14 DAY TRIAL // After the wide theatrical release of “Fifty Shades of Grey,” industry people started wondering how long it would take until producers started avoiding Jamie Dornan. Regardless of his talent and how much he must have tried to make his Christian Grey convincing, it was clear that his name would for ever be associated with that trainwreck of a film.
According to a new report cited by the Toronto Sun, Dornan has just lost a role because of the aforementioned association: he was edited out of “Burnt,” an A-list drama that’s getting some awards buzz and stars Bradley Cooper in the lead.
Christian Grey rep could prove “too distracting”
As per the report, Dornan did “extensive” shooting for the role, which sees him as the number one rival of the 2-Michelin-star chef played by Cooper. His name was included on the first artwork for the film (see the photo above) and he is said to have been featured in the trailer as well.
You can see it in the video below. Either Dornan was on a different cut of it, or that part from the report is inaccurate, because there’s not a trace of him in it.
Insiders familiar with the production claim that, after seeing the movie, which included footage of Dornan in character, producers and studio executives ruled that his role in the critically-panned film would prove “too distracting” for the audiences they were gunning for.
The implication is that Dornan is in danger of becoming typecast because of Grey and that he might start losing more roles because of that one.
Even if “Burnt” doesn’t impress critics of the audience, being part of such an impressive ensemble (Emma Thompson, Uma Thurman, Daniel Bruhl, Lily James and Alicia Vikander) would have been a solid achievement for Dornan because it would have helped him put his Grey reputation behind. In the process, it would have also helped him shut up those critics who said he couldn’t act.
The truth must be somewhere in the middle
While the report claims that Dornan’s role was quite meaty, the studio insists that he was only on board with a brief appearance.
“Jamie's role was a small cameo that was part of a back story and following the editing process is no longer part of the film,” a studio spokesperson says.
Word online has it that Dornan’s time onscreen was under 2 minutes and that he was edited out because his scene didn’t really strike a chord with audiences during test screenings. Consequently, it was deemed unnecessary and was eliminated, so the decision had nothing to do with his work on “Grey.”
If the cameo was only 2-minute long, would it have made sense to have his name on the film’s poster?
