he tells Details.
This is probably meant as a joke, but it doesn’t translate on paper that well; if anything, it makes Dornan come across as conceited for giving himself and the movie more relevance than they have. “Fifty Shades of Grey” is a “bodice ripper” film, nothing more and nothing less. He should wait until the first one came out at least before talking as if it would alter lives.
Fans can cross the line very easily
In the video interview below, Dornan talks about this a bit more and actually manages to put better into words what he was trying to say in the print interview: when you make a film based on a best-selling book, expectations are already very high when the film comes out.
All readers of the book will rush to see it and will be more vocal than regular moviegoers if they see something they don’t like or they feel doesn’t fit in with the story. So pressure when making “Fifty Shades of Grey” was huge, but he credits director Sam Taylor-Johnson with making the environment “safe,” for getting them at ease so that they could give their best.
And he does have a point about fans’ tendency to overreact, though saying that one of them might actually resort to murder is a bit of an exaggeration – not to mention that it shows what he really thinks of those who proudly call themselves “Fifty Shades” fans. You know who you are.
