14 DAY TRIAL // It’s been one year since Charlie Hunnam dropped out of “Fifty Shades of Grey,” in which he was supposed to play leading man Christian Grey, just 2 months after announcing with much fanfare his excitement of being a part of this project. In a new interview cited by MovieFone, he explains the reasons behind this shocking decision.
As speculated earlier in the press, this wasn’t just a PR stunt meant to get him and the “Shades” film extra publicity: God knows the film gets media attention for the silliest thing, and Charlie is doing pretty well for himself too, thanks to his leading role on FX’s hit series “Sons of Anarchy.”
If it wasn’t a PR stunt, then what happened?
To put it simply, Charlie realized he would have done a very lousy job at all the projects he had on his plate then, if he honored his agreement. “Fifty Shades of Grey” might be based on the “worst novel in the world” but it was still a role he liked, and useless to say, one that would have catapulted him to international fame.
The thing Hunnam looks for in a new project, as per his own words, is a role that he see himself playing: and Christian Grey, the tormented millionaire who turns to S&M and power-play to avoid developing any genuine relationships, was just that.
He also loved director Sam Taylor-Johnson from the moment he met her and discussed about the film, so, for a while it really did look like this was his dream job.
“I started talking about this thing and I just got so excited. I fell in love with the character and started seeing him and becoming intoxicated, which is the way I work: I find a character I love and I start thinking about it all the time,” he says.
With more thinking, the cold reality hit him like a brick wall
Then Hunnam realized that it was humanly impossible for him to do all he’d agreed to do – and still deliver solid performances for each project. Besides “Fifty Shades,” he was also shooting the sixth season of “Sons of Anarchy” and had agreed to do Guillermo del Toro’s “Crimson Peak” in between breaks from “SOA.”
“I was going to finish ‘Sons’ at like 11 p.m. Friday night, get on the plane Saturday morning to Vancouver for ‘Fifty,’ missing the whole first week of rehearsal and start shooting Monday morning. 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 explains.
In the end, his previous two commitments, the one to “SOA” in particular, were labeled priorities and he told producers that they needed to find a replacement for him in “Fifty Shades of Grey.”
It’s all for the best in the end
Charlie Hunnam is better than “Fifty Shades of Grey,” his fans are saying. He didn’t get his dream breakthrough role with “Pacific Rim” but he shouldn’t be in such a hurry, because his talent will ensure this will happen soon.
He’s doing the sequel for “Pacific Rim” soon and is said to be in talks to play King Arthur in a new franchise directed by Guy Ritchie. If the deal goes through, Hunnam will get his major break soon.
With him out of the picture, producers got Jamie Dornan for the Christian Grey role, and many fans agree that he’s a much better choice because he comes across as more suave than Hunnam. He’s also less famous than him, so he needs this break more badly.
“Fifty Shades of Grey” will be out in February 2015. The final season of “Sons of Anarchy” premiered last night on FX.